The Toni Macaroni arena

***Sean1875*** · 15-08-2018 01:40 PM

Any idea how many tickets will be made available to us when we play them in a few weeks? I imagine there could be a fairly sizable away crowd that day!

**patch1875** · 15-08-2018 01:41 PM

Not been for a while but the hospitality was always excellent.

***Billy Whizz*** · 15-08-2018 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by Sean1875

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Any idea how many tickets will be made available to us when we play them in a few weeks? I imagine there could be a fairly sizable away crowd that day!

Probably 3 stands if we want them

**KWJ** · 15-08-2018 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by O'Rourke3

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They ditched their youth teams because they were placed in the lowest tier of academy as part of Project Brave. Their chances of bringing elite players through to their team went to zero as bigger clubs would attract the players they attact now because the success of their set up.

This is the second thread inside a week complaining about another clubs size and/or fan base which I repeat seems more like a Hearts thing than Hibs. There's a club out there with a small but growing loyal group of fans trying their best to compete where those fans drawn from a huge in built Celtic Rangers bias(Hibs Hearts notwithstanding). That club has had problems in the past with some very shady owners but it working it's way back. Clubs like Hamilton and Livingston earn what they get regardless of facilities. We had our own debate around the new East and whether it would ever be filled. I'm sure hte new owners there would like to get there too.

Fair point well made.

***Keith_M*** · 15-08-2018 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Hibs Class

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At ER the main cameras are at the back of the west, but live matches also have a camera at the back of the east - pretty sure it's also far enough back that the sun isn't an issue

There's actually three camera platforms in the East, one large one in the centre and one near each end.

I can't remember the last time I saw any cameras in them, so they now seem a bit pointless.

---------------

As for Livi, I quite enjoy going there.

OK, so they've got a small fan base, but their promotion was based on winning games, not the number of fans. I agree with those that think this criticism of the size of the club and support is very 'Big Team'. It's really none of our business

**NAE NOOKIE** · 15-08-2018 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by O'Rourke3

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They ditched their youth teams because they were placed in the lowest tier of academy as part of Project Brave. Their chances of bringing elite players through to their team went to zero as bigger clubs would attract the players they attact now because the success of their set up.

This is the second thread inside a week complaining about another clubs size and/or fan base which I repeat seems more like a Hearts thing than Hibs. There's a club out there with a small but growing loyal group of fans trying their best to compete where those fans drawn from a huge in built Celtic Rangers bias(Hibs Hearts notwithstanding). That club has had problems in the past with some very shady owners but it working it's way back. Clubs like Hamilton and Livingston earn what they get regardless of facilities. We had our own debate around the new East and whether it would ever be filled. I'm sure hte new owners there would like to get there too.

If you check my OP this was not an attack on the size of Livingston as a club or their right to play in the top division, you earn that on the pitch which they have done and that's the be all and end all for me. If its an issue for 'bigger' clubs then they know what they have to do.

What it was very much an attack on was their artificial pitch and the positioning of their TV cameras. As anybody who follows this forum regularly will know I am pretty well anally retentive when it comes to the image our game projects to the outside world, I think its something we give far too little thought to and as a result gives way too much ammunition to the sods out there who love to belittle our league as amateurish and 'small time'

It annoys the life out of me to see yet another club in this league with a pitch which should belong to a lowland league 'community' club, not a top flight professional outfit, and TV cameras perfectly positioned to have as little of the crowd as possible visible to the TV audience.

If folk think stuff like that isn't important tell it to the companies who between them make billions of pounds annually by helping businesses all over the world improve their image and project themselves in the best possible light to potential customers. What we are doing in the Scottish premiership is like Volkswagen making an advert for one of their sports cars and showing it driving through the streets of Glasgow's worst slum area with a long list of the possible things that can go wrong with it running along the bottom of the screen.

**ChooseLife** · 15-08-2018 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by IWasThere2016

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Livi are a joke. Sadly, the SPL is just as bad also.

I think the SPL is brilliant at the moment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45037847

***O'Rourke3*** · 15-08-2018 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

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If you check my OP this was not an attack on the size of Livingston as a club or their right to play in the top division, you earn that on the pitch which they have done and that's the be all and end all for me. If its an issue for 'bigger' clubs then they know what they have to do.

