West Stand - Are we being a bit precious?

In reality our ground is too big for us. We don't actually need to have anyone in the West Stand so from a financial stand point we are probably better off shutting it. It will make Oakwell feel even emptier than it does currently and the atmosphere is already awful. Also can only see it sitting and wasting away , it won't be repaired or replaced any time soon.

 

If they’d have shut it down with notice with a plan to fix or rebuild it people may have been a bit disappointed but couldn’t be angry.

If they’d have shut it down in the summer with no plan to fix or rebuild it people may have been annoyed but had chance to sort new seats out.

Instead they’ve shut it down 6 home games into the season with no plan to fix or rebuild it. 1,000 of us have now got to fight over the scraps in the Ponte and East Stand if we choose to stay on.

It’s a completely **** way to treat paying customers. I’m very tempted to get my refund and pick and choose games going forward.

 

I'm actually quite concerned that it appears the stand sat empty for near enough two years and yet wasn't inspected for structural safety until after they'd allowed fans back in. Surely that can't be right

 

Don't blame you. They turned me off a while ago.

 

There was from me...it meant the demise of the Social Club!!!

 

Exactly this. I have to say i'm surprised by the number of fans that don't seem to understand this.

I've sat in the west stand for years as i think it has the best views and it is sheltered from the weather but i'd be the first to admit that it has had it's day. If the club were to redevelop the stand then fine, but they're not, it will just be left to rot.

If folk are complaining about it being an eyesore now, imagine how much worse it'll look in a few years time when it's been left derelict with bugger all maintenance carried out on it.

 

Like many, I've got a nostalgic attachment to the West. Never really my stand, but used to join my dad & grandad on the south terrace when they shuffled ever nearer to the halfway line. But it IS an antiquity and really should go. It should have gone some years back. This however, doesn't mean it has to be obliterated from memory. Any architect or designer worth his/her salt ought to be able to produce something that incorporates elements of the old girl into the new design. A section of the red wall? Front section of the gantry roof embedded in a new wall?? Huge murals backing the new stand with images of the old?? I'm $hit at this, but there's 3 ideas already.

Obviously a moot point as fu¢k all will happen, but people have to lose this belief that building a new stand means you're throwing away the past.

 

Same here. Best stand to sit in - easy access from town, little steps, plenty of room, no wind or rain, no idiots and quick to leave.

Yup, it needed money spending, but it did it’s job.

But for me, it should have closed this summer if they were going to do it - not 6 games in.

Just means we’ve to scrap over poor seats in other stands. A lot of older folk around me felt safer in the West as it wasn’t as crammed in after the pandemic.

I maintain, that if it wasn’t a steward issue, they could re-locate the 1,000 into the North Stand. Giving modern facilities and fully under cover with plenty of room for segregation.

 

Agreed.
I'm as keen as anyone on tradition but if we really want to hold on to our roots that badly we should knock down the East, South and North stands and replace them with a massive pile of coal slack with concrete terracing, A shed that runs half the length of the pitch with an asbestos roof and a massive barn with a bloody great hole in the back of it to let the wind blow through from both sides in the depths of winter.

 

Didn't Bradford Park Avenue have a decrepit and neglected side of the ground? (I never actually went there.)

 

They aren't interested in the heritage, the town, club, fans etc....... money money money........ Profit profit profit

 

I'd say the vast majorit

Good old nostalgia. I don't think it's a recent phenomenon either. But those shirts from yesteryear.. better designs, bobbling, funny sponsors ("Big Thing" being a great example), can't beat it! Try wearing one at 5 a side though, I don't know how the players lasted 90 minutes with some of them, talk about thick and heavy..

 

Just another thought.

Who, if we assume PMG are running the club separate to the Crynes, would be the man who is ultimately responsible for the upkeep of the ground whilst it is being leased?
Surely up until this summer, that would have been our ex CEO Dane Murphy. Our new CEO has come in, found a to do list in the back of the drawer saying "have West Stand assessed for safety again as roof looks like it might collapse" and has made it one of his first tasks. The report has come back saying "shut it down, for the love of god, shut it down" and we've had no choice.

For me the stewarding issue is probably that regardless of how many spectators we have in a stand, we have to have a minimum number of stewards. With stewards already in short supply it doesn't make sense to have 16 stewards chaperoning 100 fans in the West Stand, when they can be put to better use in the away end with another 1000 fans allowed in.

 

There were 1,100 in the West Stand.

Why piss off those fans to let a few more away fans in? Are we that well supported that annoying so many fans doesn't matter.

 

I don't think that is the case, just suggesting that if the West Stand has to be shut, we can reassign the stewards to the away end and get some more fans in there.

 

I've always liked it in the West Stand. It's where I used to stand. Call me sentimental but the stadium looks better from there, you don't get the sun in your eyes and it's closest to get to from town. But yes it's archaic and tumbledown - red gloss painted walls with broken glass on top. Then there's the bogs. Need I say more. Meanwhile there's lots of wood in the structure. Our letter though also states "specific crowd management challenges." There's large open areas where fans can stand and watch the game, particularly when it rains, There were many angry confrontations with stewards last week. The stewards seem very nervy too that there's easy access to the dug out area at the front. And there are bottleneck issues around the toilets and refreshments queues at half time. Add all this together and I wonder if we should be surprised or be looking for ulterior motives. Maybe the worst aspect of all this is the timing of it? But naturally, as is usual, there are questions to be answered.

 

The truth is out there.