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Football stadiums
Tottenham Hotspur have been given planning permission to build a new stadium immediately to the north of White Hart Lane. They have concluded a section 106 agreement with Haringey Council under which they will contribute £17m towards improving local transport and infrastrucure.
QPR owner Tony Fernandes has made it clear that he would like to see a new stadium for the club. Compared with the 19,000 capacity at Loftus Road, he wants a stadium that would accommodate 40,000-45,000, probably in the White City area.
Tottenham Hostpur have won the latest stage of their legal battle with West Ham United over who should be the legacy tenant at the Olympic Stadium. In the High Court Mr Justice Collins questioned the £40m loan deal West Ham had struck with its stadium partner, Newham Council.
A judicial review has been scheduled for October 17th. If the defendants in the case, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) and Newham, lose the case the stadium competition might have to be run again.
The choice of West Ham United to take over the running of the Olympic Stadium after 2012 was not influenced by the fact that an employee of the body that made the decision had carried out paid consultancy work for the club. This is the conclusion of an investigation commissioned by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) from Moor Stephens, a firm of auditors.
Most football fans don’t live near the grounds of their teams. Many of them have moved well away from the area because of work or relationships or because they have become more prosperous.
Who would want to live near a football ground anyway? There is a lot of matchday hassle with traffic restrictions and congestion and minor vandalism. Local pubs are taken over by supporters.
It has been suggested that league football is the long-term unspoken aim for Braintree Town as the club plans for a new 6,000-seater stadium. It has been indicated that planning permission would be given to build homes on the current Cressing Road location, helping to fund a move. It is hoped that the new stadium will be ready in some five years’ time between 2016 and 2018.
In an effort to kick start the re-development of White Hart Lane and give Tottenham Hostpur a more fitting stadium, a group of Spurs fans had suggested a community share scheme as a way forward.
There is also an interview about the proposal on one of the Spurs fan sites.
Manchester City FC are expected to reveal their plans for a state-of-the-art training facility which forms part of their deal with the Abu Dhabi airline Etihad tomorrow. City sent a team of specialists around the world for 18 months for a feasibility study from a variety of sports before drawing up their plans. It is anticipated that the plans will in part be influenced by Nike’s world headquarters.
Manchester City have responded vigorously to claims by Arsene Wenger that their commercial deal with Etihad Airways calls into question Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Liverpool City Council are increasing the pressure on Liverpool football club to move to a new stadium at Stanley Park. Relations between the two are becoming increasingly strained with council leader Joe Anderson going public on his frustrations at what he sees as the club’s decade-long failure to accept that national planning laws have greatly diminished the possibility of redeveloping Anfield. The club has been warned that they could be forced to pay back