Wetherby Road to Claro Road

I would like some opinions from you all if possible.

I am of the opinion that, although Bill Fotherby claims to have the funds to move Harrogate Town FC to Harrogate Rugby Club, would it not be best to invest some of those funds into the squad and give the manager more funds to strengthen the squad further?

My reasoning behind this, is that I believe that the Wetherby Road ground is of a good enough standard for the Blue Sq. North, and is of a better standard than the majority of Blue Sq Premier Clubs.

It wouldnt take much funding to improve Wetherby Road. It is a good stadium. I believe it can hold 2850, and as we only get an average of 300 per game. Would there be any point spending all that money to move grounds, when we can improve what they have got?

How much would it cost to level the pitch - that should be a priority

TheNeil29 wrote:I would like some opinions from you all if possible.

I am of the opinion that, although Bill Fotherby claims to have the funds to move Harrogate Town FC to Harrogate Rugby Club, would it not be best to invest some of those funds into the squad and give the manager more funds to strengthen the squad further?

My reasoning behind this, is that I believe that the Wetherby Road ground is of a good enough standard for the Blue Sq. North, and is of a better standard than the majority of Blue Sq Premier Clubs.

It wouldnt take much funding to improve Wetherby Road. It is a good stadium. I believe it can hold 2850, and as we only get an average of 300 per game. Would there be any point spending all that money to move grounds, when we can improve what they have got?

Some facts if I may

Non-League grounds are graded by the FA as to their suitability and use criteria that are not "aesthetic", i.e it is not that they feel or look like a good ground but that they has to conform to physical criteria. These gradings are in the form of a letter (A to G) which are awarded to each club based on the level of conformity for many different issues. (there are minimum criteria for each grade)

Wetherby Road has currently a B grade which is the minimum they can have to compete in the Conference North. To obtain promotion they would need an A grade within a year of promotion which would involve a big cost committment on a leasehold ground. Also the authorities are constantly upgrading the requirements of the minimum level of grade and consequently WR is under threat of dropping a grade which, like Kings Lynn last year, would involve automatic relegation. (I am sure that the board would not allow this to happen and would invest if this becomes necessary) There are currently a number of Conference National and Conference North sides with ticking clocks with grounds that barely meet or fall short of the required grading.

Can I ask where your opinion that WR is better than the majority of Premier clubs come from? I have been to 90% of the Conference grounds (all 3 divisions) and Wetherby Road would be in the bottom five for sure. OK it ticks the right boxes to scrape into the North division but it is unsuitable for large crowds and the requirements that go with them. Also WR would take a large sum of money to bring up to a comfortable B grade which would be money spent on something that will never be owned by the club.

Harrogate has shown that people are not interested in sufficient numbers to sustain a top level football club. However a new ground coupled with a winning team shortly after has always been a winning combination for clubs. The club has spent the last four years with ever increasing playing budgets and has got where exactly?

yorkbrian wrote: The club has spent the last four years with ever increasing playing budgets and has got where exactly?

6th mostly.

I agree with you about the condition of Wetherby road - its not in the upper end of BSN, let alone BSP, but I dont agree that people will suddenly flock to a shiny new stadium though, at least not in the numbers that would ever recoup the investment.

Lets face it, whether you are playing Vauxhall Motors or Mansfield town its just not going to entice people away from Leeds Utd or Sky Sports. Theres also nothing worse than playing in a mostly empty staudium surrounded by sterile, but oh-so clean, plastic seats. Wetherby road does have a nice 'proper grassroots' feel to it, that, team performance willing, can at least get some atmosphere from the 200-300 people that actually turn up.

Of course there are external influences that may mean we have to move anyway, but personally when the day comes I'll be rather sad.

We had built gates up to about 550/600 a couple of years ago (one of the sad things about the recent decline), so I guess we could have managed 700/800 in the main Conference, clubs like Histon, Altrincham, Forest Green, Gateshead (400 or so last home game) survive on figures less/the same/slighly more than that.
Still all pretty academic now, the earliest we could possibly be in the BSquare Premier is now 2111/12, and who knows what will happen in the intervening years? Claro Road will probably be sorted one way or the other by then (I suspect the Rugby club will get it back). A good team in the BSNorth plus the odd good cup run would satisfy me for the immediate future.

sagalout wrote:

yorkbrian wrote: The club has spent the last four years with ever increasing playing budgets and has got where exactly?

