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Substituting Stadia and Facilities

Substituting Stadia and Facilities

Matt Pochin-Hawkes 30 Jul 2020
In football anything can happen. As a Leicester fan I know this first hand; going from fighting a relegation battle one season to winning the league at 5000-1 odds the next (and no, I hadn’t put a tenner on that eventuality).
Despite football’s unpredictability, clubs need to plan for the future and remain one step ahead of the game to be competitive. For stadia, planning for the future often means: providing additional stadium capacity; expanding facilities to provide more diverse and regular income streams; and upgrading facilities to meeting new FA requirements.
The question of how football clubs put these plans into action varies greatly and is hugely dependant on a club’s financial position and objectives. Strategies range from: smaller scale and shorter-term upgrades to facilities; investment in new purpose-built stadium/facilities at or adjacent to an existing stadium; or development of a new stadium at an entirely new site. Increasingly, clubs are also seeking to introduce alternative uses to kick-start development and facilitate longer-term investment returns through an expanded non-matchday non-sporting offer.
Land availability, finances, investment returns (existing and anticipated), needs of the fanbase, the heritage of the club, mixed-use opportunities and environmental sensitivities are all factors influencing whether and how stadia and facilities are upgraded.
As with all redevelopment strategies, the decision on how to unlock new facilities needs to be carefully balanced against planning policy constraints. Green Belt, heritage and town centre policies are just some of the planning factors which can have a big influence. This blog – the third of a ‘hattrick’ of blogs – explores some of these influencing factors.

Home vs. Away: Is there a home advantage?

Some stadia have remained at the same ground for many decades; with urban development growing around them to create new development opportunities (through increasing land values and footfall) and challenges (through the introduction of amenity sensitive uses such as residential) for football clubs which need to be carefully navigated by redevelopment proposals.
Football architectural historian Simon Inglis comments that Manchester United’s Old Trafford (opened in 1910) was the first to have a long-term masterplan from the start; providing scope for incremental expansion on a large unencumbered site.
Whilst a stadium masterplan is now commonplace (particularly in the Premier League), few clubs initially followed Man Utd’s lead; ending up on cramped sites which evolved through ad-hoc organic expansion. Some clubs have made this work; harnessing the unique character and heritage of sites to their advantage and finding innovative ways to expand.
Fulham Football Club’s Craven Cottage oozes character and includes two listed buildings. The new Riverside Stand currently being built will sensitively balance the heritage of the site with the desire to establish an iconic building as a positive landmark along the river, capable of supporting a diversified food, beverage and hospitality offer; providing an enhanced stadium and truly mixed-use destination in its own right on the banks of the River Thames.
Other stadia strategies involve relocating stadia to new locations.
Highbury was the historic heart of Arsenal Football Club dating back to 1913. After the Gunners famous 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ season, Arsenal moved to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 – boosting capacity by over 20,000. Highbury was then partially demolished and redeveloped to provide 655 new home via Allies and Morrison’s Highbury Square development. Part funding the stadium move, the Highbury Square development incorporates the listed East and West Stands and reinvents the pitch as a communal garden. Whilst Wenger claims ‘we left our soul at Highbury’, and a programme of ‘Arsenalisation’ was needed to invigorate the spirit of Highbury, the stadium has created new opportunities beyond football, including conferencing and live music events.
Infamously, Wimbledon Football Club, after rejecting a variety of possible local sites, moved from south London to Milton Keynes in 2003. This ultimately splintered the club, spurring the creation of AFC Wimbledon and the rebranded MK Dons. AFC Wimbledon is now in the process of building a new stadium close to its spiritual home of Plough Lane as part of a joint venture with Galliard Homes. Alongside the stadium, the scheme includes 600 new homes, a squash and fitness club and retail space.

Substitution

Where more comprehensive upgrades are needed, new stadia redevelopment strategies can often involve building a new stadium next to the existing ground. The has the benefit of unlocking the redevelopment potential of the former stadium site and – on occasions – providing a smoother transition to a new ground through less interruption to home games (and associated match-day income streams).
For lower league clubs with a greater reliance on match-day revenue, the importance of minimising interruption to home games and catalysing redevelopment through alternative uses are crucial factors in unlocking new facilities.
Established in 1893, Dulwich Hamlet Football Club (DHFC) is one of the oldest league sides in London and has been part of the Dulwich community for over 125 years, with Champion Hill being DHFC’s home for the majority of that period.
Located on the same plot as the current stadium, the former stadium (‘The Hill’ – built in 1931) was demolished as it was in a poor state of repair and did not meet the safety standards of the time. The current stadium was then rebuilt on the same site in 1991, funded by development of the Sainsbury’s supermarket on the Club’s former training pitches next to the site.
Whilst the current stadium was built to meet prevailing standards, the stadium is now reaching the end of its economic life and is no longer fit for purpose. The grass pitch cannot be used intensively without compromising the quality of pitch and the existing stadium site cannot be upgraded to meet FA requirements of the league above (the National League) due to site constraints.
To meet these requirements, DHFC must increase the capacity of the stadium to 4,000 spectators and provide specific additional facilities for players, officials and the press. In addition, the club has a number of core redevelopment objectives which include supporting the local community and keeping the club profitable. Moving out of Dulwich was not an option (viable or otherwise).
The solution is a new stadium next to Champion Hill. A new 3G pitch and community stadium/leisure facility will enable DHFC to generate a sustained source of income on non-match-days and meet its community objectives by allowing use of the facilities by local school and community groups.
Residential redevelopment of the existing stadium site to provide around 200 new homes plays an enabling role by funding the new stadium and leisure facility. Phasing allows for players to use interim facilities at the current stadium whilst the new stadium is being built. The development aims to deliver a win-win for the club and local community, whilst sensitively and innovatively responding to the setting of the new pitch in Metropolitan Open Land.
The new stadium will have far reaching and wider benefits for the local community, including underpinning the important work DHFC does with the local community and charities.

