New South Stand building contract agreed

SBU and #HarrogateTown sign up to build the new south stand at Wetherby Road
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Great news!

assume the South Stand is the Wetherby Road side?

It is.
This might be part of the "Masterplan". Still waiting Lishke.

Great news - If it is anything like the kop of fear (does it have a name yet), it will look great.

Still think they should do something with the yellow blocks on either side. Perhaps the Harrogate Town badge of something similar rather than boring yellow.

I think they need to do something with the shrubbery on the outside as well, when the new stand is built as well (If the shrubbery actually belongs to them!!)

A lot of people drive past the ground on a daily basis, as we are based on one of the busiest roads in Harrogate, but I bet people drive straight past, not even noticing the club!!

The land outside the ground is part of The Stray. The hedge might be removed but the trees and grass cannot as far as I am aware.

Townfan wrote:It is.
This might be part of the "Masterplan".  Still waiting Lishke.

Well don't wait too long old timer. If you get lucky you may live long enough to see the Weaver masterplan unfold. Or unravel, whichever comes first.

Town Lishke wrote:

Townfan wrote:It is.
This might be part of the "Masterplan".  Still waiting Lishke.

Well don't wait too long old timer. If you get lucky you may live long enough to see the Weaver masterplan unfold. Or unravel, whichever comes first.

Still waiting ....... what is it ?

As someone who used to sweep the leaves off the pitch down the south side of the ground back in 1976 - forty years on it will be fantastic to have a new stand running along the Wetherby Road side, it will look a proper ground now!

This is great news! I can't wait to see our ground looking so good! It's bound to attract new fans when the ground is looking fantastic

Good to have a Chairman and Board that can deliver on promises!
However - as usual, it won't suit some alleged Town supporters!

Can we get it started early in the summer this time!

First week in May I believe.

It will be completed in time for pre season I believe.

Assuming the beer festival doesn't attract 50,000

I think that will be really, really popular.

I'm looking forward to it already!!!

TheNeil29 wrote:I think they need to do something with the shrubbery on the outside as well, when the new stand is built as well (If the shrubbery actually belongs to them!!)

I love the shrubbery, one of the best things about the club ! Fairly sure they won't be allowed to chop the trees down, they are an important ball stopper if nothing else.

My point is, that if you werent from Harrogate, and drove up or down Wetherby Road, you wouldnt even realise that there is a football club on the road, apart from the odd sign saying match on, and a picture of the 1919 venue plastered on the gates.

I would even go as far to bet that even some people from Harrogate now wouldnt know that there is a football club on Wetherby Road. Something needs to be done to make the club more noticeable, even from a passing point of view. Something that catches the eye.

1 of the ways this would be done is to get rid of the shrubbery on the outer of the ground and then do something about the fencing, which is currently the back of the tin heap that serves as a stand.

What also irks me the most, is that the club is sat on one of the busiest roads in Harrogate. Add to this that Harrogate has a population of 90000+ and we only manage to attract on average 5-600 to a match?

We got 3000+ to the Hastings game, and 1500+ to the Hinckley game if my memory serves me right, so it just goes to show that the people are there.

I believe the club wanted to put up an illuminated sign when they revamped the office block but we got the usual local objections and the council said no.

It will be interesting to see what moves the club make in that manner when the new stand is up.....

pie and chips wrote:Good to have a Chairman and Board that can deliver on promises!
However - as usual, it won't suit some alleged Town supporters!

Yeah really difficult to apply for a grant and get someone to take the money. Seriously is a slightly nicer stand than the one we already have really something to be excited about? It'll make bog all difference.

Hey, Lishke, it might not make any difference to you, but I suspect most fans will be very happy at the investment.
As with other threads, there will always be those who take pleasure in "knocking" - not worth worrying about!

pie and chips wrote:Hey, Lishke, it might not make any difference to you, but I suspect most fans will be very happy at the investment.

Yes, I too am very grateful to the FSIF. We'll have one of the best looking up to date grounds in the NPL eventually. Shame we can't put the new stands in our trophy cabinet though.

"Promises and deliveries" indeed. Really.

No-one can seriously deny that the Kop of Fear has not made a great difference, both to the look of the ground (that matters to some of us!), and to the atmosphere generated. Impossible to tell if that has contributed to our recent good run of form (and, yes, I know about Saturday!), but it sure as hell hasn't done any harm. I look forward with great interest to our new terrace, cantilevered roof and all. Supporting a team is more than just what happens on the pitch once or twice a week, its the 'whole thing'...ask FC United fans about that. Incidentally, looks like they may, may, at last, ge into our league. Imagine 800 'red rebels' in the Kop of Fear next season...exciting prospect or not?