@Malone said:
Some clubs are physically limited in terms of parking at their ground, so they must have a range of other options - maybe we can look at those clubs for ideas?
One out of the box idea would actually be to stop parking at the ground for all but say staff/officials/volunteers and disabled fans.
You'd then massively beef up the park n ride operation.
A problem with the existing park n ride is that they might not be best pleased with doubling or trebling the cars parking there! But may be there are other sites that could be worked with -or just town centre carparks?
No idea if it'd even be a starter, but maybe. You'd still get people parking down Hillbottom and the carparks near by, but you'd reduce the swell into and out, with a number of busses replacing them.
Problem with all this, is that in general Park and ride just doesn't work for football, the vast majority of people just can't be asked with it.
Worked really well on the way into the Stadium of Light last season, leaving was a little slow with longer waits as everyone leaving at the same time.
I feel like there's a big difference between attitudes of people who live in cities and are used to taking buses / metro compared to people from towns like HW where everyone drives.
@Malone said:
Some clubs are physically limited in terms of parking at their ground, so they must have a range of other options - maybe we can look at those clubs for ideas?
One out of the box idea would actually be to stop parking at the ground for all but say staff/officials/volunteers and disabled fans.
You'd then massively beef up the park n ride operation.
A problem with the existing park n ride is that they might not be best pleased with doubling or trebling the cars parking there! But may be there are other sites that could be worked with -or just town centre carparks?
No idea if it'd even be a starter, but maybe. You'd still get people parking down Hillbottom and the carparks near by, but you'd reduce the swell into and out, with a number of busses replacing them.
Problem with all this, is that in general Park and ride just doesn't work for football, the vast majority of people just can't be asked with it.
Having done the train to Wycombe and bus to Beer option a couple of times...I must admit I found the delay, traffic and roundabout route was soul destroying and though walking to the station is an option. I am too lazy.
@Malone said:
Some clubs are physically limited in terms of parking at their ground, so they must have a range of other options - maybe we can look at those clubs for ideas?
One out of the box idea would actually be to stop parking at the ground for all but say staff/officials/volunteers and disabled fans.
You'd then massively beef up the park n ride operation.
A problem with the existing park n ride is that they might not be best pleased with doubling or trebling the cars parking there! But may be there are other sites that could be worked with -or just town centre carparks?
No idea if it'd even be a starter, but maybe. You'd still get people parking down Hillbottom and the carparks near by, but you'd reduce the swell into and out, with a number of busses replacing them.
Problem with all this, is that in general Park and ride just doesn't work for football, the vast majority of people just can't be asked with it.
Having done the train to Wycombe and bus to Beer option a couple of times...I must admit I found the delay, traffic and roundabout route was soul destroying and though walking to the station is an option. I am too lazy.
Are you talking about the village called Beer in Devon? If so, it's a long old bus trip!
Having done the train to Wycombe and bus to Beer option a couple of times...I must admit I found the delay, traffic and roundabout route was soul destroying and though walking to the station is an option. I am too lazy.
Are you talking about the village called Beer in Devon? If so, it's a long old bus trip!
Sorry meant bus to Adams Park and for some reason I typed Beer...cannot imagine why the memory of not driving to the ground should have caused that typo...
To get to 17,500 you'd have to change the main stand to mirror the frank Adams. That'd add maybe 4,000?
Not sure how you'd add another 3,500 though and that's once you'd got the safety certificate back that limits the 10,000 we could currently get up from whatever it is now? Maybe 9200?
Is it not true that the existing stadium is capable of quite a lot more than 10,000, without any physical changes? The problem is the 10,000 restriction because of access etc. Obviously not 17,500 but does anyone know how much more?
@WildWestFC said:
It would be interesting to see how they managed to get to 17,500, and how the access issue cap at 10,000 was addressed.
Surely the pylon could stay and other stands be built bigger to reach 17,500!
For now the issue is not increasing attendance but improving flow in and out of the stadium.
The area of the stadium that makes sense to increase is the away end as this sells out more often than any other part of the ground. The pylon in question is the one directly behind this stand.
In theory if we got to the championship you could add another 2k seats to that stand and it would still regularly sell out due to the large followings at that level. Four thousand away fans regularly would boost the coffers nicely as well as better food outlets and bars in a redeveloped away end.
In the past a redeveloped beechdean stand has been talked about to mirror that of the frank adams stand as well as adding another tier to the valley end.
I thought shandy is half beer half lemonade, whereas a lager top is just that, a lager with a dash of lemonade in the top. I've enjoyed a few shandies in my time but never been a fan of lager top though.
@Storm said:
Is it not true that the existing stadium is capable of quite a lot more than 10,000, without any physical changes? The problem is the 10,000 restriction because of access etc. Obviously not 17,500 but does anyone know how much more?
Let's look at the numbers.
Frank Adams - 5,000
Away stand (pre Rovers.Oxford goonery limiting it lower), 2,000
Main stand - 1,500?
