t.co/f0fqu8b0 Chairman Omar putting himself about, good to see.

t.co/f0fqu8b0 Chairman Omar putting himself about, good to see.

A roof would be fantastic but whether they'd ever seen their money back on that investment I'm not sure. Be interesting to see what happens with the RFL and the lease also.

Yeah, he did mention it again at the last forum but as BB rightly points out we don't even have the primary lease and it's only going to be temporary if all goes well. Can't see it being cheap either.

It will be terrific if it comes off but it does seem a bit risky in terms of the cash which would no doubt need to be involved.

The roof will have to wait , jet washing the terracing must take priority

I bring my own roof with me and it only cost £2.99 from a popular high street sports retailer. Mind you it needs replacing now.

Well, it's definitely cheaper...



and it got a bit of publicity in the local press!

I'm not sure how you build a temporary roof that will withstand the Odsal weather on the cheap. Something permanent can't be that much more expensive, relatively.

At the last forum, OK was still saying that he was interested in pursuing the 'sporting village' project and I'm pretty sure he said "either alone or with others" so that would presumably be 'long term', and unless he's personally got sufficient funds, and is prepared to use those funds, I'd suggest it was a non starter as I can't really see where any other funding is going to come from. Certainly not the public side in the current climate and if it will be expected to last until any redevelopment under the plan then it's going to be [isemi[/i-permanent at least.

Given all that, the impression from the T&A story seemed to suggest the stand was unlikely to happen this season, which was not the impression from the forum. To be honest, if he is hoping for external sponsorship it must be hard coming in late in the day then sorting out the start up and then getting partners together to put up a stand. How long did Rome take, I've forgotten..

My point is that the sporting village type stadia, such as Leigh, are pretty basic structures. The main stands are about as simple as you can economically construct. If you assume there is no intention to redevelop under the existing pop side terracing then the scope for innovation is limited, hence I would guess a temporary structure would be 80% the cost of a simple permanent facility. All you would have to ensure is the capacity to extend it around the ends of the ground if later required, which has virtually no cost at this stage. So I do not see the logic in a temporary affair, unless it is just a positive spin message to keep the goodwill going.

I take your point about these grounds ie. not so much a unified ground, more a piece of grass with four, unconnected stands around it. To be honest, I've no idea what kind of ground is envisaged and to the best of my knowledge no definite 'plans' have ever been commissioned (though I reserve the right to be wrong on that

) and its actual makeup was always a bit vague intention and dependent on the funds available. For what it's worth I'd guess you are probably right about permanent v temporary.

My main thought is that sometimes, maybe in a desire to get on with things, early thoughts are made public before the details have been gone into and the speaker then becomes 'boxed' into a corner by a promise, which on further thought turns out to be not really feasible or, at least, not necessarily the best option for the funds available. It could be, of course, that some plans were in fact done and OK feels these can be funded (the pop side bit, at least).

It's certainly true that any cover on the pop side is likely to be a big driver in raising gates. Season ticket sales seem to be much as the more experienced observers thought they would be and the matchday 'walk up is going to be an important part of profitability and I reckon the weather makes a fair old difference. Odsal fans are well used to being in the wet but that doesn't mean they like it, nor does it mean that many aren't put off when the weather is looking dodgy. I think, maybe the best thing for the club to do, fairly soon, is to make the plans a bit more specific and maybe include some intended dates.

For me, from my seat far enough back in the stand to only feel a splash on the windiest days, it's easy to be unconcerned, but I do hope it comes off - if not this season then next.

If what I've heard is correct then it's definitely not for this season, 2014 at earliest.

Summer sport - "a cooling spray of moisture wafted on a warming zephyr" never hurt anyone. Are you men? In some countries they would look upon us with envy, watching the best game in the world whilst showering, shear luxury.