If a club wants to progress they have to be able to compete. A 32,000+ capacity is not competitive for the PL if you want to do a lot more than just make up the numbers. Having a greater capacity stadium says just as must about intent and ambition as it does about bums on seats. Take the example of Manchester United. It used to be that Old Trafford was 80,000 capacity, mostly standing, when it was first built. Now why on Earth would anyone want to build a stadium that big..? They could never fill it. In fact, the most people they've had in through the gates was not for a ManU game at all, it was an FA Cup semi final, with Wolves V Grimsby in 1939 [yes, I looked it up]. Most of the time they had 45,000+, way back when. When OT had to be all-seater, the capacity reduced to 44,000, but they once again showed their intent and enlarged it again and again. It has cost them millions, but have they actually lost anything..? Nope, they've actually gained everything, simply by making the right marketing moves at the right time. It's very repeatable by any other club if one knows what one is doing, and backs it with the required know how, money and ambition. I'm no fan of ManU, but I have to admire their ambition. Time and again, they've spent money and recouped it massively. I'm not saying Saints need to expand to the extent that ManU have done, but to wait for consistent success before you make the leap of ambition is the wrong way to go, because it will never happen.
I started to bring my son because he wanted to see ManU and other PL clubs, but we are now true Saints fans and have stuck with the team through thin and thin. As you say, fans have to start somewhere. We need the stadium full to create an atmosphere.
You do have to remember some interesting facts about our (saints) attendances. In the days of terraces at the dell while in Div 1 and later the premier we regularly got attendances in the mid 20000's and above a good 10% of those couldn't see the game properly. The other averages I seem to remember were Man U with around 45000 Newcastle were in the mid 30000's just to name a few of the bigger clubs. After Heysel and the consequent re construction process our crowd capacity went down first to around 18000 then to 15500 or so. Most of today's top clubs went the other way because they expanded and kept expanding. Charlie knott gave us the perfect opportunity of doing the same a couple of years before all this happened. He had the speedway stadium which was almost opposite the old dell. He wanted to merge the speedway with the football club in exchange for shares in the club. Had that happened Saints would of had a 40000+ all seater stadium (55000 was planned with terraces) The then board could not see further than their noses and turned it down. Had we done that then we would be competing today with any of the top 10 sides in the country for capacity. We have only been at St Mary's a short time during which we have had mixed performances. We proved the last time we were up in the top flight we could get good crowds. As you become more successful so you get more and more of the "Casual fan who turn upon the day" These are tomorrows season ticket holders. We need these people, yes you will get the few that will only come down for the big teams but you need their money too. Trouble is we can only build up to a certain size where we are at St Mary's. I would have said that capacity would be around 45/50000 max. Mind you to get those sorts of averages would take maybe about 10 years again in the top flight coupled with the odd foray in Europe. I think NC will build the stadium up in stages......my understanding from our failed chairman was that we had the capacity to expand our current stadium by a max of 12000 which would bring it in to the realms of a 45000 stadium. I think he will do this in two or three stages over the next few years starting an a couple of years time.........Saints will then move home again around 25/30 years time. Hows that for a prediction guys?
I think you've got your prediction sums quite close there, Beddy. BTW, Saints first reduction in capacity was to 22,000+, I believe.
i believe to be considered for the rugby world cup , the stadium needs to be in the area of 40,000 capacity. the finance from revenue made would take a bit out of the cost
My parents were never football fans; I used to listen to every game on the radio; I only ever got to go to the dell twice. Then I was a broke student - how do I make St. Mary's? Then I got a Saturday job... The last three seasons I haven't been working Saturdays; had to pick & choose my games in league 1 (including standing for hours in queues in the rain to see us vs Pompey & ManU in the FA cup - took my mum to those). This season was the first I could afford a ST. Am I a JCL "part time" fan? I still have my JPT final ticket & machday programme.
But then the thing about the Rugby World Cup is that if we were required to expand our stadium, the RFU would pay for the redevelopment works. I think that's the case anyway.
Not true. The 2011 Rugby World Cup was held at stadiums as small as 15,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby_World_Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup is being held at stadiums like St Mary's 32k , Ricoh Area 32k, Welford Road 30k and Kingsholm Stadium 19k. These stadium will hold very minor games compared to Wembley, Twickenham, Old Trafford etc in a tournament nowhere near as popular or as money making as the Football World Cup.
Didn't I read somewhere that Nicola said it would cost just as much to expand to 45-50k as it would to build a new stadium?
I know it would be horrendously expensive and, the way they update building regs, there's no guarantee the foundations would take it.
Yep, think you did. Think I read the same, and it wasn't sourced from a friend of a friend of a friend's dog, either.
think a football stadium is like a restaurant, you get more of a buzz in a small full place rather than a big half empty place. of course pompey have the problem of a small half empty place. i think enlarging is not on the cards until we are drawn against barcelona in the euro cup
i bet that nicola has the plans and the scale model already in his office for the 50,000 seat stadium
I bet you're right, except that there will be an option to make it 60,000 if things go well and we become a top 4 club. My guess is he has already commisioned a feasability study of the Stoneham Lane site. That would be nicely situated next to a motorway intersection and the airport.
What would stop Eastleigh Borough Council vetoing the scheme as they did last time..? Mind you, I'm glad they did, that time... 26,000 capacity. Tiny..!
