Stadium Plans

[Oakhamwolf]

If it’s not being rebuilt, just tart it back up. Did the tour recently, and it’s all very drab, even the W over the main entrance is rusting. Forest have just reclad the whole inside of their ground and it looks so much smarter. Even the externals I saw of Goodson recently, looked a lot smarter than bits of our ground. Get some pride Wolves, it’s looking more lower Championship, than mid table Premier.

 

[Kebab Warrior]

If it’s not being rebuilt, just tart it back up. Did the tour recently, and it’s all very drab, even the W over the main entrance is rusting. Forest have just reclad the whole inside of their ground and it looks so much smarter. Even the externals I saw of Goodson recently, looked a lot smarter than bits of our ground. Get some pride Wolves, it’s looking more lower Championship, than mid table Premier.

****ing too right. Absolute shambles.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

I've never understood the maths on this

A corporate ticket at the prices above is about 5x a normal match ticket. It takes up way more space and you have to have additional staff to serve their needs. Even if it works out slightly better economically for the club, it can only be marginal.

The accounts of clubs who invest heavily in corporate would suggest otherwise. For example, when Liverpool opened their Main Stand, their matchday revenue increased by £12m a year, reportedly mainly as a result of corporate / hospitality income.

By the time their Anfield Road end is complete, they expect matchday income to exceed £100m. Prior to the two redeveloped stands, it stood at £62m. That’s roughly £40m extra, over a time where their adult season ticket prices have not increased much. The two new stands added 15,500 seats, which at an average season ticket price of £700 (assuming some mix of adult, 65+ and juniors) would yield about £11m in additional income. That suggests around £30m additional revenue from hospitality and other matchday income. That’s a lot - that increase alone is more than 2x our total 2022 matchday income.

It’s therefore no surprise that Fosun said their priority for any Molineux redevelopment would be corporate and hospitality.

Liverpool profits from Anfield redevelopment

English Premier League football club Liverpool has highlighted the financial benefits of its redeveloped Anfield stadium, adding that it is...

www.thestadiumbusiness.com

Liverpool set for £100m boost after Anfield Road update given

The seats have been installed in the Anfield Road End, although full opening remains slated for early 2024

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

I’m sure Albion took the roof off the Smethwick End as well. It was there for the Bully and Hindmarch games but not when we lost 3-2. I think there was talk that clubs paid less tax if a structure didn’t have a roof.

Think they just took the roof off as the first part of the rebuild of the stand. Fortunately the 3-2 was on a beautiful afternoon (weather wise at least!).

I know the back of the NB had wooden steps, but assume the supporting structure was more the issue?

 

[Oakhamwolf]

Think they just took the roof off as the first part of the rebuild of the stand. Fortunately the 3-2 was on a beautiful afternoon (weather wise at least!).

I know the back of the NB had wooden steps, but assume the supporting structure was more the issue?

Think the roof caught fire

 

[Oakhamwolf]

The accounts of clubs who invest heavily in corporate would suggest otherwise. For example, when Liverpool opened their Main Stand, their matchday revenue increased by £12m a year, reportedly mainly as a result of corporate / hospitality income.

By the time their Anfield Road end is complete, they expect matchday income to exceed £100m. Prior to the two redeveloped stands, it stood at £62m. That’s roughly £40m extra, over a time where their adult season ticket prices have not increased much. The two new stands added 15,500 seats, which at an average season ticket price of £700 (assuming some mix of adult, 65+ and juniors) would yield about £11m in additional income. That suggests around £30m additional revenue from hospitality and other matchday income. That’s a lot - that increase alone is more than 2x our total 2022 matchday income.

It’s therefore no surprise that Fosun said their priority for any Molineux redevelopment would be corporate and hospitality.

