You cannot tell me that this wouldn't make Oakwell fit for the future

Great example yes, Donny's attendance increased significantly after getting a few shiny new stands.
Last season when finishing just 6 places off the bottom of the football league they got a higher average attendance than they did the year before the keepmoat was built when they finished just 2 points off the play offs to get to the championship

 

I believe the east stand was built like that because a main water pipe goes directly behind it and you can’t build a certain distance away from it

 

Rotherham. 10,500 average attendance last season. Last time they were in the championship at millmoor they got 6000

 

Which east stand design was that?

The east stand fits within the boundary even at the pinch point with room to spare.

 

When do you think they moved to their new stadium
https://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/league/donr.htm

They've hit rock bottom now but still bigger crowds than Belle Vue

 

They had a few good years when they did well with O'Driscoll and Billy Sharp.. when John Ryan was pumping the cash in, despite that they never filled it once, now they're rubbish again it's operating at 40% of capacity.

 

Last season, as in the season that ended less than a year ago, they had higher attendance near the foot of the football league than they did before the new stadium at the top of league 1

 

Yes I do, I honestly do. Not every week no but for big games we would because fans are put off even for big games from using the west stand. Not sure if you saw but Ive replied to someone further up that due to the layout of the ground being set into a hill and the logical best use of that natural layout you would only actually end up adding around 4 rows of seats but would be able to add a lot more disabled facilities and hospitality facilities too.

 

To be fair Belle Vue was probably the worst ground in the country but the Council paid £20m for the stadium not Rovers, and it lost several millions on top of that. John Ryan was splashing the cash that led to some good players coming in and the two combined put Rovers 2/3 divisions up from their historical positions and up their attendances for a few years.

 

In the Champioship. Or league 1. ?. I cede the premier cos it's a possibility. If we get there. Some clubs have contingency plans and have carried em out in some instances. To accommodate another tier.

 

Ya may well be right mate..but would like to retain some of the history..

 

Yes in both. Last season we played Wednesday and would have managed it in my opinion. Remember that 10 years ago we had a few thousand more seats than we have available now and I've seen Barnsley fans fill it

 

Did you ever go to Belle Vue?.. if you did you'd know that it was a complete disgrace and can in no way be compared to Oakwell. Capacity was drastically reduced due to subsidence on the terracing and the main stand fire in the 90's...and after 40 years of mainly Div 4 and non league football it's hardly surprising attendances temporarily improved.

 

Those wooden seats are basically the only part of the stand that really has any history. I'd certainly not be against incorporating them into any new stand if that was possible

 

I get that but if I remember rightly the wendy and bolton games. Tickets were available right up to the last moment. So another 5k I'm not so sure.

 

They haven't temporarily improved. They are still higher now than they were in a better league before it was built. And yes I went, it was a relic much like the west stand is

 

Yes but that's because people are put off by the current west stand and by the fact that after a bit it becomes single tickets only. It wouldn't be another 5k it would probably be 3k more than now.

 

The east stand, I seem to remember was a design and build by Birse & NYP. If you take the plan area of the east stand and superimpose it west of the pitch it would require to be located further to the north to fit within the site boundary. This would mean that the north and south elevations would not align with their east stand counterparts. This would not be acceptable. It is more than 10 years ago since I looked at the drawings but I’m sure this is the case.

 

"They haven't temporarily improved. They are still higher now than they were in a better league before it was built"

Gioer with... they're now sliding back towards non league.. 20th in the 4th Division at the moment. Ryan's cash gave them a few brief moments in the Championship and the bubble's burst.