What it was very much an attack on was their artificial pitch and the positioning of their TV cameras. As anybody who follows this forum regularly will know I am pretty well anally retentive when it comes to the image our game projects to the outside world, I think its something we give far too little thought to and as a result gives way too much ammunition to the sods out there who love to belittle our league as amateurish and 'small time'

It annoys the life out of me to see yet another club in this league with a pitch which should belong to a lowland league 'community' club, not a top flight professional outfit, and TV cameras perfectly positioned to have as little of the crowd as possible visible to the TV audience.

If folk think stuff like that isn't important tell it to the companies who between them make billions of pounds annually by helping businesses all over the world improve their image and project themselves in the best possible light to potential customers. What we are doing in the Scottish premiership is like Volkswagen making an advert for one of their sports cars and showing it driving through the streets of Glasgow's worst slum area with a long list of the possible things that can go wrong with it running along the bottom of the screen.

NN wasn't intending having a go at your post - although it probably ended up a bit like it..... I agree with the state of their pitch having now watched Sportscene. I'm not a fan of top level clubs using them but while they are allowed and it's a way of saving money for the smaller teams we are stuck with them.
Nothing you can do with the TV position given they had to build 10000 seats way back in order to play in the top league. There's no angle in that stadium that won't make a Livingston Kille game looks like the crowd stumbled on it and were there to rubberneck. I also agree the SPFL could help invest more in ensureing bigger crowrds therefor better atmospheres to attract better TV money, but the clubs that had to put up and suck it up would complain they never got that help. Incentives for ensuring that spare/warm up goals were not visible pitchside would help to describe a better level of professionalism from our leagues. Then you get both teams, managers and coaches having to cross the pitch before kick off at Tynecastle...

***Viva_Palmeiras*** · 15-08-2018 03:26 PM

If they want to be taken seriously then ditch that ridiculous stadium name. :)

Yours
Ivor Biggun

**brianmc** · 15-08-2018 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by VivaPalmeiras

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If they want to be taken seriously then ditch that ridiculous stadium name. :)

Yours
Ivor Biggun

Dear Mr Biggun,
I feel I have to point out to you (a) The current name of Livingston FC's stadium is not even in the top 3 of worst named grounds in Scottish football. And (b) the restaurant involved serves jolly tasty food.

Regards,
T. Macaroni

**Scotty Leither** · 15-08-2018 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by madabouthibs

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Don't see the hate towards Livi tbh, decent stadium compared to all the other "smaller" clubs, fairly easy to get to by train, bus or car, decent boozers nearby, promoted twice in arrow and won a major trophy in the last 15 years....
Oh....... Maybe hit the nail on the head there..... 😁

They went into administration IIRC 3-4 days after they beat us in the 2004 LC final. They were paying Stuart Lovell for instance, £3k per week on gates of 1500. Whenever we go there there's always an issue with admission to the game due to hardly any staff being on duty.

If teams want to play in the top league they should meet certain criteria re finances/pitch quality/safety of supporters etc. Livingston have been serial offenders down the years yet our authorities seem to indulge them and other clubs.

Hence the justified stick that comes their way.

***Jamesie*** · 15-08-2018 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Scotty Leither

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They went into administration IIRC 3-4 days after they beat us in the 2004 LC final. They were paying Stuart Lovell for instance, £3k per week on gates of 1500. Whenever we go there there's always an issue with admission to the game due to hardly any staff being on duty.

If teams want to play in the top league they should meet certain criteria re finances/pitch quality/safety of supporters etc. Livingston have been serial offenders down the years yet our authorities seem to indulge them and other clubs.

Hence the justified stick that comes their way.

It was actually a couple of months before the LC Final, although they still had a few of their higher earners on the books by the time the final came around.

**iwasthere1972** · 15-08-2018 07:03 PM

Watched the highlights of their game at the weekend and that's got to be on of the worst plastic pitches I've seen. Up until Sunday the pitch at Hamilton was my number one in the worst pitches in the UK but that's now dropped to second. Can't believe that Livingston are allowed in the top league with a playing surface that bad.
.

***Baader*** · 15-08-2018 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by cleanyman

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Same for Hamilton then?

What about St.Johnstone?

Not fussed for either. They do more than double Livi's average crowd though. To be fair to Saints they've been top flight for ten years and won the Scottish Cup in that time. Livi offer nothing and have a bad history of living well beyond their means.