Liverpool profits from Anfield redevelopment

English Premier League football club Liverpool has highlighted the financial benefits of its redeveloped Anfield stadium, adding that it is...

www.thestadiumbusiness.com

Liverpool set for £100m boost after Anfield Road update given

The seats have been installed in the Anfield Road End, although full opening remains slated for early 2024

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Our issue is we can’t sell the corporate we have now, so no idea where the new business would come from, and i suspect there in lies the problem. You could offer a Tuesday night corporate for Liverpool to anyone round the country, and more than likely people accept and would travel to it, and business know this so buy their corporate. Most likely at Wolves, you would possibly struggle to get anyone outside the catchment area for a similar Tuesday night and for businesses splashing cash, this doesn’t work for them. However, all the figures you see from the club to do rebuilds include spending big chunks to do out corporate areas, they would be better just doing a shell, to add later, the corporate if required, and get the next generation of fans in. At the end of the day do bloody something, to have a temporary stand in a premier ground is just a joke, and even worse no roof !!!

 

[North West Wanderer]

I don't blame Fosun for prioritising the first team, that seems the wisest course if we are to establish ourselves more comfortably in the Premier League. But taking a five year view surely they have to modernise and expand the stadium even in a relatively modest way. Many of us agree that a 40,000 seat stadium is sustainable and sensible and while the ROI may be unattractive in many ways you can't go on on forever neglecting a stadium. A measured approach should surely be possible - noone expects Spurs -like super stadiums. But a relatively successful Wolves Premier league team should be capable of filling an up to date 40,000 capacity stadium more often than not.

economically it’s not a great time to spent money on a stadium.
Are we capable of filling a 40k stadium? i don’t think we are. apathy sets in

 

[Norway Wolves]

Wood construction following Bradford fire.

But we stood in many away ends at that time that were exactly the same construction as the old North Bank. We were treated very differently to some othe clubs, I am sure many of us on this forum will remember this very well.

 

[NewarkWolf]

A lick of paint, seats that are the same shade of gold all around the stadium and perhaps filling another corner in would be enough at this stage of where we’re at at and likely to be over the next few years.

No major development will take place for ages yet imo

 

[NewarkWolf]

economically it’s not a great time to spent money on a stadium.
Are we capable of filling a 40k stadium? i don’t think we are. apathy sets in

Agree 100%.

We’d draw capacity for the big boys coming but the lesser teams? I don’t think so, add to that a period where we’re in the bottom 5-6 and struggling and you’d see attendances drop below 30k. At very best given a pretty decent few seasons of around 9-11th and a push of a few thousand more seats achieved by a similar corner development to the GH would be what I’d expect only

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

But we stood in many away ends at that time that were exactly the same construction as the old North Bank. We were treated very differently to some othe clubs, I am sure many of us on this forum will remember this very well.

Did we? Bristol Rovers was mentioned, I stood on Eastville, nothing like the NB. Also Swindon, Notts County, Mansfield, Forest, many more, all built on banks from my very unreliable memory. I do remember going to Preston end of the season in Div 3 I think and there being wooden terracing at the back. I do think it was down to local fire certificates though.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Our issue is we can’t sell the corporate we have now, so no idea where the new business would come from, and i suspect there in lies the problem. You could offer a Tuesday night corporate for Liverpool to anyone round the country, and more than likely people accept and would travel to it, and business know this so buy their corporate. Most likely at Wolves, you would possibly struggle to get anyone outside the catchment area for a similar Tuesday night and for businesses splashing cash, this doesn’t work for them. However, all the figures you see from the club to do rebuilds include spending big chunks to do out corporate areas, they would be better just doing a shell, to add later, the corporate if required, and get the next generation of fans in. At the end of the day do bloody something, to have a temporary stand in a premier ground is just a joke, and even worse no roof !!!

This has been said before, and I see the logic. However I used Liverpool as an example, only because I knew the figures were readily to hand, and they are not in London, where corporate / hospitality is on another level of potential income. Liverpool are not unique, and their focus on investment in hospitality is common to all the recent stadium investments in the top leagues to a greater or lesser extent. Leicester, Man City, Villa to name only a few. Are you seriously suggesting Wolverhampton is uniquely unsuited to similar demand if the offering were attractive?

