Forget expanding the stadium..

[Guest Bilo]

Just buy the City Ground and use it purely for beam backs. Who even supports Forest these days?

[Jimothy]

Surely the most obvious idea if we ever did move grounds is to buy back to land where the old Filbert Street was and build it on all that waste land. Sell or rent the KP to the Tigers, (they haven't finished their half arsed redevelopment anyway and they need a bigger pitch to host international games). Get rid of the car show rooms and redevelop that whole area with restaurants, huge club shops got both teams etc. Knock down Welford Road and build a multi-storey car park for people driving to games.

But we won't build a new ground, we'll expand to 40,000 first. A new stadium is a long way off, no matter how well we do this year.

[Guest Bilo]

40,000 will probably always be more than adequate for us, even if we were to become a mainstay in Europe.

 

Chelsea have more than survived on that capacity, and the same can be said of other successful clubs across Europe. Christ, Juventus voluntarily demolished the 67,000 capacity Stadio delle Alpi and replaced it with a 41,000 capacity stadium on the same spot. The reason they did was that they could barely fill the former and the atmosphere was non-existent as a result - a smaller stadium has worked out well for them.

 

Build the second tier on top of the East Stand and I'd be astonished if we ever needed to go any further, at least in the foreseeable future. The last thing anyone wants is for us to become another Sunderland, expand to nigh on 50k and have swathes of empty, faded old seats on show.

[Guest Bilo]

The more seats the stadium has, the emptier it looks. Especially when times aren't perfect. Anyone seen Villa Park lately? Have you seen how empty it looks with 25K people in it? Come on. I'd be hesitant on anything over 40k. Especially if it means losing seats during construction.

 

And that's the reality.

 

25k in a 32k seat stadium, as we had in the Championship, is not going to hurt the atmosphere too much. Bung on another 10,000 empty seats and it definitely does, look at Elland Road.

 

That might sound negative - but let's not forget that Blackburn were relegated four years after winning the title. 

[Guest foxestalkisfullofidiots]

I think 10-15 years ago a new stadium equaled success but the revenue from non match days and ticket sales is nothing compared with the TV money, there is a argument for increasing the capacity and improving the stadium facilities but it really took us 15 years to make the KP feel like home......just expand

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Buy Grace Rd, already have the floodlights up and ready.

[NoFuchsGiven]

Just leave the stadium how it is, don't really want plastic fans rocking up anyway. That's when you start seeing boo's when we are finishing 6th in the league

[ozleicester]

Yup out of the city is the answer, they are building this just down the road from me and at this stage dont a have a "real football" team in it... so, bring it on Citeh move to Perth... ya know ya wanta

 

[Voll Blau]

Just leave the stadium how it is, don't really want plastic fans rocking up anyway. That's when you start seeing boo's when we are finishing 6th in the league

 

You think that won't happen anyway? There'll be a collection of idiots booing if we lose or draw any of our remaining home games, it's happened already this season.

[rgarner93]

Keep it as it is. We get a great atmosphere when its full.

If we expanded the stadium and should we hit hard times again back in the Championship, the stadium will be empty with average attendances!

Few examples:

Elland Road, Leeds United

Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff City

Villa Park, Aston Villa

Molineux, Wolves

[Great Boos Up]

Lots of people quoting London, Birmingham, Sheffield ect.

We are a one club county! with nearly a million people and an even bigger catchment area.

To put this era into comparison the population of Blackburn is under 200K

[purpleronnie]

Keep it as it is. We get a great atmosphere when its full.

If we expanded the stadium and should we hit hard times again back in the Championship, the stadium will be empty with average attendances!

Few examples:

Elland Road, Leeds United

Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff City

Villa Park, Aston Villa

Molineux, Wolves

so clubs should never expand stadiums in case one day that club hit hard times?  So perhaps we should have built a new stadium with a 20,000 capacity?

[rgarner93]

so clubs should never expand stadiums in case one day that club hit hard times?  So perhaps we should have built a new stadium with a 20,000 capacity?

