Should Barnsley ever knock down or relocate, what sort of stadium would everyone prefer? A modern day arena type like most are adopting or a fantastic modern 4 stand upgrade on what we have now just with a lot of bells and whistles thrown on top for match day experiences. I’d prefer the second. A football stadium should be just that.....a football stadium. It loses its novelty if anything else
I don't like the modern rectangular stadiums that look like a warehouse without a roof e.g. Donny & Walsall. Was very impressed with the MK Dons stadium. Brilliant acoustics with sound reverberating back off the roof.
I'd like us to modernise the West Stand but somehow incorporate the current facade. It has character and is part if what makes Oakwell special.
I agree. The thing is the land where the ground is is unlikely to be of massive value to developers vis-a-vis relocating it somewhere else in travelling distance from the town. We have three excellent stands & as Plankton says, it is only work to get the West Stand back up to full working order that I think is needed to have a stadium that could host Premier League football again one day. I appreciate in L1 we may have other priorities. It does seem the new owners are taking a lot more interest in making best use of the facilities we do have.
Caught a bit in the middle with this one. A 15000 all seater stadium would do us nicely, and would look quite full most home games, but I would feel that we'd given up on ideas of growth. Question is though, will we ever get regular gates of around 20,000? I'd like to think so, but it's more in hope than expectation.
I'd like to the west stand a one tier wrapped round to the Ponty but we must keep the facade as mentioned above.
If we got to the Premier League we would easily. I doubt it will happen, but even if we were close to the playoffs I think we'd be over 15k for many games & there are cup games too to consider.
I think 18k would be the perfect size for us to be honest- wouldn’t look empty at 11-13 but could accommodate for bigger matches
Yeah, I think we would have to be doing well in the championship to get those kind of gates and also benefit from the larger away followings. The cup games that attract a decent attendance are few and far between these days. People have little interest in the early rounds and it's not often we stay in long enough for a big draw. I'm really hopeful this season will sew the seeds for growth and we make better decisions if and when we get back into the championship.
Interesting that GG confirmed the 6 month timescale for securing the first part of the ground had lapsed/been extended. I know Patrick set up that arrangement to try and protect the future of the ground, but it makes absolute sense for an owner of a club to own the ground they play to enable development as they see fit. I'd be surprised given the squeeze on local authority funding, that BMBC aren't keen to secure a windfall for their part. As for development, I suspect it will come. But now isn't the time. Make more of the ground and when it looks as though demand is getting close to outstripping supply, I've no doubt steps will take place to maximise seating and revenue potential.
Great time would be on the back of a promotion. Selling season tickets in a shiny new stand would be much easier then.
Design and planning would take time, build is further considerable time. If (still a big one) we got promoted back to the championship this year, I suspect they may start to undertake feasibility studies. But til then, I'd hope their focus is elsewhere. Most games the away end is empty, if that is possible to split, which it sounds it is, that's more than enough for our needs in this division.
I would be gutted if we ever had to make this choice. Oakwell is our home and I want to stay here; nowhere could replace it.
We should never leave Oakwell but the West Stand is an embarrassment. During fourteen years of neglect it suffered the most.