Top aiming for top ten finish

[ScouseFox]

the last time we showed such great ambition we were about half an hour from going completely fvcking bust as a football club and ended up at our lowest point in history. i'd rather a few half hearted fans had to watch on the tele than that happen again. 

[shailen]

I want us to be the next Barcelona, watching Messi or his equivalent in a Leicester shirt winning ANOTHER Champions League.

 

Failing that I want us to be the best we can be.

 

Sticking with a 32,000 stadium because we don't want "glory hunters" and so it's full every week with no chance of a spare seat means we'll get what we deserve again, relegation to the Championship. It will be inevitable at some point because as a club our only ambition is to make the numbers up and survive.

 

What would our gates have been the last two months of the season if we had an infinite stadium? 40,000 at the very minimum, maybe 45,000 or even more.

 

We're a one club city in one of the biggest cities in England. We haven't got another league club for over 20 miles and we haven't got another Premier League club for 40 miles in a reasonably densely populated area.

 

Let's show some ****ing ambition. 

 

Like I've said provided we are in the PL, we will be able to meet the demand of an increased capacity. So sticking to 32,000 means we are doomed to the Championship? In what universe does crowd size have a major correlation with the performance on the pitch. Arsenal have gone backwards since moving to a bigger stadium. Bigger is not always better. I don't buy this argument about glory hunters in the long term. This season there were a lot because of the fact it was our first time here in 11 years. 

 

Let's face the facts though. We need to become a safe mid table team to meet the demand. If we do that next year with no obvious threat of relegation let's go ahead with this expansion for the 2017/18 season. Whilst there is a realistic possibility that we are going to be relegated and whilst our brand is relatively unknown, I'm not sure the expansion is a good idea. It's not about ambition. Portsmouth, Leeds and QPR have also been ambitious and look where those clubs are. We need to grow in a sustainable way. 

 

I'm sure we are in for a long period of success, but we cannot run before we walk. The worst thing is that we go ahead with the expansion and in 2016/17 we end up in the Championship. Now I know we could get relegated after 10 years in the PL, but every year we stay in this league diminishes the likelihood of being relegated. That is what we mean by established. Stoke are very unlikely to be relegated next season, and that's the model we need to follow.

[Xen]

the last time we showed such great ambition we were about half an hour from going completely fvcking bust as a football club and ended up at our lowest point in history. i'd rather a few half hearted fans had to watch on the tele than that happen again.

Don't be ridiculous - we're in a completely different situation now and very very unlikely to go into financial hardship - even if the owners left we'd be able to pay them back from the TV money.

If you're against expansion then, quite frankly, you're selfish. We sold out of season tickets incredibly quickly, and we effectively sell out pretty much every home game (barring away tickets and the odd single seat) - even to the uninspiring clubs during our barren spell. Thousands of fans miss out each game, and expanding the stadium would allow more of those to join in.

We already have glory hunters (for some reason) who are taking the seats from the more hardcore fans. Having extra seats won't attract any more - it'll just stop the more hardcore fans missing out.

Not that there's anything explicitly wrong with the day trippers, anyway.

If we do get relegated then maybe after a couple of seasons we'll struggle to fill the stadium, but then the club will just close the top tier, and maybe put a seat cover over it with some graphic on. The atmosphere will be the same as it always was in the championship, but our stadium would look a little less generic.

[The Doctor]

the last time we showed such great ambition we were about half an hour from going completely fvcking bust as a football club and ended up at our lowest point in history. i'd rather a few half hearted fans had to watch on the tele than that happen again.

Entirely different scenarios - this time we've got responsible owners, a manager who isn't a dribbling idiot and would be going down to a league with a stable tv deal and with no debt, or a brand new stadium to pay off.

let's be clear, 32k sufficed in the championship, it won't in the prem. If we have any ambition to be a top flight fixture we'll have to expand sooner or later - at the moment east Midlands football is pathetic beyond us, there's nothing between us and London and across to east anglia. There's a massive chance to make us a powerhouse, if we just show a bit of ambition

[ScouseFox]

yes we would fill an extra 8k seats now, obviously. that'd be great for a season. 

 

anyone who thinks that we'd consistently sell out a 40k+ seater stadium in 3 years time is deluded, "ambition" or no ambition. gotta think of the future chaps. 

[The Doctor]

yes we would fill an extra 8k seats now, obviously. that'd be great for a season.

anyone who thinks that we'd consistently sell out a 40k+ seater stadium in 3 years time is deluded, "ambition" or no ambition. gotta think of the future chaps.

