Mark Lawrenson would hate it. He's had little digs at us for years. Oakwell will be on FIFA with BFC chants from the stands. We won't have Darren Bond as ref every other week. Wigan & Posh fans will self combust. Pints at Spurs are poured in 6 seconds. We'd have a chance to stick it to the tarn lads who glory support United, Arsenal, Liverpool etc.
Money money money Surely some improvements made to the ground, in particular the west stand Higher average attendance (hopefully)
The chance to bulldoze the West Stand to set us up for generations to come. Getting to visit brand new stadiums West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs. A chance to finish as the top team in Yorkshire by finishing above Leeds. No more than £30 for an away ticket when a few Championship clubs charge more than that.
I've been to both the Emirates and the Olympic stadium. The latter once for a Rugby League international after its "conversion", and twice for athletics. despite it costing the taxpayer an absolute fortune (another corrupt mess from dePfeffel) its a shocker of a ground and when i last went a few years ago, it was already showings signs of wear, even to the point seats were loose. And as for the Emirates, if you think Oakwell is a morgue, the Emirates can be another level completely.
If we were promoted this season, a replacement for the West Stand wouldn't be finished until the end of the 2023 season (if we were lucky) - which would make it unusable for the best part of a couple of years and reduce the capacity of the ground at a time when there would (in theory) be an increased demand.
Well said some people seem to think that planning and construction would be done between May 29th and August outside the ground ownership issue
The time for not needing as many seats in the ground is when we have the Premier League money. If we managed to stay up a few seasons (not impossible) then there would then never be a time to knock it down as we will always need those seats?
biggest one for me is that we wouldn't lose all our players and manager in a huge fire sale. If we don't go up this season the likes of Val, Mowatt, Styles etc. could all move on this summer and then we are back on the rebuild again.
So you would rather limit the number of fans who can attend? Where are you moving those who currently sit in the West Stand if the other 2 stands are already full?
Fair weather fans attending has a tiny impact on finances. 5000 in the ground at £30 a ticket for 19 matches is £2.85m. TV money is circa £120m. In the premier league fans being at stadiums has little impact on a club’s finances.
If the new West Stand is designed properly the "Upper Tier" area can be hoarded off during construction with the North end of the Lower Tier re-opened then the lower tier re-vamped accordingly during the close season. Possible?
It would be time to utilise the North Stand for dual use surely? I thought it was built with that in mind, but has so far never been necessary. It makes no sense to allocate the whole stand to away fans so it would be time to split either 50/50 or 60/40 in our favour. Some in the East Stand might fancy being behind that goal therefore seats would be freed up for West Standers. Things could be sorted out if it became necessary.
If they were planning on doing ‘very little’ they first need to create a media zone outside the West Upper, then they could feasibly remove the roof and start on the Upper behind hoardings. Then just replace the roof next close season. Very ‘doable’, not too expensive but with minimal ‘improvement’ to the capacity or facilities. the important question is... what improvement to facilities is worthwhile / required? There’s surely value in a ‘theme bar’ in the space occupied by the old changing rooms? I’d definitely go in the West Upper if there was no roof supports to spoil the view and we could have a pre match pint in the Changing room bar.
It's a shame things went tits up after we sold Craig Hignett and there was nobody left to sell because we'd have had a new West Stand if Georghi Hristov, Mike Sheron or Eric Tinkler were any good
No he wouldn't. Quite the contrary; he thinks we're a good, honest club and would love us to be up there mixing it. Always asks after us.
My mate who also works for the Beeb says Lawrenson is one of the soundest guys you could ever meet. Really friendly, no airs and graces.