Wolves have done their analysis at Molineux and reached the same conclusion years ago, which was why they flipped the redevelopment order from South Bank (loads more seats but no new corporate) to the Steve Bull (few new seats but entirely new corporate). Frankly the reason Wolves don’t sell all the Steve Bull boxes and hospitality, is because it’s crap. Old, cramped, disconnected from the fans by glass walls, and in a sad old stand. It’s a late 70’s vision of football, that’s even more outdated and unpleasant than Old Trafford!

 

[Sussex Wolf]

economically it’s not a great time to spent money on a stadium.
Are we capable of filling a 40k stadium? i don’t think we are. apathy sets in

Agree on the first point, but not the second.

While in the PL, even if coasting mid table, we will sell the vast majority of 40k every home game. To routinely sell out a stadium of 45k or greater, I think we’d need to be routinely qualifying for Europe or winning the occasional domestic trophy, at least in the near term. But frankly the longer we stay in the PL, the higher the average crowd we would attract irrespective of where we finish. The apathy issue you describe is more a feature of languishing in the Champ or L1, where crowds erode away over time unless you have a realistic chance of promotion to the PL.

 

[Norway Wolves]

Did we? Bristol Rovers was mentioned, I stood on Eastville, nothing like the NB. Also Swindon, Notts County, Mansfield, Forest, many more, all built on banks from my very unreliable memory. I do remember going to Preston end of the season in Div 3 I think and there being wooden terracing at the back. I do think it was down to local fire certificates though.

It was down to local fire certificates, 100% . Dean Court for example, the stand to the left of the open away end was a mini version of the old Waterloo Road seats and their end behind the goal was wooden at the top, just like our North Bank was. Doncasters main stand was wooden. We were treated very harshly by the Chief Fire Officer at that time.

 

[Norway Wolves]

Agree 100%.

We’d draw capacity for the big boys coming but the lesser teams? I don’t think so, add to that a period where we’re in the bottom 5-6 and struggling and you’d see attendances drop below 30k. At very best given a pretty decent few seasons of around 9-11th and a push of a few thousand more seats achieved by a similar corner development to the GH would be what I’d expect only

40,000 we'd fill every league game, I'm sure of that. Maybe thats a good figure for a capacity.

 

[lets all have a disco]

I've never understood the maths on this

A corporate ticket at the prices above is about 5x a normal match ticket. It takes up way more space and you have to have additional staff to serve their needs. Even if it works out slightly better economically for the club, it can only be marginal.

The best thing to do is cram then in like Spurs do but provide the facilities that make the fan like a kid in a sweet shop.....I spend next to nothing in every ground I go to but when I visit spurs I can't stop spending.....the variety of food is excellent and basically you can get a much drink as you want cause you aye gotta que etc.....im eating fish n chips , constant drinks for an hour n half before kick off and half time...spend a fortune

 

[North West Wanderer]

Agree on the first point, but not the second.

While in the PL, even if coasting mid table, we will sell the vast majority of 40k every home game. To routinely sell out a stadium of 45k or greater, I think we’d need to be routinely qualifying for Europe or winning the occasional domestic trophy, at least in the near term. But frankly the longer we stay in the PL, the higher the average crowd we would attract irrespective of where we finish. The apathy issue you describe is more a feature of languishing in the Champ or L1, where crowds erode away over time unless you have a realistic chance of promotion to the PL.

i disagree re apathy. i’ve had times where my season ticket has gone unused when unable to attend, and i’m not alone. i think when all factors are considered, economic, social etc, we don’t have the capability of filling 40k consistently all the time.

 

[wolvesaywe]

The accounts of clubs who invest heavily in corporate would suggest otherwise. For example, when Liverpool opened their Main Stand, their matchday revenue increased by £12m a year, reportedly mainly as a result of corporate / hospitality income.

