West Stand

I thought Dane Murphy's recent statement was a breath of fresh air, in that it was so unusual for a club's CEO to come out and tell its supporters what were the strategy and future plans for the football club. Promotion to the PL would be great for the Club and the fans. It also presents challenges. About nine or ten years ago the specification of floodlighting was uprated for the Championship and PL. They require the setting out of a 10 metre grid over the full playing area and take a light reading, at each, at night with the floodlights on. There is an area in front of the 'dug outs' where the lighting is or was borderline or just below the minimum requirement. Because the West stand has a low roof, unlike the East stand, lights can't be fixed to resolve the 'darker area'. The other issue is that the PL requires a substantial press and media facility and currently the West stand provision is inadequate. It was considered sometime ago that it should be relocated to the back of the upper East stand. Obviously , if we were to be promoted the alterations could not be undertaken in time, but it may well be the catalyst for the redevelopment of the the West stand sooner than later. In light of the recent statement by the CEO I feel confident that the board will have planned and made the appropriate budgetary provisions. The future looks brighter.

 

Replacing the West stand doesn’t have to be on such a grand scale as the East Stand. I know many would prefer the tunnel to be at the halfway line, but to me it’s not that important. I believe a simple single tier structure that incorporates both corners should be ok.

 

I agree and you leave the existing lower tier and build behind it effectively making it a two tier stand but single structure if that makes sense.

 

I would replace it all then you could have bigger dug-out areas. and/or move the pitch a couple of yards towards the West stand to take the East Stand Shadow from the pitch. At it’s best the pitch always seem to show first signs of wearing down that East Stand side

 

Leaving the existing lower tier could work, and the building up/behind as you suggest could simply be a more-then-adequate media area. And sort the facilities - bogs / catering etc.

 

It's exactly because of those type of regulations that I detest the rules put in place. It amazes me that if Man City for instance drew Grimsby away in the FA cup that it would be fine. Just get on with it.

 

But that’s a one off.

and at lower tier grounds often requires the building of a temporary media area.

How much sense does it make to build a temporary area every home game?

And whether we like it or not, VAR and HDTV requires better lighting.

I’m intrigued that Dane also mentioned the playing surface, and no ones commented, despite it being discussed constantly this season.

 

True, but it has been discussed regularly and the concencus seems to be that we understand the club took a gamble on TLC rather than full re-lay due to the short turnaround between seasons. I don't think that will be repeated.

I think we can expect a re-lay, and I have to say Oakwell playing surface generally looks superb at August kick-off time. No reason to believe this year will be any different and i for one look forward to seeing it on MOTD

 

Top and bottom of it is, if we ever want to be a prem team (or even an established top 6 champ team) we have to sort out the ground as a whole. Yes there are 3 fairly modern stands but they look tired, the pitch and lighting need sorting and the media facilities are dire.

I know some folk reckon the west stand isn't a priority but as it stands it's just dead space that must cost a fortune in maintenance, plus it looks godawful and any prospective players who see that must think they've gone back in time.

For me it's an absolute priority.

 

Exactly. The first impression of anybody coming to the club is looking at the West Stand and thinking "jesus wept".

 

I totally disagree. I don't give a shiny s**** what opposition players think. Or the media who are getting paid to attend. The West Stand might be 'dead space' but it's only if we ever got promoted that we'd require a new stand to accomodate fans due to the demand. At which point there wouldn't be time anyway.

 

Short sighted.

 

You've also got to understand about the 'board issue' surrounding the ground ownership. Would you rent a terrace house and spend £20k on an extension?

As for a one off game I get that. We nearly went skint in the post Taylor report years. Then nearly 30 years later we still go to stadiums when we can stand up. It's crackers.

 

Why?

I'm guessing you'll be rallying all your friends up who don't go to home matches to fill up all the empty seats we have at every home match?

 

Empty seats in a modern stand that's fit for purpose are better than empty seats in a ramshackle stand that's a health hazard, eyesore and embarrassment.

 

I seem to recall (correct me if I'm wrong) the East Stand cost upwards of 5 million quid to build. That was early 90's.

We probably haven't spent anyway close to that in the last 2-3 years on players.

BBS circa 2023 "new West Stand rebuild is underway this season"

BBS circa 2024 "how come we''re not getting any box office signings in this transfer window?"

BBS circa 2025 "I'm not renewing my season ticket , can't believe the board have put the prices up again!"

 

No, and I’m not suggesting that we should either.

I think that if we went up, there’d be a list of ‘must do now’, ‘must do by end of season 2’ and ‘recommended’ issues.

And the pitch, lighting and infrastructure for cameras is in the 1st category, and a totally improved West stand is in the 3rd.

And if we don’t go up, we’ll still need to fix the pitch, and I’m guessing fixing the West stand is still part of the long term strategy whilst relying on the ownership being sorted to do that.

 

I'm not embarrased. 3/4 is modern.

When was the last time you can remember those been full?

 

One mans eyesore is another’s ‘shabby chic’.

but of course it has to also be fit for purpose, and clearly there’s work to be done.

 

But thats pure vanity. If we don't get promoted this season, how are we going to find £5m (or whatever it may be) to just be less embarrassed? Sell more players without replacing them? Borrowing that won't have a swift pay back.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the West Stand at all. But I'm more embarrassed with 200 away fans and a few flags in the North Stand with 5,800 seats we can't fill ourselves.