 

Not necessarily - My view is currently I think our stadium size is perfect for us. 

Clubs have to be realistic about the size of their fanbase.

Look at Man City, they have expanded their stadium thinking their fanbase has expanded due to their recent success but now can't fill their stadium unless they are playing the likes of Man U or Liverpool. In the past they have even struggled to sell out for Champions League nights.

Another example of a club not being realistic about the size of their fanbase is MK Dons with their 30,000+ stadium yet just about make regular double figure attendances in the Championship.

 

I think we've got to think about how big our true fanbase really is. If we were in the Championship, I'd be surprised if we sold out on a regular basis. Our current stadium has witnessed just 3 seasons of top flight football in its 14 years and during that time in all hasn't seen many regular sell outs.

 

However it should never be ruled out - I would love to see our club become the biggest in the East Midlands or even the Midlands overall!   

[AKCJ]

How actually cares if we have a few more empty seats in the Championship?

 

That really is such a pessimistic attitude.

 

We'd fill 40k seats week in week out in the Premier League, you know? The one we're currently leading.

[MC Prussian]

And that's the reality.

 

25k in a 32k seat stadium, as we had in the Championship, is not going to hurt the atmosphere too much. Bung on another 10,000 empty seats and it definitely does, look at Elland Road.

 

That might sound negative - but let's not forget that Blackburn were relegated four years after winning the title. 

 

I think you should also cite the reasons for Blackburn's downfall in the late 90ies.

 

They were running on a rather unsustainable basis, with loads of expensive players on pricey contracts (much like the Leeds side a few years later) and questionable management choices (Dalglish moving up the function ladder and leaving his post to assistant Harford). Ewood Park had been remodeled just before the title push in 1995, so there already was a lot of money "lost" without any tangible return. And then think of the poor ownership under Venky's. But the downfall had begun by 1998 or 1999 already.

 

Also, Blackburn are/were competing with the Manchester clubs as well as Burnley, Bolton, Preston, Blackpool for an audience. I know I'm maybe clinging onto straws here in that regard, but that's how I see it.

 

Nothing like the situation we're finding ourselves in right now. Our owners come across as likeable, they are present during matches (and not absent), interact and communicate with the fanbase/community, very often show a generous side, are genuinely interested in the club and its history and putting in the money where their heart is.

[Hubert]

There's 8 million people in London.

 

Not who can afford £60 for a football match.

[Kinowe Soorie]

I would rather have the problem of filing the empty seats than not having the capacity. The club is losing money as it stands as it is turning people away. The KP is situated in a terrible position in regards to transport etc. It wouldn't surprise me if the owners haven't thought about a new purpose built ground with lots of prawn sandwich facilities!!

[David Hankey]

What is the reasoning behind uprooting and moving away from our current stadium? I don't see the logic in that at all. And would the Tigers really want to move away from their current ground when you consider it has only recently been "modernised".

 

Unless there are serious civil engineering problems in increasing the King Power Stadium then we should remain where we are. To my mind the Club missed a trick by not acquiring the 6.5 acre scrub land next to the KP in Raw Dykes Road, a site of great potential for a multistory car park which would assist greatly on match days. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Another example of a club not being realistic about the size of their fanbase is MK Dons with their 30,000+ stadium yet just about make regular double figure attendances in the Championship.

 

Yes but they future proofed their stadium, pre built the upper tier and I think there's even room for a third tier if they ever needed it. I wish we had done that rather than doing what we did (yes we were skint at the time), and we're now not making the most of our situation.

 

Such a strange English mentality to be embarrassed of empty seats, hardly anyone else gives a shit. 

[D4]

Let's build a new one.

My idea would be to rent or sell the KP to the Tigers and completely build a new 60k stadium somewhere in the City or on the outskirts, possibly Fosse Park area.

We could easily afford this and this would truly take us on to the next level.

What do you think and can you think of any good areas of land available to build on?