People looking at an expansion are looking to the future. Simple facts are there's no big side near us; we're massively isolated from other good sides - that equates to a huge potential fanbase, get the hooks in early and they're yours for life. An expansion makes sense both now and going forward

[ScouseFox]

People looking at an expansion are looking to the future. Simple facts are there's no big side near us; we're massively isolated from other good sides - that equates to a huge potential fanbase, get the hooks in early and they're yours for life. An expansion makes sense both now and going forward

 

we never have and never will be able to consistently fill a 40k+ stadium, whether there's any "big" clubs around us or not. 

 

the whole idea of forest being a bit rubbish at the moment so we're going to gain an extra 10 thousand fans every week is probably one of the stupidest things i've ever read on here. and it took me about three years to put kingfox on ignore so i read some fvcking stupid shit. we've been in the premier league for one season and were rubbish for a good half of it, the whole of the midlands and beyond isn't going to suddenly ditch their clubs and want a fvcking season ticket. ludicrous suggestion. 

 

a temporary expansion (if such a thing existed) would be a great, romantic idea. let those hard done by two or three thousand see a few more games next year, then when we either go down or everyone gets bored we can go back to having a good atmosphere and a full ground. 

 

wolves were probably the most recent example of doing what some on here want. similar sized club and fanbase to us, similar sized ground. they set out plans for a fifty fvcking thousand seater stadium cos they had been in the prem for about 18 months and had sold a few tickets. that's gone well. 

[Thracian]

It bothers me when people start talking about signing players from certain places. There'd be uproar if anyone started talkiing about signing people from Leicester or if Pearson insisted he wanted the core of his team to come from Sheffield. We'd never want a manager from the Isle of Man or Anglesey, that's for sure! Whatever happened to the notion of a genuine meritocracy? 

[Bagworthblue]

the last time we showed such great ambition we were about half an hour from going completely fvcking bust as a football club and ended up at our lowest point in history. i'd rather a few half hearted fans had to watch on the tele than that happen again. 

but we didn't show ambition - we sold Heskey, we didn't invest hard enough to keep O'Neill (probably because we couldn't to be fair) If you read an earlier post of mine, I turn this theory on it's head! I appreciate your risk aversion but ....... it's a bit like this. you are in a race and you get to a cliff with a 2 meter gap! You have 3 choices, 

 

1] take a big run up, put all your energy into it and positively try to make the leap believing you will make it

2] whack on a parachute take a run up blindly, never believing you will make it but give it a go knowing you have a safety net and may get hurt but not killed but will probably lose the race

3] Give up and lose the race

 

I believe our owners are going for option 1 but have weighed up the odds, done the maths and know that if they don't make it, the fall won't kill them

[shailen]

Clubs like Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea sell out 40k week in week out because they have the history of success to go with their fanbase. We do not have the same success and therefore it will be hard for us to attract that many fans. In the short term, because we are on the rise and because it's the first time in 11 years we have been in the PL, we will get the numbers. It's a great time to be a Leicester fan, but when we have a rough period again numbers will drop. I'd reverse the argument about the catchment area. It's because we don't have a high intensity local rivalry that we may not have the same loyalty as other clubs. Some fans of other clubs live for their local rivalries, and I don't think many of our fans will look forward to Derby and Forest if we are back in the Championship. 

 

There is no doubt I want us to expand some day. But we need to have a period of success to put our club on the map, and then be able to sell out 40k week in week out.

[Gerard]

yes we would fill an extra 8k seats now, obviously. that'd be great for a season. 

 

anyone who thinks that we'd consistently sell out a 40k+ seater stadium in 3 years time is deluded, "ambition" or no ambition. gotta think of the future chaps. 

 

Sunderland averaged 43,000 last season in a 49,000 stadium.

 

Sunderland is half the population of Leicester and Co Durham is half the population of Leicestershire.

 

We have a bigger fan base than them unquestionably.

 

This is an average sized club trying to look like a big club with reasonable success. They have bring a friend for a tenner day, let school kids in and they'll obviously sell out for Newcasdtle and the big clubs which pads out their average.

 

This is the model we should be looking at. Football is getting bigger, we have a relatively untapped Asian support and decent football is barren outside of Leicester for a long way in any direction. We can invest in the next generation of Leicester fans by having school kids for games that won't sell.