***Keith_M*** · 15-08-2018 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by brianmc

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Dear Mr Biggun,
I feel I have to point out to you (a) The current name of Livingston FC's stadium is not even in the top 3 of worst named grounds in Scottish football. And (b) the restaurant involved serves jolly tasty food.

Regards,
T. Macaroni

What would be your top three, Tony?

***Keith_M*** · 15-08-2018 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by Baader

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Not fussed for either. They do more than double Livi's average crowd though. To be fair to Saints they've been top flight for ten years and won the Scottish Cup in that time. Livi offer nothing and have a bad history of living well beyond their means.

Actually, Livi won the League Cup.

Can't remember who they beat in the final, tho...

**~~calumhibee1~~** · 15-08-2018 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Centre Hawf

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Played on countless variations of plastic pitches over the years and don’t mind them at all. I’ve played on far worse grass pitches in my time.

At amateur level it’s 10 times more enjoyable playing on plastic pitches because the grass pitches are atrocious. Playing at places like Saughton and the Gyle actually pretty much sucked any fun out of amateur football for me. A great grass pitch however is better than the plastic.

**brianmc** · 15-08-2018 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by Keekaboo

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What would be your top three, Tony?

In third place... Hamilton Accies Hope CBD Stadium

In second... East Fife at the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium

And in first place...(as we all know it was previously called the C&G Systems Stadium, but now called) Your Radio 103FM Stadium it's...
Dumbarton FC.

*There are others!

***Keith_M*** · 15-08-2018 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by brianmc

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In third place... Hamilton Accies Hope CBD Stadium

In second... East Fife at the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium

And in first place...(as we all know it was previously called the C&G Systems Stadium, but now called) Your Radio 103FM Stadium it's...
Dumbarton FC.

*There are others!

Tynie Castle?

hfc rd · 15-08-2018 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by brianmc

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In third place... Hamilton Accies Hope CBD Stadium

In second... East Fife at the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium

And in first place...(as we all know it was previously called the C&G Systems Stadium, but now called) Your Radio 103FM Stadium it's...
Dumbarton FC.

*There are others!

Cowdenbeath’s needs to be up there as well. An embarrassing bomb site of a place.

**Scotty Leither** · 15-08-2018 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jamesie

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It was actually a couple of months before the LC Final, although they still had a few of their higher earners on the books by the time the final came around.

Yes you're right, my bad - admin 3rd February 2004, beat us in final 14th March 2004. Like I said, indulged by the authorities to retain the likes of Lovell and Fernandez from Celtic on high wages despite stiffening everybody e!se for money and allowed to still compete with these players in their squad.

Not my favourite team/club and deserving of the epithet "franchise FC" .

**HappyAsHellas** · 15-08-2018 10:35 PM

I always thought nothing could look worse than Alloa's B & Q budget special but Livvy's looks like something from a fishmongers window. As has been mentioned, utterly detrimental to the image of our game and should never be allowed in the top flight.

**Turkish Green** · 15-08-2018 11:36 PM

Livingston developed a decent youth set-up under Gary Bollan and Brian Welsh winning the SFL U17s and U19s leagues, however they left in 2012 to be replaced by Yogi and Collins and the youth set-up was abandonned.

**Turkish Green** · 16-08-2018 12:04 AM

Watched Cliftonville vs Colraine on The Irish League Show. The artificial pitch at Solitude was spraying rubber all over the place. It did not look like much of an even bounce.

***Viva_Palmeiras*** · 16-08-2018 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by Turkish Green

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Livingston developed a decent youth set-up under Gary Bollan and Brian Welsh winning the SFL U17s and U19s leagues, however they left in 2012 to be replaced by Yogi and Collins and the youth set-up was abandonned.

Was it not reported just recently (ie the last couple of weeks) that Livi has taken the regrettable step to abandon the youth setup to concentrate on staying in Premiership football? Surprised if Yogi and Collins instigated dismantling a yoof system...!

***Viva_Palmeiras*** · 16-08-2018 05:46 AM

Originally Posted by brianmc

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In third place... Hamilton Accies Hope CBD Stadium

In second... East Fife at the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium

And in first place...(as we all know it was previously called the C&G Systems Stadium, but now called) Your Radio 103FM Stadium it's...
Dumbarton FC.

*There are others!

It’s the fictional names that get me - I mean who’s called Macaroni?!

Best rgds,
Dick Van Dyke