First I've heard of this. Do we know if this initiative was started by RD or previous regime? Heading towards upgrade of Academy status?
The plan has existed for a while but not the funding to take it forward.
RD has already gone on the record that they had expanded one the original plans.
Sorry to nitpick, but wasn't it Meire who said that the plans were going to be improved? I'd be interested to know what changes either have been made or are to be made to the original plans.
The plans have existing since Peter Varney was on the board.
KM said at the VIP meeting that RD had made the plans bigger and better and that the plans had been submitted.
Excellent news
They worked very quickly then, considering the drawings are dated January and they took us over in........ seems like they've not changed too much and are in a hurry to get it done
Some plans were put together under Peter Varney. Steve Bradshaw took up the baton under the last owners and he openly mentioned a £5m price tag to various audiences last year. As mentioned this may well be a new improved version. CAFC were awarded cat 2 status this time last year and have to wait either two or three years to apply for Cat 1. So along with signing Jackson this is another sign that there is an overall plan to grow the club. If this building goes ahead it should prove a major attraction to both players and coaching staff which can only help long term.
It's all well and good that the wonderful owners of the past drew up plans for a project that they could never afford, Roland has been here 1 month and is already looking to do something about an even better upgrade ...Fair play to him.
The hold up was that the Community Trust could put in their 3m and PV had other funding lined up but when he left the funding left too.
The 2m shortfall was down to TJ and MS but they couldnt/wouldnt fund it.
IMO great news and big step to being a Cat 1 academy but before people start claiming this proves RD right and any dissenters wrong investing in the academy but not the first team is consistant with the feeder club theory.
Personally I don't buy the feeder club idea but this a long term build and doesn't address the short term team building requirement to keep us up this year and push on next.
Ideally we would want both (and the new pitch and ground improvement and more money for the museum) but if RD also wants us to break even then something is going to have to give.
Hence why clarification of the business plan is needed.
But this build is good news, should and could have happened three years ago but credit to RD for making it happen pretty much as he could
Not saying that this is a substitute for strengthening the first team squad - either for the rest of this season or next - but along with investment on the pitch means that RD has eyes on improving the infra structure of the Club to allow it to grow organically, rather than throw money at the problem.
Not saying that this is a substitute for strengthening the first team squad - either for the rest of this season or next - but along with investment on the pitch means that RD has eyes on improving the infra structure of the Club to allow it to grow organically, rather than throw money at the problem.
Which is good however it means that in the long term things will be sweet and dandy but for the next 3 or 4 years it could be a bumpy ride while we wait for the organic growth to come to fruition.
@Henry Irving is this feeder club theory the one put out by the Daily Mail and comprehensively demolished by Grapevine49 the other day? I am pleased you don't buy it either because unfortunately a lot of fans do given that it has been repeated now by the Standard and the Express.
Clearly it does not solve our goal scoring issues right now but the submission of planning is another part of the strategy becoming clearer.
This summer will tell us all we need to know about the ambition of the new owner and it clearly cannot be revealed in advance for reasons of commercial confidentiality. Who is retained out of the first team squad and who is brought in on and off the pitch will be a clear indication of the ambition, direction of travel and speed.
Personally I don't buy the feeder club idea but this a long term build and doesn't address the short term team building requirement to keep us up this year and push on next.
Do you not see a resemblance with Crewe? It's all well and good producing tons of talent ala Poyet, but my worries lie in the fact we will see at most one season out of them before he cashes that player in. I understand we are a selling club and we are all used to that, but the certainty as to what we will do, r.e. selling them once the cash is offered worries me. They intend to break even as a business, and if you pump money into something, to break even you have to get that return back. Our academy is the money maker hence why he is investing heavily here, in my opinion.
Also the fact the urgency (and money) is based upon our academy and not our first team (of which we all pay and care about) is a small indication of what this means to our new owners, he is not spending a penny for our current team and is instantly splashing cash for his cash cow that is the academy, I'm not sure I can see this changing. Smokes and mirrors to me..
Southampton had to sell bale, Walcott and oxlade Chamberlain. If we can keep producing we''ll eventually be in a position to start keeping the players like soton are now. No smoke and mirrors for me
Katrien has confirmed that the management team are most concerned that we remain in tier 2 next season and continue to look for reinforcements b4 the window closes.
The plans are great, and it is much better to have the facilities than not have them. If Roland is straight away going to get this lot built (poor old SLL will have a lot of traffic up and down the road), then what's not to like?
