Club looking to increase Ibrox capacity to 60,000 by 2030?

[Kilwinnin Bluenose]

Yes because strengthening the first team within the “ rules” is priority.

You clearly have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. Read up on Financial Fair Play rules. This would have no impact on what we could spend on players in the short-term. Long-term though, it would increase it.

 

[govanite]

We simply don’t have the funds to do this. It’s never happening.

That’s what they said in the 1970s it’s happening.

 

[club175]

We simply don’t have the funds to do this. It’s never happening.

Hearts a year after administration built a new main stand. Why on earth can we not build anything ? Surely we just finance it like any other club does.

 

[Dire Straits]

Given the extremely high price of building materials and skilled labour shortages and demands at the moment I don't imagine it's the greatest value to plan a project like this at present. If commited to anything and cost continue to rise a project could end up costing a fortune over any optimistic budget

 

[Dugsy]

Could end up with 55,000 season tickets and when we get to Hampden only about 15000 tickets to hand out.Great isn't it?

Ah well, that’s it then.

Let’s just cut the capacity so we get more tickets for Hampdump 4 times a season!!

 

[rangeral]

I would love to see Ibrox get proper expansion but these stories every few months feel similar to Murray when plans used to get published for a redeveloped stadium. No information or realistic way to fund it but is a good talking point for AGMs.

I think yes we need a proper expansion but it has to be financially worthwhile capacity wise

Clearly they will have some plans in mind

Despite the guy claiming the source is the The Herald there is no mention on their website or even the Glasgow Times

 

[Cambuslangger]

Fill in the corners and put an extra tier on the Govan. Would keep the stadium looking symmetrical with the Main Stand and the Govan being the same height as each other. Might not get to 60k but would not be far off and the chance to increase hospitality seats and the extra revenue that brings. Probs about £60m-£80m to do that though. Some funky funding ideas would be required.

 

[barshawranger]

Likewise, but I would imagine this project would be funded separately from our player signings etc

I agree. UEFA's Financial Sustainability rules cover transfer fees and wages, but do not take spending on ground and infrastructure projects into account. If the Board borrow or find some other way of financing the stadium expansion we all want I don't believe this should harm the playing budget.

 

[MVLoyal]

That is just not true. One or very rarely 2 tickets may be available but there are a lot of family groups who have no chance to sit together. There are 6 of us desperate to sit together but it is impossible. People now think they "own" seats in Ibrox. They don't.

Just looking the 6 seats together then?

 

[RH_2020]

We can't fill in the corners loyal. Unless we win the euromillions. The corners support the roof

With that sort of attitude we’ll never make it to mars!

 

[RH_2020]

I agree. UEFA's Financial Sustainability rules cover transfer fees and wages, but do not take spending on ground and infrastructure projects into account. If the Board borrow or find some other way of financing the stadium expansion we all want I don't believe this should harm the playing budget.

It might not affect it in terms of falling foul of FFP but are we not running about 90% wages to turnover, therefore there wouldn’t be very much left to pay back the loan so it would presumably affect what we could spend on transfers?

 

[ATF1001]

What gets me is when I see 2030 I think thats so far in the future but the fact its only 5 and half years away

 

[barshawranger]

Move to Murrayfield for 2 years. Immediately sell 65k Season Tickets and increase Ibrox to 70,000

That would be terrific, however I think the residents of Murrayfield and nearby areas in Edinburgh's West End would be less than thrilled with this proposal.
We all want solutions which work well for the Rangers however the views of others must be considered. This includes the majority of our match attending fans who are based in Glasgow and the West, we would suffer the cost and inconvenience of additional travel.

 

[Marfc_84]

I think the easiest solution is to give everyone from now til 2030 season to loose half their body weight.

90,000 stadium for 2030/31

 

[bud_light]

If this was going to happen you would probably be looking at naming rights from a huge company.
Money from them in the first place to build the extension and ongoing sponsorship

 

[barshawranger]

It might not affect it in terms of falling foul of FFP but are we not running about 90% wages to turnover, therefore there wouldn’t be very much left to pay back the loan so it would presumably affect what we could spend on transfers?

I'm not sure of our current staff costs to turnover ratio, I thought UEFA's guideline was 70% but perhaps I'm wrong.
In terms of financing capital expenditure I'm thinking the Board will look at some form of supporter Debenture scheme for at least part of the funding, maybe sponsorship in the form of Stadium or individual stand naming rights ?
You're quite right when you say the cost of servicing borrowing must have some financial impact on the club. I'd like to think that given the successful business track record of our plc Board members as well as the huge uplift in our commercial revenues in recent years that a way could be found to take the club forward both on and off the pitch.

 

[BlueMalky]

The roof beams of the newer stands are the main problem, particularly the Govan. I’ve always wondered if the roof beams could be replaced without removing the rest of the roof structure. The two ends could be done with new support columns outside the stadium footprint at the Govan side but these would either need to be strong enough to support the Govan roof or it would need a new goalpost support with a beam stretching beyond the end stands which would be difficult from an engineering viewpoint. That would allow filling of the corners to full height and a capacity of 58-60k. Alternatively and more expensively, the Govan roof would need to be replaced by a lightweight cantilever structure. The board would then have to consider if a third tier on the Govan would be feasible taking the capacity possibly as high as 70k although I wouldn’t fancy the view from the back row!!

