The Bigman Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 Opions on this news please Leicester Mercury story It Read's: 10:15 - 04 August 2006 The Walkers Stadium is unfit to host major pop concerts - because tens of thousands of dancing fans could cause it to crumble. Huge numbers of people jumping in rhythm may lead to cracks and even cause parts of stands to collapse, Leicester City officials confirmed today. While the stadium is perfectly safe for 32,000 football fans, the same number of music lovers moving in time could create a "swaying motion" in the building structure. City chairman Andrew Taylor said the venue could only be brought up to concert standard by "beefing up" steel supports at a cost of about £200,000. It means that no gig at the stadium could currently be played before more than about 14,000 people - effectively ruling out performances from megastars who have played at neighbouring clubs in recent months. Mr Taylor revealed the news after fans complained that rivals Coventry and Derby had attracted acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. He said: "It sounds a bit wacky, because a lot of football songs are based on popular songs anyway. "But the problem is to do with people moving to the beat of the music. We don't comply to official regulations for pop concerts at the moment. In order to comply, there needs to be superstructural changes to the south and north stands. Essentially, it would involve the beefing up of the steel to the external part of the stadium." Tim Abbott, architecture lecturer at De Montfort University, said: "Large numbers of people moving in time create a swaying motion in a structure such as a stand or bridge. If the structure is not constructed to absorb these movements it may eventually fail. This could lead to cracks or to partial or total collapse. "This was also a serious concern at the opening of the Millennium Bridge across the Thames a few years back. The bridge had to be quickly reconstructed to absorb these movements." No major concerts have been performed at the Walkers Stadium, although Status Quo were lined up to play in front of 14,000 fans last year. The gig was cancelled, but Mr Taylor said this was because it was "not promoted properly", rather than safety fears. He said: "Bringing the stadium up to concert standard would be reasonably easy to do. But if you have got a decision between spending £200,000 on a player's wages for a year, which could help you reach the Premiership, or spending the money on putting on a pop concert, buying the player is our priority. "I would like to stress the stadium is totally safe for watching football." City fan Ian Bason, 45, from Glen Parva, said: "Lots of fans have heard rumours about this for quite a while, so it doesn't really surprise me. "As a fan, I can understand why the club would not see it as a priority to spend money putting on a concert instead of on the team." Industry sources say clubs makes tens of thousands of pounds profit from staging a major concert. However, it is believed some concerts at other Midlands clubs failed to make any profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janx Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 Opions please Leicester Mercury story before I hotlink to this..if it is about Groundsharing I will come round and butter your arse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Fox Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 Opions please Leicester Mercury story Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevosevic Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 is that the excuse for our fans sitting there and doing nothing? so that the stadium doesnt fall apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez of Mahrez Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 I want to be an architecture lecturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasyls Pec Deck Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 St. Marys - same design, same contractor etc holds concerts... it probably could hold concerst, they might just not want to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babylon Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 We knew all this years ago.... I'm amazed they find it a front cover story. Obviously a slow news day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommeh Posted 4 August 2006 Share Posted 4 August 2006 As some people have said in replies to the mercury it is a football stadium, a football stadium is for football, if everyone wants pop concerts then go and build some other place in Leicester to hold them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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