By the time their Anfield Road end is complete, they expect matchday income to exceed £100m. Prior to the two redeveloped stands, it stood at £62m. That’s roughly £40m extra, over a time where their adult season ticket prices have not increased much. The two new stands added 15,500 seats, which at an average season ticket price of £700 (assuming some mix of adult, 65+ and juniors) would yield about £11m in additional income. That suggests around £30m additional revenue from hospitality and other matchday income. That’s a lot - that increase alone is more than 2x our total 2022 matchday income.

It’s therefore no surprise that Fosun said their priority for any Molineux redevelopment would be corporate and hospitality.

Liverpool profits from Anfield redevelopment

English Premier League football club Liverpool has highlighted the financial benefits of its redeveloped Anfield stadium, adding that it is...

www.thestadiumbusiness.com

Liverpool set for £100m boost after Anfield Road update given

The seats have been installed in the Anfield Road End, although full opening remains slated for early 2024

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Spot on. United's average match day revenue is £4m, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs at £3m

Ours is £0.5m

Pro rata they're bringing in around 3 times what we are for each home game and it's mainly because of corporate

 

[Sussex Wolf]

i disagree re apathy. i’ve had times where my season ticket has gone unused when unable to attend, and i’m not alone. i think when all factors are considered, economic, social etc, we don’t have the capability of filling 40k consistently all the time.

Firstly, your seat is sold as far as the club is concerned, and that is all that matters for the economics of stadium expansion.

Secondly, you’re a STH and if you’re talking about whether your seat is resold or not when you offer it up, then it depends on loads of factors - when you offer it, where your seat is, the game, weather, etc. If only a single seat is being offered up, then it’s less attractive to many none STH fans since they often wish to attend with family and friends. Despite that, our attendance statistics make it very clear that we have one of the highest % seat occupancy rates, which says the level of apathy is not as high as you might feel.

Third, if you gave up your ST, it would be sold immediately. There remains a large queue of people like me.

 

[Kebab Warrior]

i disagree re apathy. i’ve had times where my season ticket has gone unused when unable to attend, and i’m not alone. i think when all factors are considered, economic, social etc, we don’t have the capability of filling 40k consistently all the time.

All depends on how you price the tickets. Let kids in for next to nothing for less attractive games, grow the next generation of fans who are currently locked out. Esports and YouTube are great, but nothing hooks you like walking up the steps and onto the terrace for the first time as a kid.

 

[North West Wanderer]

All depends on how you price the tickets. Let kids in for next to nothing for less attractive games, grow the next generation of fans who are currently locked out. Esports and YouTube are great, but nothing hooks you like walking up the steps and onto the terrace for the first time as a kid.

oh absolutely but we all know they won’t expand the stadium then reduces any prices.

 

[Kebab Warrior]

oh absolutely but we all know they won’t expand the stadium then reduces any prices.

Agreed but it’s short termism. Demographics is destiny.

 

[North West Wanderer]

Firstly, your seat is sold as far as the club is concerned, and that is all that matters for the economics of stadium expansion.

Secondly, you’re a STH and if you’re talking about whether your seat is resold or not when you offer it up, then it depends on loads of factors - when you offer it, where your seat is, the game, weather, etc. If only a single seat is being offered up, then it’s less attractive to many none STH fans since they often wish to attend with family and friends. Despite that, our attendance statistics make it very clear that we have one of the highest % seat occupancy rates, which says the level of apathy is not as high as you might feel.

Third, if you gave up your ST, it would be sold immediately. There remains a large queue of people like me.

all good points, but the demand is not as strong as it was. what’s the waiting list now?

 

[North West Wanderer]

Agreed but it’s short termism. Demographics is destiny.

oh I agree, completely. they should have done more with the university too.