Terrace, 1,500?
Terrace with 1,500 in would surely be a squeeze, and I'm not certain that main stand is 1,500 either.
@Ozzie_the_Relaxed said:
I thought shandy is half beer half lemonade, whereas a lager top is just that, a lager with a dash of lemonade in the top. I've enjoyed a few shandies in my time but never been a fan of lager top though.
Indeed. 'You mean A bit of pop to make it taste nice?'. Cue uncomfortable shuffling from said cockernee. As I said it may be a northern(or more northern than me) thing but I'd never heard of it until I hit the metropolis. In the Midlands we drink beer as it comes...unless we're driving to a hard to access football ground.
@Storm said:
Is it not true that the existing stadium is capable of quite a lot more than 10,000, without any physical changes? The problem is the 10,000 restriction because of access etc. Obviously not 17,500 but does anyone know how much more?
Let's look at the numbers.
Frank Adams - 5,000
Away stand (pre Rovers.Oxford goonery limiting it lower), 2,000
Main stand - 1,500?
Terrace, 1,500?
Terrace with 1,500 in would surely be a squeeze, and I'm not certain that main stand is 1,500 either.
@Storm said:
Is it not true that the existing stadium is capable of quite a lot more than 10,000, without any physical changes? The problem is the 10,000 restriction because of access etc. Obviously not 17,500 but does anyone know how much more?
Let's look at the numbers.
Frank Adams - 5,000
Away stand (pre Rovers.Oxford goonery limiting it lower), 2,000
Main stand - 1,500?
Terrace, 1,500?
Terrace with 1,500 in would surely be a squeeze, and I'm not certain that main stand is 1,500 either.
Certainly can't see much more than 10,000?
According to my good friend Wikipedia each stand has the following capacities:
Beechdean Stand: 1,267
Away Stand: 2,053 - due to Poxford and Rovers our license reduced this to 1,800
Frank Adams: 4,895
Terrace: 1,494 (has scope to be 2,131 pending remedial work that needs to be completed to Grounds Safety Authority requirements)
This means our current capacity is approx 9,500 due to the license we hold but in terms of actual space - should we invest some money in completing the remedial works identified by the Grounds Safety Authority, we can accommodate 10,137. It is a council regulation that dictates that we cannot currently have more than 10,000 due to the positioning of the stadium at the end of Hillbottom Road.
Seemingly emanating from a total misreading of the context of Mr Couhig's tweet
ie - he was asked about the SCOREBOARDS, and because he mentioned "stadium experts" and "maximising AP" for "the championship", people have totally misintepreted this as being increasing capacity!
Throw in the red herring of some historical council comments on 17,500 and it's really escalated!
Seemingly emanating from a total misreading of the context of Mr Couhig's tweet
ie - he was asked about the SCOREBOARDS, and because he mentioned "stadium experts" and "maximising AP" for "the championship", people have totally misintepreted this as being increasing capacity!
Throw in the red herring of some historical council comments on 17,500 and it's really escalated!
Maybe you missed the latest tweet, he wasn’t talking about scoreboards here.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the experts but I do not think we will be limited to 10,000. Let’s see a) if can get approval and b) what the experts opine. Thanks”
The absolute 10,000 limit was conveniently forgotten when W***s we're in town. They had a crowd of over 10,200 (I think) for one scrumfest, and possibly another couple over 10,000.
@NewburyWanderer said:
The absolute 10,000 limit was conveniently forgotten when W***s we're in town. They had a crowd of over 10,200 (I think) for one scrumfest, and possibly another couple over 10,000.
Could this not genuinely be used in a legal challenge against the ruling?
Have a vague recollection that this restriction applies only to association football matches. Something to do with the licensing authority having been spawned by Hillsborough and the local council rules defined as applying to football matches (probably as that was all that was envisaged when the rules were drafted).
@Wendoverman said:
This is nice. Not even seen the bid or voted yet and we are looking at a judicial review to increase our gates for the Championship!
@Wendoverman said:
This is nice. Not even seen the bid or voted yet and we are looking at a judicial review to increase our gates for the Championship!
Over the years we've had a couple of 'sell out' games where the attendance ends up sub-9,500. Not necessarily all about getting ahead of ourselves with the unlikely prospect of Champ footie.
@Wendoverman said:
This is nice. Not even seen the bid or voted yet and we are looking at a judicial review to increase our gates for the Championship!
Over the years we've had a couple of 'sell out' games where the attendance ends up sub-9,500. Not necessarily all about getting ahead of ourselves with the unlikely prospect of Champ footie.
If I vote for and we're not away at the Nou Camp in three years eating local artisan crisps I will be most disappointed.
Comments
I feel like there's a big difference between attitudes of people who live in cities and are used to taking buses / metro compared to people from towns like HW where everyone drives.
Having done the train to Wycombe and bus to Beer option a couple of times...I must admit I found the delay, traffic and roundabout route was soul destroying and though walking to the station is an option. I am too lazy.