 

We need to start thinking bigger, we have a base that most clubs outside the top six could only dream of.

[The Doctor]

we never have and never will be able to consistently fill a 40k+ stadium, whether there's any "big" clubs around us or not. 

 

the whole idea of forest being a bit rubbish at the moment so we're going to gain an extra 10 thousand fans every week is probably one of the stupidest things i've ever read on here. and it took me about three years to put kingfox on ignore so i read some fvcking stupid shit. we've been in the premier league for one season and were rubbish for a good half of it, the whole of the midlands and beyond isn't going to suddenly ditch their clubs and want a fvcking season ticket. ludicrous suggestion. 

 

a temporary expansion (if such a thing existed) would be a great, romantic idea. let those hard done by two or three thousand see a few more games next year, then when we either go down or everyone gets bored we can go back to having a good atmosphere and a full ground. 

 

wolves were probably the most recent example of doing what some on here want. similar sized club and fanbase to us, similar sized ground. they set out plans for a fifty fvcking thousand seater stadium cos they had been in the prem for about 18 months and had sold a few tickets. that's gone well.

Not with that ambition - we'd have got 40k this season I'd be confident.

It sounds stupid because it's a complete strawman - no one is saying forest are shit so they're going to up sticks down to us, they're saying with Coventry, forest, Peterborough, Derby and notts county being the only league sides in 30 odd miles and all being shit, areas like Rutland, Hinckley, Loughborough hold great potential: younger fans will naturally gravitate to the bigger sides, and we're clearly the biggest in the East Midlands - we've got a big potential fan base which a couple of seasons will lock in to. Show a bit of bloody ambition for once and we could easily be a top half side pushing for Europe each season.

[cjslcfc]

I would love to see the day where Leicester City sell out a 42k stadium weekly. Judging by the population and surrounding areas, as well as the attraction of the Premier League, it's not that unrealistic a proposition.

[4everfox]

we never have and never will be able to consistently fill a 40k+ stadium, whether there's any "big" clubs around us or not.

the whole idea of forest being a bit rubbish at the moment so we're going to gain an extra 10 thousand fans every week is probably one of the stupidest things i've ever read on here. and it took me about three years to put kingfox on ignore so i read some fvcking stupid shit. we've been in the premier league for one season and were rubbish for a good half of it, the whole of the midlands and beyond isn't going to suddenly ditch their clubs and want a fvcking season ticket. ludicrous suggestion.

a temporary expansion (if such a thing existed) would be a great, romantic idea. let those hard done by two or three thousand see a few more games next year, then when we either go down or everyone gets bored we can go back to having a good atmosphere and a full ground.

wolves were probably the most recent example of doing what some on here want. similar sized club and fanbase to us, similar sized ground. they set out plans for a fifty fvcking thousand seater stadium cos they had been in the prem for about 18 months and had sold a few tickets. that's gone well.

We never have and never will be able to consistently fill a 40,000+ seater stadium you say. Rubbish, absolute rubbish. If we had the capacity I'm extremely confident we'd have done that this season. If Sunderland can do it then Leicester can with relative ease. Make no mistake, Leicester are a pretty big club with a fairly large catchment area. I know a lot of Leicester fans who have really struggled to get tickets this season (me included) and I'm sure a vast majority of Leicester fans know a fair few in the same predicament. So say that every Leicester fan knows ten others who have struggled that's god only knows how many thousands on top of the 31/32 thousand who attend every home game.

[shade]

isn't Leicester now over 50% non white population? I'm only guessing, but I'd guess football attendance amongst the non white population is much much lower? potentially almost halving the cities potential fan base?

[ealingfox]

It would take a lot of relative success to get anywhere near 40k consistently. Thats an extra whole third of the ground to be filled again.

[Harry - LCFC]

Do we need to fill it consistently? I don't think so. A bit of spare capacity for the big games is fine.

[4everfox]

isn't Leicester now over 50% non white population? I'm only guessing, but I'd guess football attendance amongst the non white population is much much lower? potentially almost halving the cities potential fan base?

What has race got to do with it? Non white people do like football too you know.

[Manwell Pablo]

Feck's sake, are we really discussing ways to 'expand the fanbase' and propagate growth??

Surely we're supposed to be banging the gong about bringing back the east stand cos even though it was shit you could get some noise going on and goad the away fans?

I know money and success is nice, but is it all about bigger stadiums and ex Cov fans? Go and sit in the home end at Arsenal and see where that gets you-you might as well save £80 and watch it on TV...

