What an absolutely beautiful shot of the West Stand this is. I'd never seen it before - full colour, but without the television gantry. Looks in perfect nick.
I may be in a minority but sentiment aside I really feel the west stand is a relic which desperately needs replacing. It is economically unviable to keep maintaining it, half of it had to remain shut last season. I know some love it as it is - but I'm certain that there would have been thousands of arsenal fans didn't want to leave Highbury, and every other club that have had big renovations or even new grounds altogether will have had fans who liked it the way it was. But times change. The truth is that sadly it is no longer fit for purpose and sticks out like a sore thumb. We don't need anything big and extravagant but it surely would be better for the club to have something more fitting with the rest of the stadium? Don't get me wrong, I'm fond of it myself, it's full of 'character' - but unfortunately mother time has caught up with it, it ought to have been sorted years ago and administration aside would likely have been done a couple of years after the North stand. Money is the obvious barrier but given its state it will have a decent cost in maintaining it year on year. Something new, with potentially a title sponsor funding a lot of it, would benefit the club long term. It could incorporate more corporate opportunities, and marketed well a brand new stand could attract new, fresh blood to the club, younger fans who might otherwise be drawn to Sheffield Leeds or even Manchester for their football allegiance. I doubt too many who are fond of the west stand and have their seats there now would refuse to attend if it was replaced? I'm sure there are some that would, but part of the club moving forward has to involve change in all aspects. Three sides of the ground are ok, the training ground and so on is up there with as good as most in this division. We might not have need capacity wise at the moment, but if we aspire to get bigger gates the club has to be an attractive proposition in all aspects. If I was a fourteen year old kid who's parents never had any football allegiance, I'm not sure I'd choose to spend £10-£15 of my pocket money to sit in the current west stand. The magpies would be attracted to something shiny and new though. Kids are fickle. That - and a young, hungry side with a fantastic head coach - might well ensure that the next generation of fans get hooked. It is well publicised by the club that they have a higher proportion of concessions, mainly oap, than a lot of other clubs amongst its st holders. Nothing wrong with that per se - but we need new young bums on seats for when the older generation can no longer attend if the club is to survive. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