Of course there are external influences that may mean we have to move anyway, but personally when the day comes I'll be rather sad.

And me. As I said before if the future is the Unibond at Wetherby Road then I shall be there.

YorkBrian,

On that subject matter, thank you for clearing that up as I wasnt aware of exactly how the FA grade current clubs.

But as we average 6th every season, and lets be frank, we are not going to finish in the top half come the end of this season if Saturday is anything to go by. Wouldnt it be better to invest in the current stadium to ensure that it can be brought to the relevant grading to satisfy the criteria of Wetherby Road being Blue Square Premier standard? This may be costly, but I believe that this may be the best option for the club in the future. Even if we dont own the stadium.

Even if we moved to Claro Road (which I doubt will happen as the Rugby Club have well and truly dug their heels in) the attendances would just be the same. I just dont see the point in us pursuing that option as it is simply not going to happen.

Looking at the current day, I believe it will be 2012-13 before we can realistically look at the possibility of gaining Promotion or pushing for promotion to the Blue Square Premier.

My opinion may be a little biased as I have not been to 90% of the Conf grounds in all 3 divisions, I have been to a couple, and from what I see. Wetherby Road has a really good setup, and with the right work, it would be graded good enough for BSP football.

As I sad gents, it is just my opinion. I am not experienced in grass roots knowledge as to the standard of some of the forum members.

TheNeil29 wrote:YorkBrian,

On that subject matter, thank you for clearing that up as I wasnt aware of exactly how the FA grade current clubs.

But as we average 6th every season, and lets be frank, we are not going to finish in the top half come the end of this season if Saturday is anything to go by. Wouldnt it be better to invest in the current stadium to ensure that it can be brought to the relevant grading to satisfy the criteria of Wetherby Road being Blue Square Premier standard? This may be costly, but I believe that this may be the best option for the club in the future. Even if we dont own the stadium.

Even if we moved to Claro Road (which I doubt will happen as the Rugby Club have well and truly dug their heels in) the attendances would just be the same. I just dont see the point in us pursuing that option as it is simply not going to happen.

Looking at the current day, I believe it will be 2012-13 before we can realistically look at the possibility of gaining Promotion or pushing for promotion to the Blue Square Premier.

My opinion may be a little biased as I have not been to 90% of the Conf grounds in all 3 divisions, I have been to a couple, and from what I see. Wetherby Road has a really good setup, and with the right work, it would be graded good enough for BSP football.

As I sad gents, it is just my opinion. I am not experienced in grass roots knowledge as to the standard of some of the forum members.

Good post and I take the points from all the replies on board.

I think the main issue is whether or not attendances would improve with a new stadium alone. The general opinion here is that it would not, however there are many examples of a move to a new stadium doing exactly that (the most notable recently being Nantwich Town who went from an average of 40 per game to 500 plus over the close season of their move). Obviously I cannot say that Harrogate would be the same as other areas but the point is that the management of the club, I believe, do think so.

Just to make it clear I like Wetherby Road and would be very sad to leave it behind. I, like you, feel that by some development behind the goals and the WR side, it could be made into a good, small stadium. The problem is that it would never be able to achieve the A grading needed to take part in the Premier. I know the league position argues against it, but talking to some people involved that is still the long term aim of the board.

Just on the other side of the coin I do know that plans are in existance to develop Wetherby Road if all else fails and the momentum still remains.

I have full confidence in the board that promotion to the BSP could be achieved, and I do think, with the correct advertising, that attendances could improve now, even if we were to stay at WR or move to Claro Rd/Alternative Ground. I am sure that the management know exactly what they are doing with regards to the future of the club. And I have full faith that we will gain promotion to the BSP in 3-4 years time.

I really like Wetherby Road too, I bring my friends along now who didnt come previously, and they really enjoy it each time they see the Town play.

I believe that the buildings do need some modernisation, as well as the pitch needs levelling out. But that is all that needs doing to the current stadium.

Regardless of it all and whatever happens in the future, the club will still have my support.