I reckon there are many more out there who can understand financial in greater depth than me. But is this like a free gift? If it is a six million pound spend then I suppose the money has to come from within the business, and I seem to remember Roland saying that the business ought to break even. I don't know over what term it takes to break even with that kind of spending.
I think the Crewe Alexandra analogy is becoming quite a helpful one. Maybe Charlton Athletic will become the Crewe Alexandra of Europe, a bit like Auxerre in France for French football.
The example of Auxerre is a good one, they enjoyed success in France under Guy Roux, and that may be something of the destiny of Charlton Athletic. Crewe are not quite the same though, never having enjoyed much success despite Dario Gradi's excellent managership time there. However both clubs have survived There really is a lot to be said for a good academy, and the right development of young players, we should know because the record at Charlton Athletic stands comparison with anyone. However if Charlton Athletic are only a factory farm for footballers, what of the first team? Will players always be player for footballing reasons, or to be in a constant shop window for other clubs to size up, and then take away? I would love to believe that the primary purpose of the Charlton athletic academy at Sparrows Lane is to produce players who will grace our first team and get us success. I hope that is the way it will go.
Comments
Snazzy.
KM said at the VIP meeting that RD had made the plans bigger and better and that the plans had been submitted.
Excellent news
http://publicaccess.royalgreenwich.gov.uk:81/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do;jsessionid=2F9FAAB0F65580DF9E48CA094A4D5F42?action=firstPage
Yet another sign that RD is investing in our long term future.
RD has already gone on the record that they had expanded one the original plans.
Sorry, what's that?
Oh.
Yeh - way to go Roland.
So which numpty thinks that RD is an asset stripper? Crazy thinking or what.
CAFC were awarded cat 2 status this time last year and have to wait either two or three years to apply for Cat 1.
So along with signing Jackson this is another sign that there is an overall plan to grow the club. If this building goes ahead it should prove a major attraction to both players and coaching staff which can only help long term.
The 2m shortfall was down to TJ and MS but they couldnt/wouldnt fund it.
IMO great news and big step to being a Cat 1 academy but before people start claiming this proves RD right and any dissenters wrong investing in the academy but not the first team is consistant with the feeder club theory.
Personally I don't buy the feeder club idea but this a long term build and doesn't address the short term team building requirement to keep us up this year and push on next.
Ideally we would want both (and the new pitch and ground improvement and more money for the museum) but if RD also wants us to break even then something is going to have to give.
Hence why clarification of the business plan is needed.
But this build is good news, should and could have happened three years ago but credit to RD for making it happen pretty much as he could
Not saying that this is a substitute for strengthening the first team squad - either for the rest of this season or next - but along with investment on the pitch means that RD has eyes on improving the infra structure of the Club to allow it to grow organically, rather than throw money at the problem.
Clearly it does not solve our goal scoring issues right now but the submission of planning is another part of the strategy becoming clearer.
This summer will tell us all we need to know about the ambition of the new owner and it clearly cannot be revealed in advance for reasons of commercial confidentiality. Who is retained out of the first team squad and who is brought in on and off the pitch will be a clear indication of the ambition, direction of travel and speed.
Also the fact the urgency (and money) is based upon our academy and not our first team (of which we all pay and care about) is a small indication of what this means to our new owners, he is not spending a penny for our current team and is instantly splashing cash for his cash cow that is the academy, I'm not sure I can see this changing. Smokes and mirrors to me..
I reckon there are many more out there who can understand financial in greater depth than me. But is this like a free gift?
If it is a six million pound spend then I suppose the money has to come from within the business, and I seem to remember Roland saying that the business ought to break even. I don't know over what term it takes to break even with that kind of spending.
I think the Crewe Alexandra analogy is becoming quite a helpful one. Maybe Charlton Athletic will become the Crewe Alexandra of Europe, a bit like Auxerre in France for French football.
The example of Auxerre is a good one, they enjoyed success in France under Guy Roux, and that may be something of the destiny of Charlton Athletic. Crewe are not quite the same though, never having enjoyed much success despite Dario Gradi's excellent managership time there. However both clubs have survived
There really is a lot to be said for a good academy, and the right development of young players, we should know because the record at Charlton Athletic stands comparison with anyone.
However if Charlton Athletic are only a factory farm for footballers, what of the first team? Will players always be player for footballing reasons, or to be in a constant shop window for other clubs to size up, and then take away? I would love to believe that the primary purpose of the Charlton athletic academy at Sparrows Lane is to produce players who will grace our first team and get us success. I hope that is the way it will go.