 

I'm with you, crazy shit reading some posts in this thread.

 

The expansion would be nice (if we can afford it) though, a) It'd be easier to get a ticket when you want one and b) our stadium wouldn't look the same as about 15 others in the football league anymore.

[FoxLAD]

Bigger stadium would be nice...

 

but maybe we can wait until we're getting that top 10 finish regularly. 

[Guest ttfn]

We've had a massive catchment area forever, it's not a new thing - it's not a brand new market to tap into. Forest, Derby and the rest of the Midlands sides have been shit for years. Coventry have disappeared into oblivion - have we seen a huge upsurge in support in West Leics? I don't know.

If people wanted to come and watch Leicester City to the extent that 40,000+ was a sustainable target in the short and medium term then we'd have had a darn sight more than 21,000 at some of our home games in 13/14.

If people from Derby want to watch Premier League football rather than support their local team why would they choose to come to Leicester (32 miles) over Stoke (35 miles) and Aston Villa (41 miles)? And how many of those that do come would we really expect to stick around and continue to buy tickets if we get relegated?

Talk of us getting 30k+ on average in the Championship is laughable as is talk about us reaching the same levels of support as Sunderland - that's an area of the country where that club is embedded into the soul of the local population; the only reason the gates aren't even higher is that huge swathes of the region are incredibly poor (by UK standards). It's a club where support across the region and across the populace has been passed down through generations. Compare that to Leicester, where the club has historically and continually struggled to integrate the "minority" demographic of the county into its support. Having a bigger population than another area is irrelevant if half those people have no interest in supporting you or already support Chelsea or already have a large sporting and financial commitment to another Premier institution as so many locals do with the Tigers in Leicester.

I think it's a relatively low-risk move and it would be great if we could fill it but I shudder at the thought of a 40k stadium only half-filled for a Tuesday night game against Barnsley when the (almost) inevitable eventually happens.

[Woof]

Reading this reminds me of when we moved to our present stadium with a capacity of 10,000+ more than Filbert Street.  There were a lot of similar debates then, but it doesn't seem to have worked out too badly for us 

[4everfox]

We've had a massive catchment area forever, it's not a new thing - it's not a brand new market to tap into. Forest, Derby and the rest of the Midlands sides have been shit for years. Coventry have disappeared into oblivion - have we seen a huge upsurge in support in West Leics? I don't know.

If people wanted to come and watch Leicester City to the extent that 40,000+ was a sustainable target in the short and medium term then we'd have had a darn sight more than 21,000 at some of our home games in 13/14.

If people from Derby want to watch Premier League football rather than support their local team why would they choose to come to Leicester (32 miles) over Stoke (35 miles) and Aston Villa (41 miles)? And how many of those that do come would we really expect to stick around and continue to buy tickets if we get relegated?

Talk of us getting 30k+ on average in the Championship is laughable as is talk about us reaching the same levels of support as Sunderland - that's an area of the country where that club is embedded into the soul of the local population; the only reason the gates aren't even higher is that huge swathes of the region are incredibly poor (by UK standards). It's a club where support across the region and across the populace has been passed down through generations. Compare that to Leicester, where the club has historically and continually struggled to integrate the "minority" demographic of the county into its support. Having a bigger population than another area is irrelevant if half those people have no interest in supporting you or already support Chelsea or already have a large sporting and financial commitment to another Premier institution as so many locals do with the Tigers in Leicester.

I think it's a relatively low-risk move and it would be great if we could fill it but I shudder at the thought of a 40k stadium only half-filled for a Tuesday night game against Barnsley when the (almost) inevitable eventually happens.

This is the best post that I disagree with that I've ever read, if that makes sense.

[Dawko]

32,000 fans @ £31.25 a ticket = £1,000,000

 

or

 

42,000 fans @ £23.81 a ticket = £1,000,000

 

I'd prefer the second option

[shailen]

32,000 fans @ £31.25 a ticket = £1,000,000

or

42,000 fans @ £23.81 a ticket = £1,000,000

I'd prefer the second option

If demand is there, they are not going to drop prices. They'll remain the same since people are so desperate to get tickets and they need to recoup the cost of their investment. It's way to simple and naive to assume prices will go down, especially given that demand is inelastic(not sensitive to prices). I have a feeling that we will sell more corporate tickets if we expand, which means a load of neutrals which would kill the atmosphere.