600 reasons...

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YF Dan
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600 reasons...

Post by YF Dan »

I'm no mathmetician, but 600 seats in a stand means either a) a very narrow stand or b) a wide stand but only 2 or three rows of seats.

It also means c) not much extra revenue (or even a loss according to one report I read) ... in which case... What's the point? Surely if you are going to build a 4th, temporary, stand, at least make it a good one that pays for itself? Also, if we're planning it for big matches, we'd have to assume that the bigger teams would bring more than 600 fans, and would therefore end up using the North stand anyway.

I'm all in favour of a fourth stand for every possible reason. But I don't see the point if it will lose us money and look bobbins.
slappy
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by slappy »

I think it's overflow for away fans from the North Stand. So normal away allocation is somewhere between 1000 and 1400 (can't remember which), with 600 spare in West Stand. Which allows home fans to get season tickets for the best blocks in the North Stand.

Any bigger than 600 would need dedicated turnstiles, toilet facilities etc.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I agree with Dan. I would like to see an away end, with the North Stand being permanently converted to home fans only.

Some of the extra cost would surely be set off by reduced stewarding and policing costs, due to the improved segregation that a separate stand brings.

Then we have availability of 12,500 seats for home fans when we have big games on.

The KasStad had the highest average number of away fans visiting in League 2 in 2014/15 (can't find stats for last season), with almost 1,000 aways fans coming along on average. I would imagine that increased last season, and would increase disproportionately next season. Even at the 2014/15 levels, that is enough to justify a stand at least double what is being proposed, and maybe 3 times as large.

The debateable point is whether home fans would fill the space vacated by the away fans, and that depends on ticket pricing versus quality of performance and facilities. But there is no doubt that higher end League 1 and into Championship would easily result in regular sell outs of home sections.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by Kernow Yellow »

GodalmingYellow wrote:The KasStad had the highest average number of away fans visiting in League 2 in 2014/15 (can't find stats for last season), with almost 1,000 aways fans coming along on average. I would imagine that increased last season, and would increase disproportionately next season.
Would it though? League One is basically full of average-sized Northern clubs who aren't going to bring many fans to us unless they're flying. Sure there's Sw*ndon, BRovers and Coventry. And I guess MKDongs and Sheff Utd might bring a few. But as for the rest...

I also doubt there's many games where we'd sell 12500 home tickets unless we're top of the league. And even then it would take a while to build up. League one is not particularly glamorous, though obviously it's a step in the right direction towards regular five figure crowds.

Anyway, I think there's more at play here than meets the eye. Kassam says he wants to build a 4th stand; Eales says lets get a small temporary one in. It's the first moves in a bigger game. We need to own our ground and build our own proper stand, not rent one with flats in the corner that we get no income from. Then we can dream of a solution like GY's. Though my dream is of a covered standing area behind that goal for home fans...
YF Dan
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by YF Dan »

It's all gone very very quiet on the 4th stand.

Can we presume it's not happening?
Kernow Yellow
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Well I believe we've been selling season tickets in the central blocks of the North Stand so presumably we have no scope to increase away fans capacity without one.

Having said that the first time we might need one would be 10th September for the visit of our friends from down the A420. So no point paying for it quite yet. Indeed there really aren't more than a very small handful of fixtures when I would expect the vistors to bring more than 1,200 fans, so I wonder whether it's worth it at all...
SWA
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by SWA »

Matt D
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by Matt D »

do we think?.. I've no doubt the club are working hard at this, but '...talks go on with stadium owner Firoz Kassam.' and 'Eales remains optimistic despite not knowing when everything can be agreed.' just makes me think of previous experience here.

oh well, we'll see I guess.
Myles Francis
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by Myles Francis »

Matt D wrote:do we think?.. I've no doubt the club are working hard at this, but '...talks go on with stadium owner Firoz Kassam.' and 'Eales remains optimistic despite not knowing when everything can be agreed.' just makes me think of previous experience here.

oh well, we'll see I guess.
Indeed. Factor in the need for planning consent and work with the licensing authority to make the necessary changes to the safety certificate (bearing in mind that for the people who do this it is a small fraction of their overall portfolio), and I struggle to see how this could be in place for Sept 10th.
OUFC4eva
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by OUFC4eva »

GodalmingYellow
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Re: 600 reasons...

Post by GodalmingYellow »

OUFC4eva wrote:Looks ominous to me:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/147081 ... don_clash/
That article has all the hallmarks of the club feeding the Mail. I suspect it is the first in a series leading up to "we tried our best but were hampered at every step".

Whilst ST sales were good, don't forget that a number were freebies and a number bought up by sponsors and OxVox to give away and a number will be under 7s. The give aways are a great idea and I'm not poo pooing them, I'm just remarking that the actual sales to individual fans may not be quite as good as the headline figure. That leads me on to think about match ticket sales, which given the number of ST sales, haven't set the world alight in this "new era".

Put all the above together, and you know how any accountant can make 2 and 2 add up to any figure you choose, and I don't see either justification by numbers, or desire from the fans or club, to install a 4th stand, not for Swinedown or any other game this season.
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