I dont know about regulations but could we not just make the South Stand terraced? I know many would welcome terracing and I would hope it would create a second 'east stand atmosphere'. Before I get jumped on, I know people in South stand wont want to leave their seat and I'm not suggesting only the east stand makes noise but I'm sure you all know what I mean.
Isn't terracing being investigated to look at safe ways of bringing it back? Sure I read something about trials in the SPL?
Safe standing is the future... please log in to view this image Though not yet in England apparently.
it would have to be a full stand though, not just half the east stand like some have suggested in the past, so it would have to be the south. I do like the image you've posted OLM, as i'd like to be able to lean on the bars, and the seats are a nice touch. Would also like to have a drinking section where alcohol is allowed in the stand, but i realise there are some idiots which would ruin this for everyone
I'd love the idea of a terraced south stand. It'd give the KC an extra edge with regard to atmosphere. People complain about the lack of noise from the West and South stands but it's the same at every other club. Some grounds have just one block of fans who sing, if we had two vocal stands it'd be pretty damn cool. I don't see why it couldn't work, it's allowed in every other sport.
If this ever came to fruition, which would be great, then they could replace say the last 10 or 12 rows of the South and East stands with the safe terracing system, allowing all the seats below to have unobstructed views.
That could work. I would imagine that if allowed the club would carry out a poll of South Stand Season ticket holders and want a sizeable majority (75%?) from the pass holders in the proposed standing area. So any mixed views would probably wreck the idea.
It's when twats start throwing cups half full through the air that it gets banned. I think it would also make people less drunk at games.
There would be a 0% increase in capacity if it did happen, but a move towards this in England is unlikely anyway. The Taylor Report and resulting Legislation from the Sports Ground Safety Authority have driven out terracing from football. The image shown is for standing areas but they only go in the same place as current seating (giving the choice to stand or sit). The design does not allow for any increase in capacity. The only way to increase capacity at the KC in the short term is to infill above the concourse. This could work but some views would be restrictive as the vertical supports for the cantilevered roof come down behind the last rows of seats. Any additional seats would be behind this. You could maybe get an additional 400 seats by adding a row to the base of the south and north stand. The bottom row in these stands are higher than in the West and East. If I do see any additional seating it would be to the East Stand with additional hospitality boxes to the South and North although they would need new access stairs independent from the ones from the concourse. The design of our ground does not allow for much tweeking around the edges. The only real thoughts on expansion was to add a tier to the East Stand but I do recall speaking to an engineer and he said the East Stand was not constructed in preperation for this stand and in essence it would have to be built behind the East Stand as an independent structure which then fixes to the support columns in place for the existing roof sharing any loads. Just a thought!
I was under the impression when it was built that the stadium was designed so that all three smaller stands (or at least the east) could be extended to the same as the west just by unbolting the roof and extending up with similar 'towers' to the west. I realise it is a bit more technical than just unbolting the roof.
i thought that as they were going to increase the capacity to 40,000 if we got the world cup weren't they? I'm sure thats not a cheap option, and the fact that theres a few empty seats anyway most games would mean ticket/pass prices would have to drop significantly and there would be a while before we saw any profit from it.
That and the steel girders holding the roof up are a bit excessive for supporting corregated aluminium..I don't personally think we need to extend until we are established in the premier league and we are selling out every week (as we were) and not worrying about relegation when all the glory fans disappear again
Funilly enough a local in my pub in my little Leicestershire village was a builder at the KC and he says the way it's designed is for very easy expansion, apparently the roof just comes off as previously mentioned and the stands almost slide up. Did anyone know the place set on fire not long before it was finished and they had to buy a host of new seats as the developers were impatient and wanted the seats putting in early? Also on the drinking section idea, would be good, but they really need to sort out smoking areas at all grounds. It's the worst thing in the world when we're playing **** and/or losing and I can't go for a cig at half time, hate it!