Rival Watch

[AthleticoSpizz]

^ It’s football….

And Luton have earned the rights to it

Enjoy your day trips Manchesters, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aresoles etc etc, if it were down to me, I’d have the the ‘poor loves’ changing in the neighbours garden sheds.

I truly hope Luton maintain their Prem status for a while….at least until they get their new stadium.

[Royal_jimmy]

Would be nice but I expect them to drop straight back down. Same for Sheffield United as well.

[Pepe the Horseman]

I hope they don't win a single game.

[Stranded]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

[The Cap]

Can imagine the ref walking into one of the more salubrious houses, where the reply is "Not you again, can't you see I'm cooking the Sunday roast. Now piss off next door"

[YoungRon]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

It's more a question of money. The more money they put into it, the more workers they attract, the faster it will be done. Do they want to put more money into it than they can? Or want to

[MartinRdg]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

I think I read something that said they needed to spend £10m over the summer just to be allowed to play there next season in the Prem but may only be a short term solution

[Elm Park Kid]

West Brom have given Gourlay the boot.

https://twitter.com/james_e1871/status/ ... 1045431298

[Hound]

No surprise there then

[tidus_mi2]

Weird that West Brom fans haven't turned on him like we did.

[From Despair To Where?]

Weird that West Brom fans haven't turned on him like we did.

He was extremely unpopular but benefitted from being less unpopular than their owner.

[Ascotexgunner]

West Brom have given Gourlay the boot.

https://twitter.com/james_e1871/status/ ... 1045431298

B*ll*ks, I was hoping he would be there longer driving them over the FFP cliff.

[Mr Angry]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

I think I read something that said they needed to spend £10m over the summer just to be allowed to play there next season in the Prem but may only be a short term solution

Yep; the Telegraph reported it as being a need to spend £10M in 75 days. The Premier League give tranches of money ahead of schedule to help newly promoted clubs (we needed to spend a load of cash on bringing the amenities for press etc up to snuff the first time we went up).

Just makes you wonder what would have happened to Elm Park had we gone up in 1995..........

[Elm Park Kid]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

I think I read something that said they needed to spend £10m over the summer just to be allowed to play there next season in the Prem but may only be a short term solution

Yep; the Telegraph reported it as being a need to spend £10M in 75 days. The Premier League give tranches of money ahead of schedule to help newly promoted clubs (we needed to spend a load of cash on bringing the amenities for press etc up to snuff the first time we went up).

Just makes you wonder what would have happened to Elm Park had we gone up in 1995..........

I doubt that Luton would have a problem borrowing £10m given that they will have a guaranteed income of something like £120m+ next season.

[Stranded]

Has it be clarified yet if they will even be able to play at Kenilworth Road next season?

Last I heard the ground does not meet the minimum requirements for PL football, particularly the requirements for TV, VAR as well as a few other points. The work needed to bring it up to code is doable but whether it can be done by 15th August is questionable. They could play their first 2 or 3 games away but would really put them up against it.

If it can't be done then they would likely need to groundshare and given there is zero chance of that being at Watford, MK would be the likely destination.

Possible of course that they get given a 12 month amnesty to get up to code but given how key TV money is to the PL, that verges on the unlikely side.

I think I read something that said they needed to spend £10m over the summer just to be allowed to play there next season in the Prem but may only be a short term solution

Yep; the Telegraph reported it as being a need to spend £10M in 75 days. The Premier League give tranches of money ahead of schedule to help newly promoted clubs (we needed to spend a load of cash on bringing the amenities for press etc up to snuff the first time we went up).

Just makes you wonder what would have happened to Elm Park had we gone up in 1995..........

Not much - hadn't Madjeski pretty much confirmed that we would have played at QPR? Of course the regulations were much different in 95, so we may have been able to get by at EP for a year and promotion may well have seen the stadium open a year or two earlier.

[Clyde1998]

I think I read something that said they needed to spend £10m over the summer just to be allowed to play there next season in the Prem but may only be a short term solution

Yep; the Telegraph reported it as being a need to spend £10M in 75 days. The Premier League give tranches of money ahead of schedule to help newly promoted clubs (we needed to spend a load of cash on bringing the amenities for press etc up to snuff the first time we went up).

Just makes you wonder what would have happened to Elm Park had we gone up in 1995..........

Not much - hadn't Madjeski pretty much confirmed that we would have played at QPR? Of course the regulations were much different in 95, so we may have been able to get by at EP for a year and promotion may well have seen the stadium open a year or two earlier.

Elm Park wasn't technically suitable for Division One football at the time, but there was the three-year amnesty for newly promoted clubs to have a firm plan in place to replace/upgrade their stadium. We may have been allowed a single season, but whether we would've been able to build the new ground in that time is very uncertain given we didn't have planning permission at that point.

I believe the last club to have terracing in the Premier League was Fulham in the early 2000s [link from 2000]. That link states "The last Premiership clubs to be allowed standing areas were Sunderland, at Roker Park, and Bolton Wanderers, at Burnden Park, in 1996-97. Both were given special dispensation while their new stadiums were completed." That implies we probably could've maybe had at least a season with terraces at Elm Park in the Premier League.

That link also contains an interesting quote from a Fulham spokesperson: "Reading, QPR, Chelsea and Crystal Palace have all been looked at" (they ended up at QPR for a season). They probably wouldn't've come here as we had London Irish using the stadium at the time, Palace had Wimbledon, QPR had Wasps until the season Fulham moved in (I don't know if they kicked Wasps out or whether their lease had expired) and Chelsea had a limit to the number of additional sporting events being played there each year.

[tmesis]

People kept saying we wouldn't be allowed to play in the Premier League at Elm Park, but the suggestion of moving was only about capacity, not that the ground wouldn't have been allowed. Terracing was no less allowed in the premier league than Div 1 (as it was called then) and there was no minimum capacity.

And for all the talk of Luton not being allowed to play at Kenilworth Road, I've still yet to see a single actual rule quoted that says they wouldn't be allowed to host games there. Yes, we've seen the requirements, but not the penalty for not meeting those requirements.

It's not a safety issue, and it's not that the playing area is inadequate (e.g. too small or a plastic pitch) so they'd probably just have broadcast money withheld.

[Stranded]

People kept saying we wouldn't be allowed to play in the Premier League at Elm Park, but the suggestion of moving was only about capacity, not that the ground wouldn't have been allowed. Terracing was no less allowed in the premier league than Div 1 (as it was called then) and there was no minimum capacity.

And for all the talk of Luton not being allowed to play at Kenilworth Road, I've still yet to see a single actual rule quoted that says they wouldn't be allowed to host games there. Yes, we've seen the requirements, but not the penalty for not meeting those requirements.

It's not a safety issue, and it's not that the playing area is inadequate (e.g. too small or a plastic pitch) so they'd probably just have broadcast money withheld.

Broadcast money being withheld is the most likely course of action if they attract a punishment but they can also apply for an exemption if the work is going to take too long to do.

Most likely outcome is that they won't play a home game until September whilst work is completed.

However, the rules do state that it could go to an independent panel if the PL are not satisfied with plans to remedy the breach and they could apply a punishment up to and including expulsion, which of course won't happen as would be a PR disaster.

[Ascotexgunner]

I see Cardiff are about to announce an unknown Portuguese manager from the Portuguese 2nd tier.
That ain't gonna end well.

[tidus_mi2]

I see Cardiff are about to announce an unknown Portuguese manager from the Portuguese 2nd tier.
That ain't gonna end well.

Did they pick up the "Fast track to the Premier League - The Reading FC story", I assume they didn't reach the ending.