The Rotherham United Trust held a Fans Forum last night at the Carlton Park hotel. In attendance to answer questions from the floor were Millers Chairman Tony Stewart, Manager Ronnie Moore, Chief Operating Officer Paul Douglas and Commercial Director Steve Coakley. The meeting was Chaired by Mark Thomas from the Millers Trust. The meeting was streamed to listeners on the internet by our good selves at MillersMAD.
The meeting was split into two halves, with introduction, discussion and questions being put to chairman Tony Stewart in the first half.
The main taling points overshadowed that no concrete stadium site details were released, but TS hopes to conclude budgeting issues with landowners a week on Monday. Tony stressed he was 99% sure all will run smoothy and an announcement is expected around Christmas or in the New Year at the latest.
Stewart stressed he has spent £20,000 on making sure the said site is fit for purpose through land survey and other expenses. The estimated cost of the new Stadium is between 20 & 25 million pounds to hold a capacity of between 12,500 - 15,000.
When pushed on the location of the site Tony Stewart replied: "No, it's not far for fans to travel. (pause) Depending where you live" which raised some laughter from the floor.
It was disclosed that the club are NOT in any debt and an operating profit was made last financial year, plans are in place for the club to own separate land for a food store and a hotel which will help fund the stadium project.
The new training ground, confirmed as Wingfield, will be built at the same time as the stadium to maximise the best deal possible from contracting parties.
Paul Douglas engaged in discussions about improvements to the playing surface at Don Valley and the plans to drain sand into the surface to help absorb the heavy rainfall, he stressed this is in conjunction with DV partnership and the Millers own head groundsman.
A few questions about the club shop and sponsorship were then addressed by Steve Coakley, who touched on the new perimeter boards at DVS and that hospitality and matchday marketing is already on the up from the whole of last season.
Part two of the forum after a 20 minute break saw Ronnie Moore take lead answering fans questions surrounding the playing squad and his future ambitions.
He stressed he's looking for maybe 4 or 5 new players in the New Year and confirmed Gary Roberts has signed untill the end of the season with the option of a second year.
After several questions surrounding Tom Pope, Ryan Taylor and Andy Nicholas and engaging discussion with supporters, Moore stated that TWELVE players were out of contract at the end of the season, Ronnie is in talks with Andy Warrington over a new contract.
The evening concluded with Mark Thomas thanking everyone for attending and also touching on the proposed new fans working group, which is to be put forward regards the new stadium project.
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