Roos stay put at Arden St OFFICIAL

[big nick]

The club has notified the AFL and Carlton that the ground sharing of Optus is not going ahead and that they have commited 2 million to fix up the grand stand and playerfacilities. 5mil is the cost of upgrading all facilities at the club playing and administration. Great NEWS
Scource SEN radio Backpage report of pappers tommorow.

 

[Sco]

wooooohooooooo!

 

[Z_K]

Best news all year. What next, Wellsy to sign until 2020...!?!?!

Huzzaa!!

 

[roogirl_416]

best news ive heard all day!!!

*go roos*

 

[kelman]

Awesome.

Nothing like telling Carlton to get ********ed!


Who has the committed the money though? I assume the local council has decided to become involved.

If not, I need to prepare my defence against every knob knocker supporter from the other clubs, so give me details.

 

[Dingster]

Sounds great. I want to see the plan before I get too excited though. Must admit, teasing Carlton was gold.

 

[Tas]

The club has notified the AFL and Carlton that the ground sharing of Optus is not going ahead and that they have commited 2 million to fix up the grand stand and playerfacilities. 5mil is the cost of upgrading all facilities at the club playing and administration. Great NEWS
Scource SEN radio Backpage report of pappers tommorow.

Did they mention where they money was going to come from?

 

[Bobby B]

We're staying at Arden St -

Check this out -

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/04/28/1114635689201.html



Melbourne city council are chipping $2mil

"We're not prepared to abandon our cultural and spiritual home," said Walsh. "We want to keep a foothold in the area and we didn't feel as a club we had explored every possible option to stay."

Things are looking up -

 

[matt_blak]

Re: We're staying at Arden St -

Roos stay at home

By Caroline Wilson
April 29, 2005

The Kangaroos have turned their back on Carlton and vowed to remain at Arden Street - thwarting the Blues' dream of a $20 million refurbishment of Optus Oval.

Kangaroos chief executive Geoff Walsh last night confirmed that a special board meeting had unanimously voted to shelve the co-tenants proposal and that he had informed both AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and Blues CEO Michael Malouf.

As a result the dilapidated Arden Street grandstand has been rescued from condemnation, with the Melbourne City Council guaranteeing the club the $2 million required to upgrade the stand in line with health and safety regulations.

"We're not prepared to abandon our cultural and spiritual home," said Walsh. "We want to keep a foothold in the area and we didn't feel as a club we had explored every possible option to stay."

Walsh conceded that the Kangaroos now faced training facilities significantly inferior to those potentially on offer at Carlton, which in turn must now look to a future without the state-of-the-art new training centre to have been funded by a combination of public, private and AFL money.

Demetriou, a strong supporter of the shared facilities strategy, said he could not commit funds to either club under the new circumstances without seeing their proposals. He conceded some regret at the Kangaroos' decision but added: "Their facilities at Arden Street are absolutely dreadful and it's a credit to the club and its players that they are sitting at the top of the AFL ladder under the conditions they work in each week."

Walsh estimated that the club would require a total $5 million to lift the club's headquarters to an acceptable AFL standard and that the club was awaiting responses from local and state government and would formally apply to the AFL for a cash injection as well.

While the Roos had been fearful they would lose their identity at a shared venue, coach Dean Laidley and some senior players were understood to have relished the prospect of a new, improved home.

Meanwhile the Blues have been forced to return to the drawing board, conceding that the $20 million refurbishment of Princes Park was unlikely to take place without a second AFL club to justify the cost.

Malouf confirmed that Carlton would now look to securing a co-tenant such as the AFL umpires or Football Victoria, both of whom are now in talks with the club.

"We're seeking meetings with the Melbourne City Council, the State Government and the AFL about going forward with a different concept," he said.

Woo Hooo!!!!

This seems like it may take a while to get the stand refurbished, and there still needs some more work & $3M for the rest of the facilities.

I bet Carlton are ********ed.

 

[countryroo]

Re: We're staying at Arden St -

As much as I think its great to stay at Arden street this comment must be a concern.

"While the Roos had been fearful they would lose their identity at a shared venue, coach Dean Laidley and some senior players were understood to have relished the prospect of a new, improved home."

I just hope we don't lose quality players because of this.

Go roos

 

[Ashley B]

Great news, although having a new building surely won't make us play better We do need to upgrade the facilities as they r so old, but apart from the weight room being literally dangerous as it looks like falling down the only other thing we need there, for the players side of things, are rehabilitation facilities and most clubs probably go elsewhere for that. It will be great though to have everything under the 1 roof. Go Roos

 

[Twinkletoes]

Great news. Now for government funding................like the Bulldogs!! The bloody MCC could dig a bit deeper too. Arden St forever!

