Looks like the wheels are finally in motion. Planning application will be submitted in next 2 months http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footba...e-capacity-of-liberty-stadium-91466-30574838/
It's great to see possible action for this expansion getting started a little earlier than expected. HJ is attempting to deliver what he promised back at the start of the season but I have a feeling that, along with our obvious success on the pitch, McDonalds have actually helped to bring this to the forefront. I'm interested where in Fairwood this new complex will be. It's in my neck of the woods.
it has been recommended to the swans to put in an application for extension in light of the mcdonald fiasco. dont get to excited its a precaution and something that was advised by the swans lawyers. it will be a few years yet before or if it can happen......
it's all exciting news, i just hope it comes off, the only thing missing if this comes off is the economy recovering, which could easily be arranged if they only lower corporation tax, they'd all benifit in the long run, so who's holding us back?
Ok, I don't want to come across as Mr Negative on this point, but I am a little concerned that a stadium expansion is jumping the gun a little. According to reports, around 10,000 season ticket holders have renewed their ticket for next season and there is only 12 days left for the others to do so. If this is the case, then it demonstrates that the Premier novelty, for some people, has worn off. My fear is that, even if we establish ourselves as a mid-table Prem club over the next four or five seasons, the demand for tickets will inevitably wane further. Yes, I believe we'll still sell out a 30,000 seater stadium when the big boys come to town, but will we be able to fill it for the lesser games, or if we happened to get relegated? As I write this, I realise that I should not worry; HJ and the board will have studied the projected figures and stats, and will be sensible in their decisions, but I just wonder whether we should focus on building the team and academy over the next few years rather than our, already fairly new, stadium?
....and that is what occurred to me, Dai, when I was writing my previous post. Getting the planning permission granted does not mean that we will instantly expand the Liberty. It's just sensible business acumen by our sensible business head honchos. God, I love our club.
I agree with you big apple. I would hate to see the Liberty have empty seats. I'd rather have a capacity crowd at the Liberty of 20500 than a stadium capable of holding 30,000 with only 25,000 in attendance. As you say I'm sure HJ and the board have studied figures and won't rush into this.
So do I Milfy, We've been going places for 8 or 9 years now. Let's keep on building safely. Not like the man who built his house on sand. We'll build our club on solid foundations! Sermon over chaps.
Some also said 20,500 was too big a capacity for the Liberty Stadium when it was built back in 2005, citing attendances from back in the 1980's when the product was unrecognisable to what it is now. We need to be ambitious, think small and we're doomed to forever playing second fiddle to Cardiff, we CAN become the #1 team in Wales off the field as well as on it. When Stoke City were promoted from the Championship they had an average crowd of 15K! SCFC is a bigger club at this point in time than it's ever been in it's 100 years of history so let's try and capitalise on the growth.
Of course we need a bigger stadium, we are selling out every game now, and we have more than 5k waiting to be season ticket holders, if we are to expand as a club this is a natural extension to that. We cannot sustain a premier league club on Championship attendances, we must go on or flounder.
I'm sure the 30,000 + figure comes after much discussion & deliberation between the board members. They've been right on everything else so far.
'Everything, of course, depends on being able to retain our status as a Premier League club' hypothetically speaking, surely swansea should be planning this regardless of which division you're in because in theory you're only ever one season away from relegation.. good news for swans fans who couldnt get tickets though
I suppose the logic is that you only want to expand the stadium once (in the short/medium term at least). It would be pointless to increase by 5000, only to increase by the same amount a few years after. Expanding a stadium is a messy business that causes a lot of disruption. There's a lot of regulars on here who can't get to games due to shortage of seats, so I'm pleased for them (if it happens).
God forbid but what if the expansion is ready just in time for Championship football & the " new fans " don't show up & were back to 15,000 ( if some of the old season ticket holders who couldn't get tickets this season come back ) . A half empty stadium might not be to eye catching . If the expansion does go ahead are the Swans left to pick up the bill or are the Rugby club & others in with some money ?
In football, you're always potentially only 1 season away from relegation. If you could see into the future, maybe you'd be able to see whether we're in for a 2 year, 5 year, 10 year, or 50 year roller coaster - but you can't. When you have the money, you have to invest it. At the end of the day, if in 3 years time we have 21,000 turning up to games against Bolton/West Brom/Blackburn, but then we have 30,000 sell outs against the top 6, we're already better off than we are this season. The fact is that as long as we have our current brand of football and can keep the core of our team intact, we're going to be a strong outfit for a long time. Expansion, training facilities, and academy status are our most important long term goals. We can spend a lot of money on a couple of players now, but the calibre of player that you can attract to our club will considerably rise once those 3 factors have been completed. Have a bit of faith in our current players. We've got a winning formula here, and while we are potentially only 1 season away from relegation, I have faith in our players that they won't let that happen. In which case, expanding is worth it. Even if we go down, we are going to be the cream of the crop in the Championship and there will still be times when we will sell out 30,000 (look at the Leeds/Norwich/Forest games from last year, very hard to get a ticket). Although to be honest, all this talk of relegation is very negative. Currently, we're still on the upward spiral and don't look like coming off it any time soon, can we worry about relegation when we actually lose more than 2 games on the trot??