 

[Brockmoorwolf]

Any potential buyer of this club will walk in see the corner with seating and no roof, will look at the home end and think thats not big enough will look at the other corner with the weeds and think my tv is bigger than that screen on the scaffolding and then look at the steve bull and think can we diverse and get an olympic sized swimming pool in all that space. Its going to take £150 million to put everything right on top of £350 mil to buy the club.

I think its been mooted at £65 mil to extend south bank and get steve bull closer to the pitch. If they did this its a win win for fosun, it would pay for itself over 10 years and add value to the product.

 

[sillytuna]

Impossible to do the ground now as costs are just crazy. We missed the boat and need to wait for the economy to settle post brexit and covid. Hell, even my local venue has to close now because they can't find staff (sheffield) and a local bricky is earning a grand a day.

However, they really should so a clean up of the ground. It's so tatty these days.

 

[AndyY]

The accounts of clubs who invest heavily in corporate would suggest otherwise. For example, when Liverpool opened their Main Stand, their matchday revenue increased by £12m a year, reportedly mainly as a result of corporate / hospitality income.

By the time their Anfield Road end is complete, they expect matchday income to exceed £100m. Prior to the two redeveloped stands, it stood at £62m. That’s roughly £40m extra, over a time where their adult season ticket prices have not increased much. The two new stands added 15,500 seats, which at an average season ticket price of £700 (assuming some mix of adult, 65+ and juniors) would yield about £11m in additional income. That suggests around £30m additional revenue from hospitality and other matchday income. That’s a lot - that increase alone is more than 2x our total 2022 matchday income.

It’s therefore no surprise that Fosun said their priority for any Molineux redevelopment would be corporate and hospitality.

Liverpool profits from Anfield redevelopment

English Premier League football club Liverpool has highlighted the financial benefits of its redeveloped Anfield stadium, adding that it is...

www.thestadiumbusiness.com

Liverpool set for £100m boost after Anfield Road update given

The seats have been installed in the Anfield Road End, although full opening remains slated for early 2024

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

What ROI does that represent if Wolves did something similar? Particularly given that Fosun will have to use borrowed money. Fosun wont invest if they can make a better return elsewhere.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

What ROI does that represent Wolvrs did something similar? Particularly given that Fosun will have to use borrowed money. Fosun wont invest if they can make a better return elsewhere.

The return on investment wouldn’t be great if assessed purely on income generation by the redevelopment, especially if the revenue generated is further offset by relatively high interest charges. However for the club, the less tangible benefit is the uplift in qualifying FFP revenue, and its impact on how much the club can spend on investment in the squad. It’s by design that capital spending on the ground is exempt from FFP calculations, but the increased revenue it generates, is counted.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

all good points, but the demand is not as strong as it was. what’s the waiting list now?

I don’t know, but I do know I’m now 3,754 on the list having been on it from when it was first launched. I think I was up around 9,000 when I first joined. I think it’s reasonable to assume others will have joined after me.

 

[North West Wanderer]

I don’t know, but I do know I’m now 3,754 on the list having been on it from when it was first launched. I think I was up around 9,000 when I first joined. I think it’s reasonable to assume others will have joined after me.

be interesting to know, i’m willing to bet it’s not as long now.

 

[loppers86]

all good points, but the demand is not as strong as it was. what’s the waiting list now?

is demand weaker now though? i don’t even know if im still on the waiting list - i’ve lost interest after 5 years or more. if i had the chance to buy in the first year or two i would have, but now im accepting the status quo.

the point is that there are waves and cycles and if you catch a wave it can boost you to the
next level - sort of like brentford have done.

 

[Wolf316]

be interesting to know, i’m willing to bet it’s not as long now.

They also changed the rules a couple of years ago to having to have an active membership to stay on the list.

 

[North West Wanderer]

They also changed the rules a couple of years ago to having to have an active membership to stay on the list.

money grab?

 

[Wolf316]

money grab?

Absolutely. There’s no other reason to link being on the list to having a membership

 

[Sussex Wolf]

money grab?

