If we lived closer me and Mrs K would consider being a host family. I reckon it would be quite rewarding.
Agree, survival this season as much as anything will require expansion to allow more corporate boxes & infrastructure, KLD & Bruce are well clued up enough to know (already made probably as many tweaks they can to existing SOL) we need to increase match day revenue to the max possible to allow growth, naturally that creates larger capacity.....we would already have been here under Murray (couldn't gain enough investment, back in a day prior to global investment) & Short (clueless on running a football club & let idiots do on his behalf) had the foundations of growing as a club not been built on sand.....KLD's building things on solid founds
I've now given up trying to predict what KLD will do, regarding the stadium, he's clearly ahead of the game in every way. A few things spring to mind when thinking about the SOL. More seats mean more away fans, more for concerts/internationals/SCs, etc. We now have people being turned away for the first home game and the hospitality options being filled. People who can't make too many games, exiles, etc, will look at those seats as an option now for the big games but also those they simply can't get into. If we avoid relegation I think the expansion will be triggered and it would pay for itself within three years ... ... I think it'll happen, he's not here to muck about prevaricating imo.
We have to stay up, and also look like we mean to compete for Europe, for an expansion to work. That’s still ways off. We weren’t filling the stadium in the PL last time as we were simply existing. This feels so different this time but timing is everything. Us and Newcastle aren’t going to bring in fans from overseas to home games in the way United, Liverpool and Arsenal do so there’s a limit on it. It’s absolutely feasible that with sustained progress and competitiveness we could do 55-60k. What we don’t want is a load of extra empty seats. Timing is everything. If we can do a Villa, then the sky is the limit. Brilliant that Sir Bob had the foresight to future proof the clubs ability to expand.
Totally mate, re your away fans comment, loads & loads of discussion between fans how they need to be moved, a move will cause disruption & pxss some off, particularly me if i have to move again due to already being disrupted during there first move, no ideal location now sits within the ground..... expansion could cure that along with all your other points....KLD has been brought up running a club watching his dad, been around from being a child, he knows the craic.....plus is clever & knowledgeable enough to realise he doesn't know everything hence the people/saff hes surrounding himself with.....a very good business trate....for some reason wealth businessmen forget this when moving into football.... probably because its their toy & detachment from their huge priority businesses..... FOOTBALL IS KLD's BUSINESS
In my opinion there's a time to 'catch the mood' and this is it. We may not fill 'the new capacity' every time but delaying for years isn't the answer imo. We have Premier League football that gives us a big advantage. Newcastle can't sell more seats so our nearest competition is Leeds or Manchester ... ... getting people used to coming may not be immediate so now is the time to go for it I believe.
Thing is mate, due to design of stadium we don’t need to rush it. It’s such a quick job in real terms, we could even start work mid season without losing interim capacity. It’s beautiful seeing the absolute glow around the club right now, it’s stunning seeing people coming back with excitement, but it’s also very early in this journey. There’s already drawn plans, we know this, there’s already everything to do it quickly. We don’t want a white elephant and an empty top tier it would be detrimental. The time will come under KLD I’m absolutely convinced of it, I’d want to know we are staying up before I hit a button on such a massive project.
One good aspect is that the top tier is, to an extent, hidden. If ticket sales are wisely concentrated on the lower bowl I think that would help. Having studied all of the options for moving away fans I’ve now believe we should leave them where they are. I know that’ll surprise a few and it surprised me tbh I just think we can make it work for various reasons that would avoid giving away one of our best sections to away fans.
I think if we did it, we’d end up very similar to Hamburg stadium. 57,000 capacity with an extension of the row of balconied corporate, I’d wager that’s about right for us if we are established and performing. Adding the extra corporate might pose the bigger challenge than ‘raising the roof’, so maybe they put some corporate around the top like Spurs, I guess that would add to the size of the job.
