Stockwood

Let's keep the stadium sh1t, so only true fans turn up...or face the prospect of prawn sandwiches in the Fanzone.

Quoted from HerveJosse

If you read my posts I didn’t say that. It’s a factor and the 2-5 k extra is well on the way to being reached despite the facilities. Is that a reason to provide poor facilities?

I did read your post, and now you’re missing your own point. You said you ‘believe’ there are ‘2,3 maybe 5000’ who would come if facilities were better. I’m just asking if you can show us any evidence at all that supports that belief, or are you, as seems more likely, just speculating…? If you can demonstrate some validity to the notion, I’m sure the owners will welcome that evidence.

Quoted from chaos33

I did read your post, and now you’re missing your own point. You said you ‘believe’ there are ‘2,3 maybe 5000’ who would come if facilities were better. I’m just asking if you can show us any evidence at all that supports that belief, or are you, as seems more likely, just speculating…? If you can demonstrate some validity to the notion, I’m sure the owners will welcome that evidence.

It’s not necessarily a point I entirely agreed with, but having looked into it’s probably not as fanciful as it sounds. The likes of Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Reading, Hull and Swansea all experienced an uplift of 100%+ following stadium moves, whilst Preston have seen similar gains through the staggered redevelopment of Deepdale.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, but these are all clubs which had similar characteristics to Town and BP in one way or another.

In some cases, like Hull and Swansea, these stadium moves coincided with a surge up the leagues all the way to the top flight, which will of course had a positive effect on attendances. However, even as both clubs have fallen on tougher times, attendances remain far, far higher than at when at Boothferry Park and The Vetch respectively.

Huddersfield are an interesting case in that they moved to the McAlpine, almost won promotion to the Premier League before getting relegated into League Two. Even at that level, attendances were still higher than in their more recent Leeds Road days in the second tier.

Rotherham too, are another interesting one with crowds now consistently in and around the 5-figure mark despite historically getting crowds well below those of Town - around half in fact in the mid-nineties (which is maybe a little unfair given our respective fortunes during that period, but still).

The data’s all here if you’re interested (and it is mildly interesting):

https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/englandcontent.htm

I’ll be honest, I started out attempting to validate your position on this, however I’ve ended up doing the opposite. Done correctly, it seems that better facilities do have a measurable and long-lasting effect on attendances.

The key part of that last sentence is “done correctly”. The exceptions to the rule were generally flawed in some way, Darlington and Coventry the standouts. But I have every confidence in our new ownership to deliver a new stadium in the right way, and perhaps most importantly, in the right place. This was always my great worry with the various plans mooted over the last 20 or 30 years.

Yep that’s good, that’s what I was getting at, and I do think more would come with a new stadium on that basis, presuming that would be coupled to some sort of achievement on the pitch - being in the EFL and also being demonstrably progressive, I’m just not sure there are thousands who aren’t coming to BP at present, despite how ace it is as an overall football experience, because they think it’s antiquated and/or ill equipped.

Since the original notion was seemingly mostly supposition and anecdotal/hearsay, I reckon most people who are able to attend BP probably do right now. I agree a new stadium will attract others and your evidence supports that, I was just asking for something tangible to the effect that there was some piece of local research that had asked residents if they attended home games and if not, why not. All of the factual examples Poojah has provided give a plausible proposition that we might expect something similar, but that’s quite a separate point to the idea that there are thousands of disgruntled would-be or ex-fans going ‘I know we’re doing really well, but I’m just not going to Blundell Park again until I can wander about an identikit, logo-strewn concourse, sit further away from the pitch and get a decent latte!

Quoted from chaos33

Yep that’s good, that’s what I was getting at, and I do think more would come with a new stadium on that basis, presuming that would be coupled to some sort of achievement on the pitch - being in the EFL and also being demonstrably progressive, I’m just not sure there are thousands who aren’t coming to BP at present, despite how ace it is as an overall football experience, because they think it’s antiquated and/or ill equipped.

Since the original notion was seemingly mostly supposition and anecdotal/hearsay, I reckon most people who are able to attend BP probably do right now. I agree a new stadium will attract others and your evidence supports that, I was just asking for something tangible to the effect that there was some piece of local research that had asked residents if they attended home games and if not, why not. All of the factual examples Poojah has provided give a plausible proposition that we might expect something similar, but that’s quite a separate point to the idea that there are thousands of disgruntled would-be or ex-fans going ‘I know we’re doing really well, but I’m just not going to Blundell Park again until I can wander about an identikit, logo-strewn concourse, sit further away from the pitch and get a decent latte!

Yeah, of course that kind of research needs doing, and no doubt it will be done when the time is right. I do recall something similar being done in the Conoco era, but it'd be well out of date now even if the results were available somewhere.

I know you were tongue in cheek in your closing comment there, but I do think it's important that should we ever end up in a new ground, that it is not a soulless, identikit affair with large gaps separating fans from the pitch and a sea of breezeblocks for a concourse. I understand that architectural finesse adds to the build cost and we're never going to end up with a miniature version of Spurs' new ground, but there are examples of smaller, less expensive stadia that have personality and their own unique features. Again though, I at least now have the confidence that our leadership 'gets' that such considerations have value, potentially even financial in the long-term, over and above going for the cheapest possible option.

I wander how much FGR’s proposed stadium costs relative to its size. Is something a bit different to the usual breeze block that much more expensive? When you think how long the stadium is there is it a lot of money? Genuine question.

Anyone with any background in this field?

I always think Rotherham’s stadium is a really good example of what to go for.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=blAa8nbSyXM

Quoted from chaos33

I always think Rotherham’s stadium is a really good example of what to go for.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=blAa8nbSyXM

Not seen that before. I like that. Asymmetrical in more than one way if you know what I mean. I like the stepped roof levels on one side. I guess the whole thing has been looked at from the point of view of sun angles too.

If we could have something with a bit more of our heritage around the place. The cladding outside maybe something reminiscent of the Msin Stand. Something that suggests the shape of a ship like this

https://images.app.goo.gl/eo9pbpxzm1ypPimN9



I’m getting carried away now. 😆

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Not seen that before. I like that. Asymmetrical in more than one way if you know what I mean. I like the stepped roof levels on one side. I guess the whole thing has been looked at from the point of view of sun angles too.

If we could have something with a bit more of our heritage around the place. The cladding outside maybe something reminiscent of the Msin Stand. Something that suggests the shape of a ship like this

https://images.app.goo.gl/eo9pbpxzm1ypPimN9



I’m getting carried away now. 😆

Too much pop or men in white coats?

I think Brentford’s new stadium is impressive and is a fine example of building something that’s useful and modern but also realistic for their growth.

Better facilities will mean an uplift, it makes no sense to me because I couldn’t care less about where I was town but for some, and in the 21st century, people simply want more for the money.

I think the key thing is, it’s safe to say that the new owners won’t rush this, they won’t spunk thousands chasing a pipe dream in places that will never happen, they won’t look to bring companies like Extreme in (literally everyone expect Fenty and co saw they were cowboys) and they’ll ensure that it’s a sustainable project. They’ve already shown that they engage with fans and seek advice and guidance so there’s nothing to suggest they won’t on this matter either…

It’ll come when the time is right…