Yep. Designed to make the membership more attractive to fans like me who only get to a few home games, and who don’t find the freebies supplied with the membership enough of an attraction. But it’s par for the course across PL clubs. The big London clubs have been doing something similar for years according to my friends who are fans at places like Arsenal and Chelsea. One of my mates is an Arsenal gold member, and remained so even when based in Hungary and the US on foreign assignment, because it took him years of waiting to get one for him and his son.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Any potential buyer of this club will walk in see the corner with seating and no roof, will look at the home end and think thats not big enough will look at the other corner with the weeds and think my tv is bigger than that screen on the scaffolding and then look at the steve bull and think can we diverse and get an olympic sized swimming pool in all that space. Its going to take £150 million to put everything right on top of £350 mil to buy the club.

I think its been mooted at £65 mil to extend south bank and get steve bull closer to the pitch. If they did this its a win win for fosun, it would pay for itself over 10 years and add value to the product.

I agree with your sentiment but no way are we valued at £350 million and it’ll take more than £150 million to do the ground.

 

[AndyY]

The return on investment wouldn’t be great if assessed purely on income generation by the redevelopment, especially if the revenue generated is further offset by relatively high interest charges. However for the club, the less tangible benefit is the uplift in qualifying FFP revenue, and its impact on how much the club can spend on investment in the squad. It’s by design that capital spending on the ground is exempt from FFP calculations, but the increased revenue it generates, is counted.

OK, but Fosun will also be considering cashflow and as someone pointed out earlier the longer term benefits of hospitality and non match day income generated by an improved ground may be limited, sadly, because we are not in Birmingham and not a “big club” (or big enough).
I would still like to see the ground expanded in the way discussed here in the last few posts (expand S Bank and wrap round a little so that we don’t have temp stand(s); mirror the quadrant on the N Bank on the other corner etc) but I just don’t see it happening. For Wolves, I bet the increase in match day revenue is limited in comparison to our PL TV and sponsorship income.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

OK, but Fosun will also be considering cashflow and as someone pointed out earlier the longer term benefits of hospitality and non match day income generated by an improved ground may be limited, sadly, because we are not in Birmingham and not a “big club” (or big enough).
I would still like to see the ground expanded in the way discussed here in the last few posts (expand S Bank and wrap round a little so that we don’t have temp stand(s); mirror the quadrant on the N Bank on the other corner etc) but I just don’t see it happening. For Wolves, I bet the increase in match day revenue is limited in comparison to our PL TV and sponsorship income.

It is, but of those latter two items, only sponsorship qualifies as revenue for FFP purposes. TV rights absolutely swamps all other income for most PL clubs outside the biggest clubs, but is disregarded for FFP calculations. So if Fosun want to grow the team, they need to grow FFP qualifying income. To date, they’ve done this through sponsorship and transfer dealings, and dabbled in brand expansion, but this is not yet generating any material revenue and likely never will directly.

Outside of smart transfer dealings, matchday income is the most attainable source of FFP qualifying revenue, and that’s why other PL clubs have invested in their stadiums to grow capacity and hospitality (and their academies to grow sellable assets). As I said in response to another poster, I don’t buy the argument that being based in Wolverhampton prevents growth in our hospitality business. People go to Premier League games as entertainment wherever the games are, including some right **** holes, as long as the transport is reasonable and the matchday experience is worth it. Wolverhampton is on the WCML, close to the Motorway network, and not far from Birmingham International. Molineux is central in the city, and the immediate neighbourhood looks attractive. If the Steve Bull wasn’t such a sad old stand, and the corporate facilities so poor, it would attract hospitality, at least while we are in the PL.

The issue is not that it wouldn’t generate revenue, aiding our FFP position, it’s that the ROI for Fosun is not great enough when they are themselves short of working capital. It’s potentially attractive for an investment partner who have capital to invest for an equity return, and are more focused on stadia and hospitality than just wanting to own a club. There are commercial and ownership structures which would allow such an investor to invest and reap those benefits while the enhanced matchday revenue continues to flow through Wolves books for FFP purposes. Hence why Fosun have for a long time been looking for a minority investment “partner” for Wolves.

