Letter to the directors of Northampton Town FC:-
Dear Kelvin, James and Tom,
The Supporters Trust welcomes tonight’s open forum on Northampton Town FC and
stadium site infrastructure and we look forward to a constructive discussion on potential
options to improve the football club and to invest in it.
We have sought opinions from our membership and their views are summarised later on
in this correspondence.
We fully appreciate that some of the suggestions may not be viable, realistic and may
have question marks about achieving a return on investment and that there will be
considerable challenges around finances, logistics and planning requirements.
But we feel now is a great opportunity to move forward as one – club and fans together –
and explore all possibilities.
To that end we would like to propose a partnership Infrastructure Foundation committee
for the Sixfields site to include representatives from the football club, West
Northamptonshire Council, the Trust and other supporter and interest groups.
This partnership approach has worked successfully at other football clubs, the gold
standard being at Heart of Midlothian FC in Scotland where fans have worked together
with the club’s owner to move the club forward.
In this way we could work through all suggestions and maybe focus upon a desirable
project which all parties could buy in to – be that in terms of crowdfunding, enabling
investment, volunteering and the like.
A project which would provide ongoing investment for the football club, better facilities
for Cobblers fans and a distinct community benefit for the people of Northampton.
Suggestions from Trust members are as follows:-
North Stand
Expansion to include safe standing
New Hotel End project – fanzone and music
Flats complex
Corners filled in to join West and East
South Stand
Expansion to include safe standing
Fanzone
Corners filled in to join West and East
East Stand and land behind (old athletics track land)
Boxpark development (food and drink offer)
Leisure facility
Fitness Centre
3G pitches
Training complex/Academy
Expanded club store and ticket office
Social club/larger Carr’s Bar
Fanzone
Car parking
Sporting Club link up – boxing (Team Shoebox), athletics?
Hotel
Conference Centre
Club museum and archive
Other principles from feedback:-
Cash reserve from land sales for infrastructure projects to be managed
independently
The allowance of enough space to allow for future stadium expansion in all
directions
A large banqueting suite the length of the East Stand to maximise hospitality
opportunities.
Greater examples of fandom at the club around the stadium as the stadium needs
some tender loving care – freshening up the site, claret paint for fixtures and
fittings, seat replacement, wall art on breezeblock sections of the stadium
The restoration of the original wall art in Carr’s Bar by local artist Mark Pacan and
a showcase opportunity for artists and designers who are creative about the
Cobblers.
We hope these suggestions can be constructively considered alongside others from
the wider fan base.
And that together we can build a bright future for the Cobblers!
Best wishes,
Andy Roberts
Chair
Northampton Town Supporters Trust