Thank you Stephen. It's as well for us to keep in perspective that most, if not all, of our current "stars" will have moved on by the time of any completion - this is indeed a long-term project
Expansion or new stadium, as I have commented before, is a long time away from opening due to processes: 5 or 7 years is my guess too. The very concerning thing is, pre-application submissions could and should have been made on both possibilities - to compare them, but nothing seems to have been done at all. Our owners have had 3+years now with nothing public to show us - hmmmm. Are they even bothered now, as a couple of million tops to run both feasibility studies and early public consultations on draft schemes for each should have been done by now - if they were serious. I do not think they are. Demand for match tickets outstrips supply - which is exactly what they want to keep the stadium full for every home game. Ticking along nicely.
Insightful article. Should be standard reading for the "just get it done" brigade. My eldest brother is a Clerk of Works, previously involved in work on British Admiralty, along with the construction of the British Library and the Visitors' Centre at Stonehenge, etc. He's always telling me how long it takes to get such projects up and running, never mind completed.
Interesting article. I’m not sure I agree with your 3 stages though. Let me explain why.
A common question often asked in business is: ‘’What’s the difference between strategy and tactics?”
Research shows that many businesses don’t have a clear marketing strategy or plan. Without a clear strategy, it’s likely some of their tactics may be poorly directed, leading to the business not moving forward in the desired way. Sound familiar……………
Strategy dictates what is needed to achieve your goals and vision. Tactics are the detail of the strategy, how exactly that will happen.
A great example of that in recent times was the Arsenal semi-final match at SJP. Eddie Howe decided that his strategy to win the game was to win the midfield. Not to defend at all costs. Not to go gung-ho. Dominate midfield and win the ball. His tactic to achieve that was to allow one of the central defenders to step forward into midfield thus creating an overload in the midfied. The strategy, and the tactics, worked perfectly.
In November 2004, NUFC Chief operating officer Brad Miller said: “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Do we invest and transform St. James’ as we see it today on the site where we are? Or do we take that bold move and think about moving? We want to make sure it is a very robust process. So regardless of the outcome, I want to stand up in front of everybody throughout the process and say, 'This is why it is a logical decision, with long-term competitiveness in mind.'”
That’s a really cliched way of saying; “We haven’t decided a strategy yet. I’ll get back to you when we have one.”
And I think that’s what’s bothering most fans .
You say stage 1 is the “Define stage – Quite literally defining the required works of the project and developing a design to meet that.”
I say Stage 1 is defining the strategy because if there is no strategy, there is no project. If there is no project, there’s nothing to design and this is where the frustration is building because the club seem reluctant to confirm any strategy.
But surely the club could make a strategy statement, without committing itself unnecessarily to the tactics.
For example, if the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to deliver the greatest supporter experience in the world and we are looking at all possibilities of doing that” – that would tell us SOMETHING,
If the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to be self funding” (think Mike Ashley -that did tell us SOMETHING).
If the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to win the Premier League within 5 years”, that would tell us SOMETHING.
But what have we had? NOTHING. And that’s what makes fans nervous.
Because if there is no strategy, there’s no commitment to anything.
Having the richest owners in the world is worth nothing if they aren’t committed.
Thanks for taking the time to think about this and reply. It’s difficult to summarise an entire project lifecycle into 900 words (or slightly over as I normally am).
I’ve used HMG terminology for simplicity to be honest and you are right there are actually 5 stages to the lifecycle. The article is written post selection of opportunity hence only the three I’ve written about. The other two are: Feasibility and Appraise & Select as an FYI, which you talk about in your reply.
You can also use other lifecycle tools like RIBA Plan of Work to describe a project lifecycle but I didn’t want to get ‘too into it’ for 900 words.
Good stuff Stephen, and a real insight. I'm involved in Life safety systems myself, namely Voice Alarm systems. If anyone fancies a deep dive into the subject, this will be of interest. It came about as a direct result of Ibrox, but has been updated twice after Bradford and Hillsborough. Not sure they've read it at Elland Road, mind ;)
Interesting! I’ve actually read that document, skimmed, when I was researching safe standing a couple of years back. Being a saddo it was an interesting read.
Us saddos have to stick together lol. I quote it a lot as it explains why you’re never more than 30m from a steward these days, not like the old days when you were herded into pens and never saw anyone in charge!
Very enlightening Stephen! Thanks for putting it in layman’s terms too. Well-written.
