Stadium Expansion - at last !

[rachhere]

2 minutes ago, MattP said:

Really? 

 

I've seen tons of spare seats over the last few months, especially in the West Stand.

 

Full for Chelsea of course.

As in on the day or you have seen tickets left on sale? Has that coincided with the bad weather maybe. Newcastle tomorrow, for example, is completely sold out. Maybe need a better resale solution for people who can't make matches, but I've been to a fair few matches this year and it always has seen rammed to me. 

 

I still have people asking me how I 'manage' to get tickets. I think there's a perception out there that you can't go unless you are a STH. 

Edited 6 April 2018 by rachhere

[SheppyFox]

Best owners we could have.

[Beechey]

11 minutes ago, MattP said:

Part of me thinks this could be a mistake - already some games aren't selling out now.

 

Certainly can't knock the ambition though. 

Eh, we're averaging around just shy of 98% capacity right now, even in 2015/16 we averaged 99%, I think we're bang on the time we should be expanding.

Edited 6 April 2018 by Beechey

[jammie82uk]

27 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Announcement made to mark Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s birthday

 

It’s all about his birthday again @Abrasive fox won’t be happy 

[ScouseFox]

we’ve got the perfect sized stadium for our fan base, as proven by the fact that we’re getting to thursday/friday before the match with a few spare tickets left. 

 

10/12k more tickets aren’t gonna get sold, we’ll either have to go all derby and give them away any time anyone flies through thai duty free or we’ll have an even deader ground than we have had for the last 18 months. nice. 

[Stevosevic]

14 minutes ago, MattP said:

Part of me thinks this could be a mistake - already some games aren't selling out now.

 

Certainly can't knock the ambition though. 

Because people can't get seats next to each other most of the time in fairness

[Suzie the Fox]

1 minute ago, ScouseFox said:

we’ve got the perfect sized stadium for our fan base, as proven by the fact that we’re getting to thursday/friday before the match with a few spare tickets left. 

 

10/12k more tickets aren’t gonna get sold, we’ll either have to go all derby and give them away any time anyone flies through thai duty free or we’ll have an even deader ground than we have had for the last 18 months. nice. 

Is it THAT time of the month for you? 

[kingfox]

By the time this will be completed we'll be in the Championship with Wes Morgan as our player/manager.

[ScouseFox]

1 minute ago, Suzie the Fox said:

Is it THAT time of the month for you? 

nope, i get that not a lot of people who post on here will remember the days when we didn’t sell out because they haven’t supported us for long enough, but trust me the worst part about those championship days was getting there and having a row to yourself and trying to get a song going with the empty seats on either side of you. 

 

i don’t want that to happen again. i doubt we’ll sell as many STs this summer as we did last year or the year before. ticket sales are decreasing as the fans are getting bored with mid table already. seems shrewd to add an extra 25% capacity i guess. yeah. 

[Spudulike]

So I'm guessing they must've acquired the British Gas building outside the East Stand ??

[CosbehFox]

The stigma of ‘empty seats’ needs throwing in the bin. Isn’t it better to have a stadium which could hold more than a stadium which doesn’t ? I hear this with Man City a lot. It’s better for them to have a stadium what will sell out at 55k against Man U than 45k. If this means 10k empty seats for cup games etc, that’s it means. 

 

We will fill 40k for big clubs. Probably sell another few thousand season tickets too. For the games against the lower teams it’s up to the club sensibly price and attract the next generation. 

 

Just because we’ve been a few hundred under 32k this season doesn’t mean the seats won’t be filled. 

 

Adding to this I suspect a larger stadium means more tickets at the cheaper price bracket 

Edited 6 April 2018 by Cardiff_Fox

[Webbo]

Depends how big the expansion is 5 or 6 k and some more executive boxes seems reasonable. 10 or 12 k is OTT.

[sylofox]

23 minutes ago, Guest said:

Hope the extra seats are all gold and moulded in the shape of Vichai's face 

Really? You sad little cretin.

[ScouseFox]

3 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

The stigma of ‘empty seats’ needs throwing in the bin. Isn’t it better to have a stadium which could hold more than a stadium which doesn’t ? I hear this with Man City a lot. It’s better for them to have a stadium what will sell out at 55k against Man U than 45k. If this means 10k empty seats for cup games etc, that’s it means. 

 

We will fill 40k for big clubs. Probably sell another few thousand season tickets too. For the games against the lower teams it’s up to the club sensibly price and attract the next generation. 

