Move away from Oakwell? Possibility?

Never want us to leave Oakwell and I see no reason to do so. Oakwell is perfectly suitable for our club at present and could be renovated to be perfectly suitable for us going forward come what may. It's not just the stadium itself, it's the town centre location, the buzz of walking from town centre pubs and back again, the proximity to the heart of Barnsley, the terraced houses lining the streets near the ground... it's everything that makes our home ground OUR HOME GROUND. A flat pack stadium, with generic design and nothing of character at all, built somewhere away from everything that makes our match day routine what it is... no thanks. Look at Doncaster, Shrewsbury, Colchester, even Chesterfield... new stadiums built in the middle of nowhere. How can that be enjoyable as a home fan? No pubs near by, no atmospheric walk to the ground. Absolutely stay at Oakwell.

I see little reason to rebuild the ground neither. A new West Stand and a general spruce up would do fine.

 

I don't see how the infrastructure of the ground isn't suitable. We've got world class training facilities with acres of land right next to it to expand and build any training addition that they want.

We have three very good stands with one of them having an unusually large amount of concourse space. The world is essentially your oyster with the east stand. A huge bar, conference facilities, retail outlets, pretty much anything can be built in the space and unfinished mezzanine floor and for a damn sight cheaper than building a new stadium too.

The scoreboard is to be replaced by a 21st century big screen ready for next season.

We have a huge carpark that dwarfs many premiership teams.

To be honest the west stand is dated but if that had been rebuilt identical to the east stand a few years ago then nobody would even be having this conversation as oakwell would look good for another 50 years. I can't say I've ever looked at the east, north or ponty end and thought 'thry look a bit crap and could do with coming down'

 

Yes, a temporary stadium with super powerful air conditioning and single sex prayer rooms facing Mecca is exactly what we need!

 

Time to pop up my **** Photoshop again. But this would look great.

 

No need for another stand like east stand A single tier incorporating the corner near the Ponty is all that’s required. There’s plenty of land on the west stand side to build this. Remember the stand at Bradford opposite the main stand it used to be a shed with a steep drop down to the road below, but they managed to build a good sized single tier stand

 

It's a no from me. Oakwell is part of everything that is Barnsley FC.

 

Why would we only want to build a small single tier stand when we have room to build one the same as the east with revenue generating space inside it?

 

I never said small, but a single tier incorporating the Ponty end corner would be ample. Another stand like the East would kill the atmosphere. The ground would look better with that corner covered in with seats. Also the benches and area around the halfway line coul go a little way back into the stand

 

We don't have three very good stands, we have two, the east stand and the ponty end. The north stand should have been the same size as the ponty end, then they could have gotten away with not having those stupid supports.

If staying where we are is what we're doing then I'd reduce the size of the north stand to ponty end proportions, get shut of the west stand (as cool as it is, it ain't fit for purpose) and replace it with an East stand replica, with a bloody tunnel so we can get rid of that corner entrance...

 

But you cant build as high as the East Stand on the west side because you'd be denying the right to light of the residents of Grove Street.

 

I'd personally prefer a single tiered stand as well. The John Street Stand at Bramall Lane is an absolute beauty in terms of design. One tier, hospitality boxes at the back, and retains the feel of the original with the gable on the roof.

 

Aren't the changing rooms underneath the North Stand though? I agree though that coming out at the halfway line is definitely preferable.

 

Yes but they wouldn’t meet the required specs. They weren’t great when they were used regular. All this could be incorporated in a single tier stand

 

Well they have got planning permission for 18 extra parking spaces behind the East Stand, does that count?

 

Is there such a thing?

 

I always thought it looked half finished

For me we’d have to replicate the East Stand and replace the West and then fill the corners in

 

Where would they build a new stadium if they were to move bfc from Oakwell?
I can't think of any places better in Barnsley than in the area it is

 

Agree.

Look at Bolton' s ground. It's something like 7 miles away from central Bolton. Like Barnsley playing in Wakefield.

 

There isn't really anywhere in the borough where you could build a new Stadium.
The only place I can think of is to use the Academy site and then relocate the Academy.

 

Incorrect.

They planned to have the North Stand with a cantilever roof, like the other new stands. However, it worked out around £300k extra to do it, so in the end they went for supporting roof columns instead, albeit meaning it would have 100ish restricted viewing seats. The Ashley Ward money couldn’t quite stretch that far.

The club also knew, it would be a cash-cow every time a big club came to town. Remember when Man City filled it that time in 2000? Never seen it so full - and still remains our highest crowd as a modern stadium.

I don’t like the corner tunnel, but at the time and still currently, the West Stand changing rooms are just too small and old. Hopefully a new West Stand alters that - but I’d suggest we’re 10+ years away from that.

The facilities under the North Stand for the 1st team are great though, and some money has been spent down there over the last year or so.