Thanks Neil
Thank you Stephen. It's as well for us to keep in perspective that most, if not all, of our current "stars" will have moved on by the time of any completion - this is indeed a long-term project
Thanks for reading
Expansion or new stadium, as I have commented before, is a long time away from opening due to processes: 5 or 7 years is my guess too. The very concerning thing is, pre-application submissions could and should have been made on both possibilities - to compare them, but nothing seems to have been done at all. Our owners have had 3+years now with nothing public to show us - hmmmm. Are they even bothered now, as a couple of million tops to run both feasibility studies and early public consultations on draft schemes for each should have been done by now - if they were serious. I do not think they are. Demand for match tickets outstrips supply - which is exactly what they want to keep the stadium full for every home game. Ticking along nicely.
Insightful article. Should be standard reading for the "just get it done" brigade. My eldest brother is a Clerk of Works, previously involved in work on British Admiralty, along with the construction of the British Library and the Visitors' Centre at Stonehenge, etc. He's always telling me how long it takes to get such projects up and running, never mind completed.
Incidentally, I'll be 69 this month - hoping I'm just going to see the opening in my lifetime, lol !
Thanks Andrew really appreciate that, if you’ve not done so check the others out that I’ve written.
Interesting article. I’m not sure I agree with your 3 stages though. Let me explain why.
A common question often asked in business is: ‘’What’s the difference between strategy and tactics?”
Research shows that many businesses don’t have a clear marketing strategy or plan. Without a clear strategy, it’s likely some of their tactics may be poorly directed, leading to the business not moving forward in the desired way. Sound familiar……………
Strategy dictates what is needed to achieve your goals and vision. Tactics are the detail of the strategy, how exactly that will happen.
A great example of that in recent times was the Arsenal semi-final match at SJP. Eddie Howe decided that his strategy to win the game was to win the midfield. Not to defend at all costs. Not to go gung-ho. Dominate midfield and win the ball. His tactic to achieve that was to allow one of the central defenders to step forward into midfield thus creating an overload in the midfied. The strategy, and the tactics, worked perfectly.
In November 2004, NUFC Chief operating officer Brad Miller said: “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Do we invest and transform St. James’ as we see it today on the site where we are? Or do we take that bold move and think about moving? We want to make sure it is a very robust process. So regardless of the outcome, I want to stand up in front of everybody throughout the process and say, 'This is why it is a logical decision, with long-term competitiveness in mind.'”
That’s a really cliched way of saying; “We haven’t decided a strategy yet. I’ll get back to you when we have one.”
And I think that’s what’s bothering most fans .
You say stage 1 is the “Define stage – Quite literally defining the required works of the project and developing a design to meet that.”
I say Stage 1 is defining the strategy because if there is no strategy, there is no project. If there is no project, there’s nothing to design and this is where the frustration is building because the club seem reluctant to confirm any strategy.
But surely the club could make a strategy statement, without committing itself unnecessarily to the tactics.
For example, if the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to deliver the greatest supporter experience in the world and we are looking at all possibilities of doing that” – that would tell us SOMETHING,
If the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to be self funding” (think Mike Ashley -that did tell us SOMETHING).
If the club issued a statement saying: “Our strategy as a club is to win the Premier League within 5 years”, that would tell us SOMETHING.
But what have we had? NOTHING. And that’s what makes fans nervous.
Because if there is no strategy, there’s no commitment to anything.
Having the richest owners in the world is worth nothing if they aren’t committed.
Show your commitment PIF. Make an announcement.
Thanks for taking the time to think about this and reply. It’s difficult to summarise an entire project lifecycle into 900 words (or slightly over as I normally am).
I’ve used HMG terminology for simplicity to be honest and you are right there are actually 5 stages to the lifecycle. The article is written post selection of opportunity hence only the three I’ve written about. The other two are: Feasibility and Appraise & Select as an FYI, which you talk about in your reply.
You can also use other lifecycle tools like RIBA Plan of Work to describe a project lifecycle but I didn’t want to get ‘too into it’ for 900 words.
Thanks again for reading and commentating.
Good stuff Stephen, and a real insight. I'm involved in Life safety systems myself, namely Voice Alarm systems. If anyone fancies a deep dive into the subject, this will be of interest. It came about as a direct result of Ibrox, but has been updated twice after Bradford and Hillsborough. Not sure they've read it at Elland Road, mind ;)
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/media/document/guide-to-safety-at-sports-grounds
Interesting! I’ve actually read that document, skimmed, when I was researching safe standing a couple of years back. Being a saddo it was an interesting read.
Us saddos have to stick together lol. I quote it a lot as it explains why you’re never more than 30m from a steward these days, not like the old days when you were herded into pens and never saw anyone in charge!