 

[The Logan Roy Experience]

Firstly , it’s crucial that we do everything we can to increase capacity

Secondly, it’s makes it even more short sighted to be continuing to sell the car park land for flats when there is obviously going to be an increased demand for our own supporters for parking (hospitality / premium price parking)

If we are really depending on this land deal money in short term, that is concerning when the long term financial value of the land is obviously so much more

 

[TheHammerJorgAlbertz11]

Could have the largest capacity arena in the UK…

…if the team on the pitch aren’t capable of winning League Championships then the place will never be full (derbies & Europe excluded).

Any funding we can obtain needs focused squarely on the footballing operation, not infrastructure.

The staduim is fuller now than when we were winning 9 in a row.

One thing the Rangers support have shown the past decade, is that we ain't glory hunters.

Increasing the capacity at Ibrox should be a priority.

People on this thread seem to be thinking that we would need to pay this off in a oner.

 

[RH_2020]

I'm not sure of our current staff costs to turnover ratio, I thought UEFA's guideline was 70% but perhaps I'm wrong.
In terms of financing capital expenditure I'm thinking the Board will look at some form of supporter Debenture scheme for at least part of the funding, maybe sponsorship in the form of Stadium or individual stand naming rights ?
You're quite right when you say the cost of servicing borrowing must have some financial impact on the club. I'd like to think that given the successful business track record of our plc Board members as well as the huge uplift in our commercial revenues in recent years that a way could be found to take the club forward both on and off the pitch.

Sure you are right, I’m no expert in n the finer financial points, we need a bigger capacity and if it does affect budget then difficult decisions have to be made otherwise we will never do anything.

Just a pity we’ve not been able to take advantage of some CL money recently and player sales.

 

[Barrymoped]

Seems to me like a positive good news story and it’s full of people whining like wee girls. Unreal.

 

[King Albertz]

Pointless making it a pissing contest with the Dhims, for those choosing to put that angle on things. They could easily expand by redeveloping their Main Stand.

Let’s do what we can afford. If that’s 60k then great. If it’s 55k then that’s fine too.

More folk will come to watch a winning team. That’s the first thing to address.

I’m sure the ‘estimate’ to fill the corners was in the region of £25m-£30m. No idea where that money would come from, never mind any bigger schemes. And you can be sure any ‘estimate’ would,in reality, rise by circa 25% anyway.

Long term loan. Would pay itself off

 

[King Albertz]

At the recent fans forum I managed to speak to a few of the staff after the event,

I mentioned about the need for a larger capacity as a revenue generator but also a means to help those who want a season ticket but can't get one at present,

The two main issues the staff mentioned were the water table and the costs involved in moving out of Ibrox for a season to do the works,

Looks like we're going for the solution that Liverpool and Fulham used which is to do the work while still playing at the stadium

Can we not just use Hampden for a year, spurs used Wembley, think that mob used Hampden back in the day as well

 

[PaxBritannica]

Megabrox jpg or riot

I got you mate!

 

[Diego Maradona]

Can we not just use Hampden for a year, spurs used Wembley, think that mob used Hampden back in the day as well

I’d take a year out if that happened tbh.

 

[Avalonpark]

We need a mega billionaire to fund this. A Mark Zuckerberg type

Either that or thinner seats , fits more seats into existing stands, that would be a cheap option. And a weight limit for ST applications!

 

[LyonGer]

New stadium is the only option

Offt.
Where?

 

[The People]

Hopefully our club will release plans and let us know where and when increases in capacity will take place

 

[Robert1872]

Really don’t feel the need to expand Ibrox.

However many is on the waiting list doesn’t actually mean that said number would an actually buy one.

nearly every game is freely available to get tickets out with Celtic. There’s absolutely no need to do this and it’ll massively harm us going forward thankfully I suspect it won’t happen. Few thousand fine but no more.

They would sell season tickets no problem, a lot of people dont go because they cant get seats together with there kids, mates would end up buying them as there sitting together.

It wouldnt be full every week, the empty seats would already be paid for though.

 

[Coop1872]

Fill in the corners and put an extra tier on the Govan. Would keep the stadium looking symmetrical with the Main Stand and the Govan being the same height as each other. Might not get to 60k but would not be far off and the chance to increase hospitality seats and the extra revenue that brings. Probs about £60m-£80m to do that though. Some funky funding ideas would be required.

If only Murray had followed through on the original plan to fill in the corners without the screens.

 

[Hamilcar_Barca]

I think yes we need a proper expansion but it has to be financially worthwhile capacity wise

Clearly they will have some plans in mind

Despite the guy claiming the source is the The Herald there is no mention on their website or even the Glasgow Times

having 20k on the waiting list is utter madness. That's over £100m in lost revenue over the course of a decade.

If we are looking at expansion we would be as well looking to completely rebuild the Broomloan, Govan and Copland.