 

Just because we’ve been a few hundred under 32k this season doesn’t mean the seats won’t be filled. 

 

Adding to this I suspect a larger stadium means more tickets at the cheaper price bracket 

so the regulars will have any chances of building an atmosphere ruined again to cater for the fans who want to come once a year to watch us if we play a good team or if we’re any good? seems legit. 

[lgfualol]

Bet we get relegated the year we do it

[Ted Maul]

10 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

we’ve got the perfect sized stadium for our fan base, as proven by the fact that we’re getting to thursday/friday before the match with a few spare tickets left. 

 

10/12k more tickets aren’t gonna get sold, we’ll either have to go all derby and give them away any time anyone flies through thai duty free or we’ll have an even deader ground than we have had for the last 18 months. nice. 

Got to think long-term mate. We could easily shift another few thousand season tickets and we'll still sell out the majority of our games as long as we're in the top flight. 

 

If there's going to be a few empty seats for a game, give them to schools and get the next generation hooked. This just gives us room to grow- as long as we're in a 32,000 seater, we're still in that band of a couple of dozen medium clubs and we will never outgrow them. Not to mention the new generation who struggle to get tickets.

[Corky]

Another five thousand seats would probably be enough, 37k is a gettable average attendance but we'll probably always have the threat of relegation unless we're bought by even richer people so anything should be done with that in consideration.

[Stevosevic]

Has to be done if we want to become a bigger club.

 

We have a big catchment area.

[StanSP]

Presumably it'll be the East Stand to be expanded? 

[Suzie the Fox]

Just now, ScouseFox said:

nope, i get that not a lot of people who post on here will remember the days when we didn’t sell out because they haven’t supported us for long enough, but trust me the worst part about those championship days was getting there and having a row to yourself and trying to get a song going with the empty seats on either side of you. 

 

i don’t want that to happen again. i doubt we’ll sell as many STs this summer as we did last year or the year before. ticket sales are decreasing as the fans are getting bored with mid table already. seems shrewd to add an extra 25% capacity i guess. yeah. 

I get what you are saying and have been there done that, it sucked. But i would like to think that our championship days are something of the past now. I really see a brighter future for our club. On the horizon we have a new training grounds / new stadium / new manager and that will open up markets to add a better class of player.  

 

We dont know how many STH will renew but for the ones that dont there are many who cant get their hands on them currently and will jump at the chance.

 

Im not a STH and trying to get a ticket right now is a pain in the ass so am welcoming the expansion.

 

If we want to be best of the rest or even to push in to the top 6 at some point in the future, we really are going the right way forward. 

 

Glass always half full and all that  

[CosbehFox]

6 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

so the regulars will have any chances of building an atmosphere ruined again to cater for the fans who want to come once a year to watch us if we play a good team or if we’re any good? seems legit. 

What atmosphere is there now? A couple of small sections where support is boisterous. 

 

Larger stadium gives a bigger chance for Union FS to grow. More flexibility for people to change seats. 

 

In my family I have young nephews and nieces who simply can’t watch a live game of football. Yeah tickets do go on general sale but with little notice and something which simply can’t be planned around. 

[Quorndon_Fox]

17 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

so the regulars will have any chances of building an atmosphere ruined again to cater for the fans who want to come once a year to watch us if we play a good team or if we’re any good? seems legit. 

**** me mate it’s Friday, cheer up!

[StriderHiryu]

Very exciting news!

 

I am somewhat surprised they didn't opt to build a brand new stadium, as I thought Filbert Street 2.0 was on the cards. However, investing in the training complex as the priority with improving the current ground I think is the right move. I don't see us becoming a 60K a game team even if become wildly successful (as an example Juventus moved from a 90K stadium to a 41K capacity stadium, but it generated much better atmosphere and results). 

 

Really love our owners! You can't help but feel we are always moving forward. I know a lot aren't too happy with the playing style transition, but look at what is happening... establishing ourselves as a top 7-10 team, playing a more sustainable "top team" playing style, signing established international players, bringing youth team players through, investing in world class training facilities, not letting our best players go unless we get the right amount of money, etc.

So glad the Thai's took over, as I was dreading a Venky's situation when they came in. Up the foxes, up the owners and up the fans!!! COYB!!!

[Stadt]

If the season ticket prices are affordable we'd easily sell 30k STs alone

[sdb]

Very exciting but agree with those who are expressing reasonable concern over atmosphere and numbers. Prices will need frozen if not dropped if we’re expecting 40k a week. 

 

Great ambition being shown though.