T'toes

 

[gokangas]

Great news - I have posted several times over the last few months that the good oil from inside the club has been we would stay at Arden Street, although I must say I had my doubts too.
Caroline Wilson (serial North hater), and others, has always seemed to push the move to Optus so this is a great piece of news.
Lets wait for the official announcement from the club before we all cheer.

 

[utility]

No wait....



And Carlton get screwed over...



Life is good!

 

[Lister]

Well done administration. Have to admit it'd be dream to one day go back and play a home game/wizard cup there. Then that would put to bed all banter about where our home is. Also change our name back to North Melbourne. The Kangaroos brand can still be used but if the administration is serious about protecting our past then they should also look at our name.

 

[Lidge]

Any word on Collo? If he's heard the news, I reckon he might be back in intensive care.

 

[wakeboardandy]

I don't know if this is good news or bad news... Optus Oval has alot better facilities then Arden St and at the end of the day we have already moved our social club to Telstra Dome so Arden St is basically just our training ground.

Optus Oval would have given us more media profile and better facilities.. In my opinion that would have been the better way to go. No point hanging onto history.. Just like Carlton will no longer play games at Optus Oval.. there has to be a point where the future of the club becomes more important then staying somewhere for the sake of history.

Just my 2c.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

Good news for supporters, but it does worry me if Laidley and some players were hoping for a move - puts pressure on the board to back up this commitment by real improvements to Arden St's facilities. Doesn't sound like Andy D will be keen to help us out there, so it will be interesting to see how they pull it off.

 

[Contra Mundum]

I stuck the article on the fridge - it looks like we can thank the Duffman for this. I am forever grateful!

 

[la roux]

2nd best news for today

This just in... "Roos 2 win flag in 2005"

 

[ARDENSTREETforever]

Im in contact with Anthony Hargraves ATM, will be asking soem questions about the issue

Will email right now.

 

[hale]

Re: We're staying at Arden St -

As much as I think its great to stay at Arden street this comment must be a concern.

"While the Roos had been fearful they would lose their identity at a shared venue, coach Dean Laidley and some senior players were understood to have relished the prospect of a new, improved home."

I just hope we don't lose quality players because of this.

Go roos

What? No direct quote or source? Gee it wouldn't be a Caroline Wilson article would it?

I for one am rapt!
My one and only trip to Arden Street, after last year's Round 1 mauling of the Crows left me speechless as to the place's condition.
I don't know what I expected beforehand, but standing next to the grandstand and seeing the rooms really brought home to me North Melbourne's history and spirit, and reminded me of just how much the club has achieved with so little, except hard work and the honour of playing for the Roos.

Some say - "Footy's a business... there's no room for tradition"
Fu©k that, there's room for both.
I don't see teams like those gits over at the Lexarse Centre winning any extra premierships lately, despite their enormous financial and facilities advantage.

 

[Lister]

I think this is perhaps an opportunity for the entire club and its supporteres to come together. How many of us would chip in an extra $20, $50 or $100 if we knew it was going directly to upgrading our Arden Street facilities.

 

[Flat Track Bully]

Well done administration. Have to admit it'd be dream to one day go back and play a home game/wizard cup there. Then that would put to bed all banter about where our home is. Also change our name back to North Melbourne. The Kangaroos brand can still be used but if the administration is serious about protecting our past then they should also look at our name.

As a non-Kanagroos supporter, I wholeheartedly agree with changing the name back to North Melbourne...and as for a wizard cup game at Arden Street, wouldn't that be sensational...actually, so they get guaranteed full houses, they should play at Moorabbin, Whitten Oval, the Junction, Princes, Windy Hill, Punt Road, Vic Park

Yes I know we've moved on for a reason, but It would be fantastic

 

[davefromjerra]

I don't know if this is good news or bad news... Optus Oval has alot better facilities then Arden St and at the end of the day we have already moved our social club to Telstra Dome so Arden St is basically just our training ground.

Optus Oval would have given us more media profile and better facilities.. In my opinion that would have been the better way to go. No point hanging onto history.. Just like Carlton will no longer play games at Optus Oval.. there has to be a point where the future of the club becomes more important then staying somewhere for the sake of history.

Just my 2c.

Glad to see I'm not the only Kangaroos supporter not thrilled with this news. Don't we want our club to have the best facilities available. If JYD and the senior players are in favour of the move I can't see a problem with it.