 

[Candyass]

Hearts a year after administration built a new main stand. Why on earth can we not build anything ? Surely we just finance it like any other club does.

I'm often quite pragmatic about our finances, but I agree with you here.

Not having those extra 10k seats over the last 4-5 seasons has easily costs us £25m+, the business case for external finance is extremely strong.

 

[VMS]

Offt.
Where?

Where there is ground avaliable with adequate transport links

 

[Awaydays]

FF in a nutshell.

Maybe J K Rowling is a closet Bear and wants a stand named after her?

The way I see it mate, is how many are going to hang around if we keep going the way we are. I've went to Rangers games, when the only guaranteed sell outs were against them or the big name European clubs.

Football must take precedence over everything else. By this I'm not saying a huge spend on bringing in players, but a first class academy bringing through youth to blend with better players, who we could afford if we don't go down the path of wanting complete squad turn arounds every season. Good young players and more money to spend on fewer players, but better players.

 

[blueismycolour]

Any increase has to be bigger than the Scums..

 

[rangeral]

having 20k on the waiting list is utter madness. That's over £100m in lost revenue over the course of a decade.

If we are looking at expansion we would be as well looking to completely rebuild the Broomloan, Govan and Copland.

Yeah understand that but would costly to do a full 3 stand rebuild

 

[Coopers left foot.]

Where the fuckin source ?

The chapel.

 

[Barrymoped]

Where there is ground avaliable with adequate transport links

I’d be absolutely staggered if we ever moved away from Ibrox

 

[Florabear]

If this was a normal business relocation would be the sensible model.

But for most clubs it's a no.

For us it's more than a stadium. It's a monument to those we lost.

 

[VMS]

I’d be absolutely staggered if we ever moved away from Ibrox

It's all about cost would not bother me if we got a new stadium

 

[Superted 1872]

We the fans will have to put our hands in our pocket for us to be remotely able to spend that sort of cash

 

[yosser hughes]

Any increase has to be bigger than the Scums..

not sure we will ever get that again, if this proposal ever does see the light of day it would bring us level with their current capacity, at this moment in time they are sitting with 70 odd million in the bank and the probability that they will be receiving 40 odd million from champs league should they win this league ,they can sell a couple players this summer to finance their summer signings coming I and so ,in all likelihood they could be sitting with north of 100 million in the bank this time next year, I believe they will throw a tier above their main stand to fully create the bowl and get them to about 75,000, so we will be continually playing catch up, we need to find finance for any ground expansion, they have the funds to go ahead

 

[Hamilcar_Barca]

It's all about cost would not bother me if we got a new stadium

Under no circumstances should we ever leave Ibrox.

 

[TerrySilverLoyal]

We aren’t rebuilding the Govan so let’s just knock that on the head

Spent a few million doing the lounges etc.

 

[Valley Bluenose]

Long term loan. Would pay itself off

It would have to be a loan. And a very big loan at that - maybe too rich for us to get it from our investors. And a loan, even on beneficial terms from investors, carries a cost in terms of interest.

 

[King Albertz]

It would have to be a loan. And a very big loan at that - maybe too rich for us to get it from our investors. And a loan, even on beneficial terms from investors, carries a cost in terms of interest.

It does, but still need to do it

It's a very safe investment

 

[King Albertz]

not sure we will ever get that again, if this proposal ever does see the light of day it would bring us level with their current capacity, at this moment in time they are sitting with 70 odd million in the bank and the probability that they will be receiving 40 odd million from champs league should they win this league ,they can sell a couple players this summer to finance their summer signings coming I and so ,in all likelihood they could be sitting with north of 100 million in the bank this time next year, I believe they will throw a tier above their main stand to fully create the bowl and get them to about 75,000, so we will be continually playing catch up, we need to find finance for any ground expansion, they have the funds to go ahead

They can't fill 60k

Would be madness if they did that

 

[King Albertz]

I honestly think 60k is too much, we don't sell out any game except the OF and euro (even not all euro games)

Getting to 55k would be about right

 

[HarryBosch]

The way I see it mate, is how many are going to hang around if we keep going the way we are. I've went to Rangers games, when the only guaranteed sell outs were against them or the big name European clubs.

Football must take precedence over everything else. By this I'm not saying a huge spend on bringing in players, but a first class academy bringing through youth to blend with better players, who we could afford if we don't go down the path of wanting complete squad turn arounds every season. Good young players and more money to spend on fewer players, but better players.

As stated in the post I quoted, investing in infrastructure doesn't have the same restraints as investing in players.
And whether the football side is winning or not, the infrastructure still requires maintenance and improvement.

And further, if supporters won't hang around because we might not win the league then off they should f**k, because glory hunters aren't required.

 

[club175]

I honestly think 60k is too much, we don't sell out any game except the OF and euro (even not all euro games)

Getting to 55k would be about right

we are losing the next generation of fans as we don’t have the facility for families or groups to get tickets to matches.

We are the biggest club in Scotland and should have the biggest stadium to reflect this. Better to aim big rather than playing safe