What YOU drinking mate?

[SemperEadem]

Not necessarily - My view is currently I think our stadium size is perfect for us.

Clubs have to be realistic about the size of their fanbase.

Look at Man City, they have expanded their stadium thinking their fanbase has expanded due to their recent success but now can't fill their stadium unless they are playing the likes of Man U or Liverpool. In the past they have even struggled to sell out for Champions League nights.

Another example of a club not being realistic about the size of their fanbase is MK Dons with their 30,000+ stadium yet just about make regular double figure attendances in the Championship.

I think we've got to think about how big our true fanbase really is. If we were in the Championship, I'd be surprised if we sold out on a regular basis. Our current stadium has witnessed just 3 seasons of top flight football in its 14 years and during that time in all hasn't seen many regular sell outs.

However it should never be ruled out - I would love to see our club become the biggest in the East Midlands or even the Midlands overall!

We are already biggest in the East Mids.

[Guest Bilo]

I think you should also cite the reasons for Blackburn's downfall in the late 90ies.

 

They were running on a rather unsustainable basis, with loads of expensive players on pricey contracts (much like the Leeds side a few years later) and questionable management choices (Dalglish moving up the function ladder and leaving his post to assistant Harford). Ewood Park had been remodeled just before the title push in 1995, so there already was a lot of money "lost" without any tangible return. And then think of the poor ownership under Venky's. But the downfall had begun by 1998 or 1999 already.

 

Also, Blackburn are/were competing with the Manchester clubs as well as Burnley, Bolton, Preston, Blackpool for an audience. I know I'm maybe clinging onto straws here in that regard, but that's how I see it.

 

Nothing like the situation we're finding ourselves in right now. Our owners come across as likeable, they are present during matches (and not absent), interact and communicate with the fanbase/community, very often show a generous side, are genuinely interested in the club and its history and putting in the money where their heart is.

 

I don't doubt for a second that we're in a better and more sustainable position than Blackburn were, of course. I've said before that I think Leicester City has the potential to serve a truly enormous catchment area - Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire are all counties that are within a couple of hours driving time, at most, of Leicester and our nearest rivals in all of those counties are Peterborough and Northampton.

 

That's roughly 3.5 million people within two hours, with no rivals to our primacy as such. Of course that's exciting - but it could also go wrong. 

 

After all, it's only now after 12 years that the lack of availability of tickets has become an issue. It's no coincidence at all that this has coincided with what could potentially be our most successful ever season in 132 years of football. Therefore, only success brings fans. If the success dries up, so do the attendances. We have a core of around 23,000 who I think would attend irrespective of divisional status - that already represents a statistically significant growth since the League One season, where we averaged 20,000. However, that core still needs to be built.

 

We can do that by continuing to make progress on the field, investing in the future success of the club to ensure we're sustainable via the academies and scouting networks, reaching out to our neighbouring counties (I find it bizarre that Leicester City merchandise is harder to get hold of than Forest merchandise in Lincolnshire, despite the latter having achieved nothing of note for over 20 years) and then we can build things up. 

 

My main point is therefore that sustainable fan base is built over time, and I worry that some are clamouring for a new tier on the thought process that the 32,000 a week we get now will still be here if we're playing Barnsley and Wigan in league fixtures in five years' time. Sustainability is the key to ensuring that a) they still are and b) we still aren't.

[Oxshottfox]

Build it and they will come

[fuchsntf]

We should build it in heaven, because when we win the league thats where we all will be...!!

[Spudulike]

What is the reasoning behind uprooting and moving away from our current stadium? I don't see the logic in that at all. And would the Tigers really want to move away from their current ground when you consider it has only recently been "modernised".

 

Unless there are serious civil engineering problems in increasing the King Power Stadium then we should remain where we are. To my mind the Club missed a trick by not acquiring the 6.5 acre scrub land next to the KP in Raw Dykes Road, a site of great potential for a multistory car park which would assist greatly on match days. 

 

Are you sure they haven't ??