Key Factors Influencing Development Strategies 

There is no one size fits all solution to how football clubs improve their facilities.
Decisions on how to provide new facilities are influenced by a myriad of factors which are often locational specific and strongly influenced by the philosophy of the club and its fanbase.
A common thread is the increasing co-location of residential, leisure, retail and food/beverage uses alongside stadia (as touched on in Ian’s earlier blog) and joint venture partnerships with developers. The mixed-use approach not only provides a diversified source of income (if managed by football clubs in the longer term) but also acts as a catalyst to kick-start and fund redevelopment proposals through enabling investment in new facilities through the increased value.
Successful strategies, whether they involve refurbishment/expansion or creation of an entirely new stadium, depend on capturing the development opportunities to meet the needs of the club and articulating the scheme benefits to secure support from local communities and decision makers.
With discussions turning to how stadia will reopen to fans, short and long-term planning strategies for clubs, stadia and facilities will become increasingly important as normal play begins to resume.

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Community goals

Community goals

Dan Di-Lieto 26 Jun 2020
For many people their football club is their life - a constant social outlet they depend on which has shaped multiple generations of families. Clubs have (consciously or not) developed responsibilities beyond simply winning football matches and the importance of their role in society has come into even sharper focus in recent months as a result of the limitations imposed on us by COVID-19.
The football industry as a whole continues to bear the brunt of public scrutiny around what it “gives back” - a more recent phenomenon linked to the influx of money into clubs - particularly top teams - in the past 15 years. Such scrutiny ignores the fact that the majority of clubs have been in the same area for over a hundred years and are often the building blocks on which communities have grown both physically and socially - in sharp contrast to other businesses of similar financial scale and reach. Criticism tends to focus on the headline sums of money which flow into clubs (especially the proportion that goes to players) without consideration of the wider role of clubs within their local communities.
When it comes to the interaction between football clubs and the planning system it becomes critical to challenge this narrative and communicate the real socio-economic benefits of clubs and stadia so that they can be given full and proper consideration by planning authorities and in the court of public opinion.
In the first blog of this series, my colleague outlined the example of the case put forward for the new Riverside Stand at Fulham Football Club. Lichfields used our Evaluate model to prepare a bespoke infographic (below) highlighting the community benefits of local investment, employment opportunities, improvements to local community facilities, continued support of local charities and other initiatives run by, or affiliated with, football clubs.
Figure 1 Lichfields’ Infographic: Economic and Social Impacts of Fulham FC Pre and Post New Riverside Stand 

Source: Lichfields

This type of project, by a club at their own stadium from which they have operated for over 100 years, can be considered a traditional example of football stadia development in one sense. The approach adopted to promote the scheme focuses on the established relationship between the club and local community and the long term socio-economic benefits which would arise from the new investment.
When trying to further define the role that football clubs play in communities it is helpful to explore case studies which depart from this standard model. Lichfields has advised The FA on planning matters in respect of Wembley Stadium for over 20 years and have promoted a number of the community initiatives linked with the venue over this period. A recent example of this can be seen through Tottenham Hotspur FC’s (THFC) temporary occupation of Wembley Stadium during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. As a result of restrictions on the original permission for the stadium, Lichfields worked with THFC to seek consent to increase the number of full capacity events that could be held to cover their home matches for this period. As part of this process THFC undertook to ensure that they could offer the same benefits to the local community in Brent that they have done for decades in Tottenham.
This initiative was spearheaded by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and was spread across a number of areas including employment, education, sport, health, wellbeing and community & social cohesion. The key highlights of the initiative were:
  • Thousands of complimentary tickets distributed to local residents;

  • A School Sports Programme that has delivered over 1,150 free PE lessons in 15 Primary Schools, reaching over 2,700 children aged 5-11 in and around Wembley;

  • Major Jobs Fairs held at Wembley Stadium, attracting employers with live job vacancies from a range of industries - including Hilton Hotels, the Met Police and BT;

  • Providing Customer Service training to young people at a volunteer matchday kiosk at Wembley;

  • The launch of a health and wellbeing scheme run in partnership with Neasden Temple involving a weight management course, regular health checks, cultural-specific nutritional advice and a range of physical activities for over 200 members of the Temple’s community; and,

  • The Club’s support and sponsorship of Council-led initiatives including My Heart Beats for Brent, ‘Keep Wembley Tidy’ and Wembley’s festive lights.
In addition to this THFC put in place a legacy programme for the Borough to continue the delivery of the volunteer kiosk model for all England matches played at Wembley and so that the Wellbeing 4 You initiative will continue to be delivered at full capacity.
Such activities are representative of the types of initiative undertaken by many clubs at every level of the footballing pyramid and illustrate how closely intertwined they are with the needs of their local communities. Both Fulham and THFC have their own charitable Foundations which drive investment and involvement locally but such support is proffered by every club. My local team Stevenage F.C. are struggling on the pitch (currently bottom of the fourth tier of professional football) but have been running a Coronavirus Community Careline to help local residents who need help whilst in self-isolation.
Whilst it may seem that no number of good news stories can outweigh the cold hard numbers of what top players earn on a weekly basis, the break from on-pitch activity during the COVID-19 outbreak has helped to shine a light on what clubs and their stadia give back to communities. The challenge for football clubs moving forwards will be to adjust to the new economic reality and there are already indications that the bubble has burst (at least for now) on high transfer fees and wages. This provides a stepping off point to consider how a more holistic approach to stadia (looking beyond football) can be employed to support individuals and businesses that will struggle in the coming months and years.



 

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