OAKWELL STADIUM UPDATE Club News The DX West Stand is scheduled to re-open for supporters on 15 January 2022. Continue reading on the official site...
They can concentrate now on sending out the vouchers we've been entitled to since before the summer that still haven't arrived.
So why not have treated it as a temporary displacement of West Stand season ticket holders? Did they underestimate the response their games would bring upon them? This whole episode strikes as rum, to say the least. Transparency?
Look at it the other way around. The club says we need to displace you for a few games until repairs are completed. Repairs take longer than anticipated, club unable to say for certain when West Stand season ticket holders can have their seats back, supporters even more upset because what was supposed to be a temporary measure lasted all season. Surely in this case it was better to under promise and over deliver? So long as those who took a refund can rebuy their ticket at a pro rata price, I think this is as good an outcome as we could have got. Especially given that plenty of people said it was just an excuse to shut the ground and move to ground sharing next season.
This is great news for the ticket-holders that were displaced, and hopefully a positive sign that some constructive dialogue may have been held with the Council over the matter. That the update still doesn't give any indication of what the problem was or how it's been addressed remains an issue for me, though my thoughts on the subject are far less relevant than those who were displaced. I still believe it was an attempt to gain some leverage in negotiations and the subsequent news stories about ground sharing does nothing to assuage those fears. But we'll see how that plays out. Looking forward to seeing fans back in their rightful place in January. Mind you, it'll make the rest of the ground look even emptier than it does at the moment!
A couple of things cross my mind regarding the West Stand.I genuinely feel for the supporters who have had to move,I'm sure I would have felt the same If it would have been me. I see its been open season on attacks on Conway and the CEO regarding the closure of the stand.One thing that stood out for me is that at the meeting the CEO passed over to our very own Beth to explain in more detail presumably because he'd not been here long enough.I accept the CEO ultimately signed the paper work to close the stand after the reports came back from the clubs investigation (named by Beth at the meeting). If I remember correctly Beth said she would not risk her own families safety in the West Stand describing it as akin to an old broken down car.You might not want to believe the owners or the CEO but knowing Beth as I do if she says the stand isn't safe well for me it isn't safe. I don't know if I'm right or wrong with this but isn't Beth our safety officer,I know she was at one time and still believe she is. So in a nut shell its been a sad time for people who sit in the West Stand but taking Beth at her word and I would never doubt her I conclude that the stand wass closed with right and proper intensions and some of the throw away accusations were just that.
I welcome the decision. Although I'm aware of what was said at the fans forum. It was not in my view communicated as well as it should. It WAS stated that they were making efforts to reopen the stand as worked progressed. But also with the idea of possibly letting numbers back in stages. Or as seems the case when everyone can return. Not as some would have you believe. never to reopen. Now that is about to happen, Their attention will progress to something else. Totally unconnected to the news item. As already is happening.
Probably the only job she hasn't done, bless her. But you're right in terms of what she said, and that she's as honest as they come.
Great news for fans who can return to their seats in the stand, brilliant. The whole saga leaves a muddy taste though. The sad thing is, wild accusations about the reasoning, however false, are not far-fetched given what we can prove about the owners' operating style.
So now that’s sorted what’s happening with RR+ vouchers ? Where was the printer they sent em to for reprints Mars ? I need to email or call in as it’s pretty scandalous and worthy of a complaint.
If the vouchers are discounts off things like food (that you need a match day ticket to be able to use) then it’s disgraceful that they weren’t ready at the start of the season. People may end up in the position of having to buy a season ticket for the next year, or match day tickets, to use vouchers that came with this year’s season ticket, or else having to waste them.