If we do sell Roberts - we should buy

The derelict school on Grove Street.
Then put planning in to develop the site with room made available to reroute the road and extend the West Stand into that area - when Barnsley is in a position financially to do so

 

It has planning permission for demolition of the existing school and erection of 32 no dwellings.

https://wwwapplications.barnsley.go...onDetails?planningApplicationNumber=2015/0462

 

Partial demolition of the school has already started

 

If they day came to redevelop the West stand would it not fit in the space the stand currently takes up? Its not like it would need to be as big as the east stand we simply do noy need that large a capacity.

 

Realistically, it would only need to be as high and deep as the Ponty. They could even attach it to the ponty to have a single sweeping stand like the one at Stoke...

 

A stand the size of the east stand actually fits into the space available, it just doesn't look like it because of how broken up it is so you see a small front section, small upper section, small section behind the stand, small section behind the wall etc. The distance from the edge of the pitch to the external wall of the west stand is equal to the distance from the edge of the pitch to the external wall of the east stand. In fact they are s close to being exactly the same that I suspect the size of the east stand was chosen for this exact reason.

 

Well as said if anything it would need to be smaller anyway

 

No no no. Complete false economy to build a small stand. If we were to do it it should match the east stand so that it is big enough for big games , future proof, enticing to the fa for internationals, contains revenue generating executive boxes and has facilities under the stand which again generate revenue. Building a smaller stand is complete false economy as many clubs find who then need to spend money extending their small stands

 

Why would it need to be smaller? Other than the small saving in construction costs what benefits does that give in the long run?

 

Are they not made to be easily expandable now though? Sure I heard something about the Ponty being designed to allow us to make it bigger...

I'm no expert though so don't quote me on that.

Out of curiosity, what do people reckon the biggest gate we could realistically achieve. Lets say all the stars align and we go up this year and push on to become a stable Premier League club(again, ala Stoke). What sort of regular crowds do folk think we could achieve.

I'd personally say high 20,000's for a regular game, maybe touching 30,000 for the big games...

 

The east stand has got the narrow footprint it has because there is a big mains pipe that runs along the back, that's why the upper tier is as steep as it is ( the steepest allowed if my memory serves me well) .

 

Sorry for the double post, but would the type of stand i have linked to above hold much less that the East anyway?

According to http://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/championship/oakwell-barnsley.html , the East stand holds 7,500. The Ponty 4,500. So if it was extended along the full length of the pitch it would take it to(roughly)6,000 maybee, plus the corner bit would bump it up more.

Im not saying these figures are accurate(i'm basing them on a third party site and some guesswork), but it must be cheaper to only build a single tier stand, plus it would be easier to get planning permission for a single seater due to the lessened impact on the surrounding houses...

 

I don't think we will do this until we absolutely have to. I.e the current stand becomes completely unsafe. I'm not expert on running a football club personally i just think a stand that sits half empty all the time would look poor. It already looks poor that we cant fill what we have.

 

I would think a duplicate of the East stand could be built on the land occupied by the West stand, the terrace is very shallow in the old stand so it has a far bigger footprint per seat than the East stand. Also there is quite a big space behind the stand up to the wall.

 

Main question is can it play Centre back?

 

If we do ever build a new west stand, we should put the dressing rooms etc back into it so the players can come out at the "proper" place. This would make it less embarrassing for players who get sent off, or when Sam Winnall needs to go off to get a bandage on his head.

We should also include a dedicated area to display the flag......

 

Probably as mobile as Malcolm Shotton.....

 

I would think the problem would have been more to do with getting planning permission for such a big stand, due to the impact it would have on the surrounding properties(the Grove St school development for instance). Like I have already said though, I'm no expert when it comes to these things.

 

Completely agree with this...I hate the teams coming out of the corner.