Reallistically what size stadium should be looking to develop? We want an atmospheric stadium and not a morgue so attendances should be at near capacity. The other way of looking at it is, reallistically what kind of crowds could be regularly attract in the Premiership going forward?
Agree with both previous. 30k would be ideal as long as plans in place to increase capacity when and if needed. Think a 40k stadium straight away is a step too far at this time, as said before nothing looked worse than row upon row of empty seats a la Coventry.
Coventry's Stadium is dreadful. Interesting that on the other thread, Fernandes said we could match Man City's type of ground.
35-40K Times have moved on and people are living in the past. If we stay a regular Prem team whos owners wish to compete then 25K is laughable (we may as well stay at LR and go back to the Championship). Look at Fulham/Chelsea/Arse/Spurs all are looking or have increased the capacity at their stadiums. In the Championship yes 30K tops but not for a Prem Team in London. Tony knows what he is doing and has done a good job so far so i guess as he is the boss and he will have people paid to work these things out we should trust him. Tomorrow we would not fill at 40K stadium but progression is more about after tomorrow.
Whatever stadium we go for it has to be an adaptable 'work-in-progress'. I'd say 30,000 as a start with the option of adding another 50% in two or three stages. The club will grow as long as we remain in the PL and I've no doubt we'll attract a large number of tourists and plastics on the way, it is the inevitable price of success...
As long as they're pumping money into the club via ticket sales and buying merchandise then I've not got too much problem with tourists/plastics to be honest, the club will always retain its core die-hard support - we've shown on our travels this year that we can make more than enough noise and atmosphere to hold our own in a bigger stadium. Man U was the best example of this for me given the size of the place, the fact we kept singing through their goal celebrations quietened them right back down!
It's not just plastics that will come if we have success on the pitch and a bigger stadium - it's the kids - they want to support winners and once they're a hoop, they'll always be a hoop..and the future "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the fan." (in the style of) Ignatius Loyola
Unfortunetley you need plastics and tourists if you want to grow.....if we built a 30K stadium you arent just going to attract another 15k die hard, singing QPR fans......but hopefully over time they or their kids will fall in love with QPR and breed a new generation of die hards. I find it strange that my whole life I've pretty much know QPR as a lower league team and one day hoped they may become a big name (im 26), it seems to be happening now and one day when I have kids they will love QPR, but will have never known them the way I have. Love it!
30-45k with a roof that comes down to block out the 3rd tier that holds 15k. It will look like a full house for every game. Theres a stadium like that in the US.
Didn't Bayern Munich's stadium look nice? I can't see an arena like this slap bang in the middle of Shepherd's Bush but if something along these lines was developed further outside W12 (A40 corridor/Warren Farm?) with additional retail and hotel units to attract business when not a match day then I reckon it would make sound business sense. The Allianz holds over 60,000 so something smaller would do QPR. Although I can see the sense in starting small with an option to expand, if Tony F really means business and has the financial clout of the Mittals behind him then why not go for a 40,000+ stadium from the off and not muck about with even more development in a couple of years time. Planning is a funny thing and it may be easier to build a big stadium in the first place rather than a two or three phase approach. Loftus Road has been our home for years but it isn't fit for purpose, even in the Championship it was considered too small. Time to wave the old girl goodbye and set our sights on a flashy new model.
We could built an exact copy if we had STs for £100 like they do. The fans then spend more on food and merchandising.
According to the crowds thread, Fulham are at 98.4% capacity of their 27,000 hovel. I'm confident we could add at least 10k to that, and some of them wouldn't be Japanese. Lucas Oil Stadium where the Indianapolis Colts play is superb - covered ( don't know how this works with grass), feels really tight to the pitch, yet seats 60k. Very small 'footprint' in terms of acreage. In constant use for concerts as well ( though not much competition in Indianapolis).
Being realistic we cannot sustain premiership football with a sub 20k stadium. If Fulham are solidly bringing in 27k I think there is no reason for qpr not to aim at around 35k. It means we have to change the model and attract more new and casual supporters but Fulham have proved that they are out there. If we don't get the chance to turn plastics into hardcore we will be back in the championship league eventually. I fully understand the resistance but football is a business now and to grow survive and succeed we have to be prepared to be open minded to allow growth in the business.
