Looking for info

[youngy]

Hi folks - new member and Hearts fan here.

My club have just announced plans to look into the possibility of moving away from our long-time home to a new purpose-built stadium. I believe that Bolton (possibly amongst others) were consulted and tours taken of the Reebok.

I was wondering, therefore, how you guys - having made the same kind of move a few years ago now - feel about the Reebok stadium?

I have never had the pleasure of attending a match at the Reebok, so was wondering how good it's match atmosphere is for example.

Cheers in advance
Alan

[Lord Kangana]

Its worked well for us.....so far.

The emotional ties have to be broken, but we went from a club having spent 3 seasons in the top flight in the previous 30, to a club thats spent 12 of 15 in it at the Bok.

It was certainly a major catalyst for that. Football has moved on, we had to keep up or wither and die.

Its an emotional wrench at the time, but we now have a smart modern stadium with facilities to match our Premier League staus.

[superjohnmcginlay]

The atmosphere's pretty poor most of the time to be honest.
Oh and don't build a fooking shopping park thing next to it, it proper fooks the traffic up.

[youngy]

Thanks lads.

VERY interested to read that your hotel brought £8M into the club coffers. THAT kind of money could be VERY useful in the SPL!!

[boltonboris]

Thanks lads.

VERY interested to read that your hotel brought £8M into the club coffers. THAT kind of money could be VERY useful in the SPL!!

Except is probably cost more than to build......

The Hotel was and is a disaster, that believe it or not, almost bankrupted us.

[youngy]

Thanks lads.

VERY interested to read that your hotel brought £8M into the club coffers. THAT kind of money could be VERY useful in the SPL!!

Except is probably cost more than to build......

The Hotel was and is a disaster, that believe it or not, almost bankrupted us.

Seriously? That's not good. But has the point been reached now where from now on, the benefits will outstrip the down-sides?

Another difference might be that - player-wise at least - you get a lot more for your £ up here than in the PL down there, so any initial "issues" with the hotel might not drag us down quite to that level. PLUS, we're pretty much insolvent as it is :0) so it probably won't hurt us any more than we are already used to.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

VERY interested to read that your hotel brought £8M into the club coffers. THAT kind of money could be VERY useful in the SPL!!

Except is probably cost more than to build...... The Hotel was and is a disaster, that believe it or not, almost bankrupted us.

Is? The £8m it brought in last year is only £1m less than we made on the gate. Some disaster when we need "revenue streams" more than most in the top flight. True, there were things with the new ground that were, shall we say, misconceived - not least awarding without tender the main construction contract to the company owned by the then chairman - but the hotel is beginning to pay. Literally.

[Lord Kangana]

Short term pain for long term gain. on balance, the Reebok has been a major catalyst to our recent relative success.

Can't see Burnden ever allowing us to tap "alternative revenue streams" in the same way.

[CAPSLOCK]

It put us 35 million in debt

I don't like the location

I don't like the location

It almost certainly makes it easier to attract players than the decrepit Burnden Park

[P.O.S.]

It put us 35 million in debt

I don't like the location

I don't like the location

It almost certainly makes it easier to attract players than the decrepit Burnden Park

You can say that again

[Lord Kangana]

My volume switch must be on the blink, perhaps he could just type it again?

[LiOC]

It definitely has both pros and cons. As has been said the reebok is probably a major driving force in our success since we moved in. It's a nice stadium, but letting go of emotional attachment has been hard for the fans as well as a very unpopular location (it's not really in the town any-more..." and it doesn't have a very good atmosphere, although it's been much better this year imo although after the horrific match-day experiences of the Megson campaign it may be just that affecting my judgement.
It was a good move for the club, but it's a nightmare to get to and from!

[William the White]

It definitely has both pros and cons. As has been said the reebok is probably a major driving force in our success since we moved in. It's a nice stadium, but letting go of emotional attachment has been hard for the fans as well as a very unpopular location (it's not really in the town any-more..." and it doesn't have a very good atmosphere, although it's been much better this year imo although after the horrific match-day experiences of the Megson campaign it may be just that affecting my judgement.
It was a good move for the club, but it's a nightmare to get to and from!

It's a real nightmare... like less than half a mile from a motorway exit, less than 100 yards from its own railway station, and with a dedicated match day bus service that's dirt cheap... And loads of parking space that can be a pain in the arse getting away from, tis true...

[Lord Kangana]

Traffics a bastard though.

Come on William, everyone is conceding that it was a good move, but it does have its not perfect.

[Verbal]

Not an airport for miles and miles though.

Disgraceful.

[William the White]

Traffics a bastard though.

Come on William, everyone is conceding that it was a good move, but it does have its not perfect.

i said it was a 'pain in the arse' - is that significantly weaker than a 'bastard'?

[CAPSLOCK]

See, I can live with the traffic...it's 30 minutes each way in the car and I live in one of the bits of Bolton furthest from the ground

I can park for free 10 minutes walk from the ground

My issue with the location is it's distance from the delights of the town centre

Be nice to be able to stroll into town for a post match pint

Speaking of which, I know a pre match pint is part of the day out, but has it always been so?

William?

[Lord Kangana]

Its on a logarithmic scale rather than exponential, but yes, significantly.

[LiOC]

It definitely has both pros and cons. As has been said the reebok is probably a major driving force in our success since we moved in. It's a nice stadium, but letting go of emotional attachment has been hard for the fans as well as a very unpopular location (it's not really in the town any-more..." and it doesn't have a very good atmosphere, although it's been much better this year imo although after the horrific match-day experiences of the Megson campaign it may be just that affecting my judgement.
It was a good move for the club, but it's a nightmare to get to and from!

It's a real nightmare... like less than half a mile from a motorway exit, less than 100 yards from its own railway station, and with a dedicated match day bus service that's dirt cheap... And loads of parking space that can be a pain in the arse getting away from, tis true...

Nightmare to get to and from traffic wise. Parking fine. Having to get two buses there isn't great though, or a bus and then a train. Maybe I over-exaggerated with nightmare, just bitter with trying to get a bus home on a sunday game once I got in the town centre. First bus is a waste of space, nothing to do with the club.

[CAPSLOCK]

Where do you need to get to?

Of all the matchbuses that could do with a coat of looking at, the Bury one is dreadful