 

[Kashmire Hawker]

Seeing that Wolverhampton is set to have 6,000+ City Centre homes built in the coming years, to the tune of £2.4 Billion collective investment, I hope this will be a catalyst towards Fosun pulling their fingers out.

The Steve Bull is 40 years old, is very cramped and isn’t of Premier League quality if your not in one of the hospitality suites.

It needs addressing ASAP and so does the wider stadium footprint with its age showing through rusted poles.

Also it is very helpful that JD Wetherspoon will soon invest £15 Million on a 96 room hotel as part of an expansion of The Moon Under Water and there are hopes of turning Mander House into a 90 room hotel too.

Things are in the offing within the city and it’s time that the club grasp that opportunity.

If you want further updates on varying developments in Wolverhampton, do head to Official Black Country Development Thread 5

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

It is, but of those latter two items, only sponsorship qualifies as revenue for FFP purposes. TV rights absolutely swamps all other income for most PL clubs outside the biggest clubs, but is disregarded for FFP calculations. So if Fosun want to grow the team, they need to grow FFP qualifying income. To date, they’ve done this through sponsorship and transfer dealings, and dabbled in brand expansion, but this is not yet generating any material revenue and likely never will directly.

Outside of smart transfer dealings, matchday income is the most attainable source of FFP qualifying revenue, and that’s why other PL clubs have invested in their stadiums to grow capacity and hospitality (and their academies to grow sellable assets). As I said in response to another poster, I don’t buy the argument that being based in Wolverhampton prevents growth in our hospitality business. People go to Premier League games as entertainment wherever the games are, including some right **** holes, as long as the transport is reasonable and the matchday experience is worth it. Wolverhampton is on the WCML, close to the Motorway network, and not far from Birmingham International. Molineux is central in the city, and the immediate neighbourhood looks attractive. If the Steve Bull wasn’t such a sad old stand, and the corporate facilities so poor, it would attract hospitality, at least while we are in the PL.

The issue is not that it wouldn’t generate revenue, aiding our FFP position, it’s that the ROI for Fosun is not great enough when they are themselves short of working capital. It’s potentially attractive for an investment partner who have capital to invest for an equity return, and are more focused on stadia and hospitality than just wanting to own a club. There are commercial and ownership structures which would allow such an investor to invest and reap those benefits while the enhanced matchday revenue continues to flow through Wolves books for FFP purposes. Hence why Fosun have for a long time been looking for a minority investment “partner” for Wolves.

Re growth in the hospitality industry. It would undoubtedly increase but not by a lot. The big clubs at it will always attract tourist fans/businesses because of the city itself. The Manchester clubs, Liverpool, the big London clubs. You’ll attract the casual football fan who is looking at a weekend away and sell it to their other halves as a great city break with lots to do outside of the football (great nightlife, posh restaurants, sight seeing). With all the will in the world and I don’t particular want to abuse Wolverhampton but that’s something we simply don’t have.

I totally get the argument for ground redevelopment on the basis it’s tired and needs it. However I think it’s a bit of a golden egg to think chucking £300 million at a stadium is suddenly going to mean we can spend more as our revenue increases dramatically.

I’ve said before my little bit of ITK on this comes from a pal in the commercial dept at wolves, he’s by no way senior management or someone who would be privy to the in-depth discussion surrounding t development but he’s been there 20 years plus in middle management and as such is respected and told things he shouldn’t. Fosun from day one discussed development and were looking at the council to contribute on the basis it would help the local economy, they refused. Since then there’s been a global pandemic and financial crash alongside Fosun themselves having a change in financial position. I was told pre Chelsea game that there is no appetite within Fosun to do anything with the ground and it’s rarely discussed now.

My personal feeling is nothing will ever change while Fosun own the club (or a majority of it)