Of course, no matter how drastic the changes in Southampton city are, it seems to have nothing to do with Southampton Club.
However, Ji Ya soon proved that there was still a relationship between them.
On August 1, Southampton Club and Southampton City Council held a press conference at the same time, announcing that a large piece of vacant land in the northwest of Southampton city, near the former naval base, would be purchased for 150 million pounds.
The price was sold to Southampton Football Club for their use in building a new stadium.
As soon as the news was announced, the reporters at the scene were dumbfounded.
Wucao, it’s only been a few days, why did Southampton Club move so fast? Did they already know the news?
If we had known this news earlier, we would have used the land to build the stadium. What a waste!
For a moment, countless reporters complained in their hearts, but when they thought about the land, everyone felt relieved. It was close to the original naval base, and the naval base would be converted into a free port, and countless giant ships would handle it every day.
Goods, what can be done with the land around here?
Building apartments? Only fools would live in those places!
The stadium is really the most suitable place. No one will live there anyway. The venue is already noisy during games, so I don’t care about the sound of ships coming into the port to unload their cargo.
The area itself was originally a military base, so it has no practical use. There is not much space needed to repair the port and wharf. Such a large piece of land is wasted. If no one wants it, it is better to sell it to Southampton for repairs.
The new stadium can also drive business nearby, which is a great thing that kills two birds with one stone.
But what is puzzling is that it will cost 150 million pounds just to acquire the land. So how much money does Southampton have to spend on repairing the stadium?
To put it bluntly, everyone knows Southampton's financial situation. Although their income has increased a lot in recent years, if you look at it carefully, their annual profits are basically achieved by operating the transfer market, the stadium and broadcasting.
The income from fees and various sponsorships can only keep up with the rising expenses and salary increases.
In fact, everyone understands this business strategy. The club's normal income is the most stable, so it is most appropriate to manage expenditures on this basis. It is difficult for Southampton to make money in the transfer market every year.
, although Southampton has made more money year by year in the transfer market in the past three years, everyone knows that this situation will definitely not last long, and under normal circumstances, there will be profits and losses.
After deducting the investment in the training camp and the repayment of previous debts, Southampton's income from the transfer market in the past few years, and the money it can save, is actually just over 200 million, certainly less than 300 million, maybe 200 million.
Not even 500 million.
It cost 150 million to acquire the land, so why build a knitting court?
However, the Southampton City Council's answer soon dispelled such doubts.
The land price is 150 million, but it is not paid immediately. Instead, it will be paid interest-free for ten years after the stadium construction begins, which is 15 million pounds per year.
At the same time, they also explained that although it seemed that the city government was at a disadvantage, in fact the land was not suitable for anything other than building the stadium, and the Southampton Club was the pride of the city of Southampton.
, they cannot be allowed to help the municipal government solve problems while also putting a heavy financial burden on themselves. Therefore, by choosing this payment method, both parties have fully considered each other, which shows that Southampton Club and Southampton Municipal Government
Such is the good relationship between family members.
After hearing this, the reporters suddenly realized.
In fact, to put it bluntly, it can be regarded as collusion with each other to sell public assets. However, considering that doing so is very beneficial to the Southampton City Government and Southampton Club, there will be no short-sighted people to question it, let alone Southampton.
The club now has a high status in the hearts of Southampton fans. For Southampton, which has only 220,000 people, they already have 30,000 to 50,000 die-hard fans. These die-hard fans, plus their families and relatives, have
how many people?
It is no exaggeration to say that the entire city of Southampton is a supporter of Southampton!
Is this called benefit transfer? This is called taking care of the emotions of all citizens!
Just look at the joyful attitude of Southampton fans after the news came out, you will know how excited they are!
But yes, with Southampton's outstanding performance in the past two years, it is really hard to get a ticket at St. Mary's Stadium. The capacity of more than 30,000 people is obviously no longer able to meet the needs of Southampton fans. A stadium with 50,000 people is still about the same.
By the way, what will happen to St. Mary's Stadium then?
In this regard, Southampton Club naturally has good plans.
"In our plan, the new stadium will take three to five years to build. The new stadium has a capacity of 51,000 people. The entire stadium covers an area of 100,000 square meters, half of which is the stadium area and the other half.
It is a belt of various entertainment facilities and tourist facilities. When the time comes, we will apply for a five-star stadium for the new stadium. This will be the third five-star stadium belonging to a Premier League club after Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium.
"
Noriya said at the press conference, and his words immediately aroused cheers from the Southampton reporters in the audience.
"As for St. Mary's Stadium, it will continue to be our home stadium until the new stadium is completed. After we move into the new stadium, St. Mary's Stadium will be demolished and a large commercial center will be built. This project will
Leave it to Southampton City Council, after all, St. Mary's Stadium is also next to the port, where there is a huge demand for a commercial center." Noriya continued.
The reporters nodded, which is understandable. The location of St. Mary's Stadium is much better than the previous new stadium. It faces the former passenger port. After the new commercial center is built, the passenger flow will definitely be inevitable.
And if the Southampton City Council wins this piece of land, it is obvious that they can operate it better than Southampton Club. Maybe they will use the 150 million pounds given by Southampton Club by then.
The way the St. Mary's stadium was taken over, it's back again.
It's the equivalent of Southampton trading their old stadium for a piece of land for a new one - a win-win.
After all, the total cost of the previous construction of St. Mary's Stadium was only 100 million pounds. The area of St. Mary's Stadium is not large. It is only enough to build a stadium that can accommodate 30,000 people. Other ancillary facilities are basically unusable.
Such a transaction is indeed a win-win situation, but reporters are just curious, when did Ji Ya's relationship with the Southampton City Council become so good?
Then there is the cost of the stadium. Building a large stadium is not as cheap as building a small stadium. The construction of St. Mary's Stadium including the land belt only cost 100 million, but if the new stadium does not cost 500 million, it will not be available at all.
