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Wasn't sure if is should of posted this on the main board so decided to not risk it and post it here

I've been thinking over the past few hours (after a few beers) that had Mike Bateson found a better buyer for us in the beginning, would we be anywhere near where we are now? Rhetorical question, obviously I know that nobody can possibly know what would of happened but what got me thinking was "Bristows Bench".
i'll explain why in a moment. Would we still be a club in League 2 flirting with promotion had the whole Chris Roberts scenario never materialised? think most of us agree that times are a lot better now than it was under Bateson. even though i realise more money has been spent by our new board and the fact that they have made correct decisions on Management, budgets and general facility redevelopments over the last 4/5 years, i dont think we could of dreamt of much better since that first BSP game against Grays Athletic.
All in all relegation has benefited us and maybe clubs with financial worries and so called "Big Clubs" in the Conference should look at the way we are now run. However, as much as i'm happy with Bristows Bench i cant help but think that have the board may have not made the correct decision with it. Surely the cost of it will damage us for our budgets in the coming seasons, i.e if we go up this season, what sort of playing budget would we have for 12/13? have we put ourselves in financial risk? could all this brilliant work over the last few years be ultimately undone by a new stand?

Now i'm no expert in the current financial standings of our club but would somebody like to put my mind at rest and tell me how i'm worrying over nothing and we have a few quid spare regardless

Anyone else having similar thoughts?

It really depends on three things, I'd say.

Firstly, will the Bench bring in more fans?
Secondly, which league will we be in next year?
Thirdly, which league will we be in the year after?

The Bench may well bring more fans, allowing us to increase the budget. This could be undone by the wage rises that come from promotion. The biggest trouble is that there often aren't wage reduction clauses anymore, which means clubs can be bankrupted by high wages if they come back down.

The cost of building Bristows Bench won't impact upon plauing budgets, Gaz. Of the circa £2million it's cost, roughly a third is funded by education grants and a similar third by football grants with the remaining third guaranteed by the Bristow family, not sure but I think the club have an agreement to repay that over the longer rather than shorter term.

Moved the thread here to its rightful place

What we must not forget aswell, when our club was promoted back into the league our ground did not meet football regulations giving us 3 seasons to correct this, with the grandsatnd failing a number of safety inspections it's capacity was twice reduced last season, and I believe although not sure it would have been closed this season anyway.

The club could have gone done two route's, they could have copied Crawley and built some thing out of tent poles and canvass, or go down the road they did and build a fantastic permanent stand that will benefit the school,club and I am sure I read somehwere it will have a gym aswell, although could wrong there.

I think this stand will onl;y serve as a massive boost to our club, looking at the view from the stand, and for those who suffer from the cold, it will be warmer as it offer's protection from the wind that blow's down the ground, etc,etc, it will help to increase attendances across the whole season, and hopefully will send a strong message to those locals who doubt our club has any ambition.