: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:41 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

I also think limiting the size to 18,000 is incredibly short-sighted. It's only a moment ago that we had 23K in for Leeds games and we shoot ourselves in the foot if we deprive ourselves of the opportunity for bumper gates. I'd have thought that a capacity of at least 20K should be the aim, and I'd personally go for no less than a 22K stadium.

Yep.

And you can get more people in the stadium if there are more standing areas available too.

If you have a stadium with standing areas provided you can always install temporary seating should an upcoming event require it to be all seated for the sake of safety. All seater stadia are a bit "final" IMO.

(hope that makes sense!)

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:48 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

I also think limiting the size to 18,000 is incredibly short-sighted. It's only a moment ago that we had 23K in for Leeds games and we shoot ourselves in the foot if we deprive ourselves of the opportunity for bumper gates. I'd have thought that a capacity of at least 20K should be the aim, and I'd personally go for no less than a 22K stadium.

I assume you didn't make it to the forum this time?

Hood mentioned that the 18k is an initial figure which could and probably will rise slightly. The advantage of keeping the capacity realistic to our potential crowds according to Duckett is the scarcity factor. If we have a capacity of 18k, when Hull or perhaps Saints come people will be more inclined to buy a ticket in advance for fear of not getting in. At the moment people will wait until gameday to decide and factor in weather etc knowing that we will never sell out.

I'd rather have a 18k stadium that is almost full rather than a 22k stadium that is half empty each week.

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:50 pm  

mystic eddie wrote:

If you have a stadium with standing areas provided you can always install temporary seating should an upcoming event require it to be all seated for the sake of safety. All seater stadia are a bit "final" IMO.

(hope that makes sense!)

Would that be possible if the standing area's have barriers for spectators?

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:00 pm  

Bully_Boxer wrote:

Would that be possible if the standing area's have barriers for spectators?

Hmmm. Good point but I am still sure that something could be done if the situation ever cropped up.

I just feel that there should be the choice for people and all-seated arenas take away that choice. Heck, my football team went all seated in about 1992 and I STILL miss standing in my usual area on the terracing. I would hate to see that taken away from people.

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:02 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

Exactly right. You can't vote for "all standing", so why should those who choose to sit vote to deprive those who prefer to stand?

The "all seater" option is a bad idea and we don't need all-seater stadia in our sport. Doing away with large standing areas can only harm fan interaction, atmosphere and crowd noise.

I fear though that the die is already cast, and all-seater is inevitable. If for no other reason than it assists use for "other sports" especially those where segregation is the thing.

I also think limiting the size to 18,000 is incredibly short-sighted. It's only a moment ago that we had 23K in for Leeds games and we shoot ourselves in the foot if we deprive ourselves of the opportunity for bumper gates. I'd have thought that a capacity of at least 20K should be the aim, and I'd personally go for no less than a 22K stadium.

A point which seems to have been missed by Ryan Duckett is that every 1500 seats cost around 1 million in build costs. So to add 3 to 4 thousand extra seats wold cost another 3 million.

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:11 pm  

mystic eddie wrote:

Hmmm. Good point but I am still sure that something could be done if the situation ever cropped up.

I just feel that there should be the choice for people and all-seated arenas take away that choice. Heck, my football team went all seated in about 1992 and I STILL miss standing in my usual area on the terracing. I would hate to see that taken away from people.

Well if it can be done, then it's a good idea. Perhaps you can get safety barriers than can be folded down. I am sure these are options that are being considered and Hood certainly didn't rule out having some standing inc in the revisions.

: Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:56 pm  

German stadia have removeable seats, but I suspect they cost a mint.

Fans always seem to place a higher premium on standing than clubs, both in soccer and RL. Alnmost every Premier League club seems to have atmosphere problems and even where there is some, it is based around groups of fans who stand in their seats throughout the game, supposedly illegally.