Are you talking about the village called Beer in Devon? If so, it's a long old bus trip!
Sorry meant bus to Adams Park and for some reason I typed Beer...cannot imagine why the memory of not driving to the ground should have caused that typo...
"17,500 capacity possible at Adams Park"
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=31465;article=790497;title=gasroom.co.uk
You'd get 17500 at Adams Park every 2 weeks, because it would take that long to get away from the car park.
I have no idea where the extra 10000 fans would have come from though ...
Where is the pylon?
To get to 17,500 you'd have to change the main stand to mirror the frank Adams. That'd add maybe 4,000?
Not sure how you'd add another 3,500 though and that's once you'd got the safety certificate back that limits the 10,000 we could currently get up from whatever it is now? Maybe 9200?
Look at the tweet its in response to...bit of context
It would be interesting to see how they managed to get to 17,500, and how the access issue cap at 10,000 was addressed.
Surely the pylon could stay and other stands be built bigger to reach 17,500!
For now the issue is not increasing attendance but improving flow in and out of the stadium.
Is it not true that the existing stadium is capable of quite a lot more than 10,000, without any physical changes? The problem is the 10,000 restriction because of access etc. Obviously not 17,500 but does anyone know how much more?
The area of the stadium that makes sense to increase is the away end as this sells out more often than any other part of the ground. The pylon in question is the one directly behind this stand.
In theory if we got to the championship you could add another 2k seats to that stand and it would still regularly sell out due to the large followings at that level. Four thousand away fans regularly would boost the coffers nicely as well as better food outlets and bars in a redeveloped away end.
In the past a redeveloped beechdean stand has been talked about to mirror that of the frank adams stand as well as adding another tier to the valley end.
I thought shandy is half beer half lemonade, whereas a lager top is just that, a lager with a dash of lemonade in the top. I've enjoyed a few shandies in my time but never been a fan of lager top though.
Let's look at the numbers.
Frank Adams - 5,000
Away stand (pre Rovers.Oxford goonery limiting it lower), 2,000
Main stand - 1,500?
Terrace, 1,500?
Terrace with 1,500 in would surely be a squeeze, and I'm not certain that main stand is 1,500 either.
Certainly can't see much more than 10,000?
Indeed. 'You mean A bit of pop to make it taste nice?'. Cue uncomfortable shuffling from said cockernee. As I said it may be a northern(or more northern than me) thing but I'd never heard of it until I hit the metropolis. In the Midlands we drink beer as it comes...unless we're driving to a hard to access football ground.
Is it still a requirement to have an all seater stadium within two years of being promoted to Championship? Or did that go with the titanic?
Not without further development no
According to my good friend Wikipedia each stand has the following capacities:
Beechdean Stand: 1,267
Away Stand: 2,053 - due to Poxford and Rovers our license reduced this to 1,800
Frank Adams: 4,895
Terrace: 1,494 (has scope to be 2,131 pending remedial work that needs to be completed to Grounds Safety Authority requirements)
This means our current capacity is approx 9,500 due to the license we hold but in terms of actual space - should we invest some money in completing the remedial works identified by the Grounds Safety Authority, we can accommodate 10,137. It is a council regulation that dictates that we cannot currently have more than 10,000 due to the positioning of the stadium at the end of Hillbottom Road.
All very interesting this debate.
Seemingly emanating from a total misreading of the context of Mr Couhig's tweet
ie - he was asked about the SCOREBOARDS, and because he mentioned "stadium experts" and "maximising AP" for "the championship", people have totally misintepreted this as being increasing capacity!
Throw in the red herring of some historical council comments on 17,500 and it's really escalated!
I don't think it was even scoreboards - I think it was about installing electronic advertising hoardings.
Maybe you missed the latest tweet, he wasn’t talking about scoreboards here.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the experts but I do not think we will be limited to 10,000. Let’s see a) if can get approval and b) what the experts opine. Thanks”
Ah that sounds a bit more promising then @Vincey.
It's great they are looking into taking us a bit more big time, and I'd have hated it if it was all a big misunderstanding!
@Chris , fair clarification.
The absolute 10,000 limit was conveniently forgotten when W***s we're in town. They had a crowd of over 10,200 (I think) for one scrumfest, and possibly another couple over 10,000.
Could this not genuinely be used in a legal challenge against the ruling?
This is nice. Not even seen the bid or voted yet and we are looking at a judicial review to increase our gates for the Championship!
Have a vague recollection that this restriction applies only to association football matches. Something to do with the licensing authority having been spawned by Hillsborough and the local council rules defined as applying to football matches (probably as that was all that was envisaged when the rules were drafted).
It's called forward planning.
Over the years we've had a couple of 'sell out' games where the attendance ends up sub-9,500. Not necessarily all about getting ahead of ourselves with the unlikely prospect of Champ footie.
If I vote for and we're not away at the Nou Camp in three years eating local artisan crisps I will be most disappointed.