West Stand

It's not about capacity. It's about a stadium we can be proud of, a stadium that's future proof and a stadium that can make us money even when we're not playing.

Why is that so hard to grasp?

 

I thought the East Stand was about half that and didn't we get a grant for around £1.2m?

 

That's why we got shafted by the Taylor report. We asked for an extension for renovating the rest of the stadium. They told us to do one and it wasn't their fault we spent the full grant on one stand

 

Couldn’t agree with this more. Build it and they will come. On match days and during the week.

The benefits are too many to list, plus we’d get our investment back in time.

 

It is though about capacity. If you lived on your own would you buy a 5 bedroom house? Just in case you met a bird with 4 kids? Just in case it was a future proof gaff but it was skinting you .........

I'm not really sure why you're not proud of Oakwell? I bet if you ask Donny-Rotherham fans for instance (2 closest) where they'd like to play.........

Our stadium could make more money when were not playing. I was part of a team a few years back who approached the club with ideas. One stand won't make difference to that. I know the reasons why a new 'West Stand' wouldn't really allow that to happen anyway.

 

I bet they’d say their new stadiums.

There might be a few romantic fools who long for the rusty tumbledown stadiums they’ve moved from. But generally the open concourse cold character free modern stadia just do the job better.

I love the West Stand, and I’d like any replacement to reflect some of its character, but we can’t pretend it’s a better place to sit than the East Stand, otherwise the West wouldn’t be the last seats sold for every game.

 

Opinions, eh.

 

We would have to start with a month of away games to get the ground up to scratch if we went up. Nil points in August.

It would take 4 months to build a stand.

 

I think they should rotate the pitch 90 degrees to take out the impact of the low sun.

 

We've just won 6 games on the spin away from home, 7 unbeaten. We've only lost 3 away - to the top 3 sides - since the end of November. Arguably we're a better away team than home team right now. I wouldn't write away games off as defeats - even if we did get promoted to the PL

 

I'd wager a pint on us not winning more than 3 away from home if we were promoted.

 

and you'd probably be right. I just wouldn't write Valerien's teams off so quickly though....

 

No never, for selfish reason, I sit in East lower and I love nothing better than the summer sun on me when I’m watching the super reds

 

You'd still be in the sun. Unless we move the sun instead of ,moving the pitch.

 

Not sure if you're serious but that wouldn't change. You'd just be sat behind the goals.

 

When they built the east stand the club missed a trick. They should have built it 10 to 15 metres further to the east and moved the pitch over. So, in the future when the west stand was to be redeveloped it would provide more room at the ‘pinch point’ of the south west corner of the stand and Grove street. The idea was rejected because there is a large culvert running at the back of the east stand and it would have cost a great deal to pile and bridge over it.

 

Love the idea that mine was a sensible suggestion.

 

I think whatever league we are in if we can get the ground ownership kerfuffle sorted out it would make sense if say we did sell Callum Styles for 8 million plus to use the money on ground improvements including a rebuilt west stand.

I get the arguments for and against and the romantic angle but it needs sorting out now.

After all it was once the Carl Tiler Floodlights. The John Beresford Bogs and the Mark Robinson bins so it would just be back to the future.

Without the ground issue being sorted it’s a non starter though.

 

I really struggle to understand this "modern stadia" cry. We were just as cramped in the concourse at Donny as we were at Burnley. And the seats are the same plastic, leg room similar. Yes there may be more function rooms to let out but I'm not sure that the demand for them is there?

Seems to me a lot of the expense is things like the advertising hoardings and press facilities and obviously the floodlights, nothing to do with fans experience.

 

They could make more room by incorporating the turnstiles into the back of the new West Stand then they wouldn't need extra room on Grove Street.