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SoL To Undergo Multi-Million-Pound Investment Programme


DonaldDownTheWing said:
Aye, I really like the idea of creating a visually striking area for people arriving over the new bridge and past sheepfolds. I think in future we're going to see at least 50% of fans arriving that way. The stadium does suffer a bit visually from the way it was built digging down so the south and east stands look much smaller than they actually are, so anything to help would be great.
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This is probably just a pipe dream but I wonder if the South Stand roof could ever be tilted upwards from the back, so it’s on the same angle as the North roof but without the extension (as it’s not needed).

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This would give us more room to play with integrating something more imposing by having a bigger wall outside, like the West Stand exterior which looks class. Would look good if it was all brick with some feature(s) to it like the West Stand wall, or something potentially glass like Man United’s east stand exterior wall which is all glass.

Not sure how it would work inside like because without a proper extension with an upper section added you’d just have empty space. Extra boxes would take up some room, then maybe like a wall like that main stand at Coventry’s ground which could be used for artwork, permanent flags.
 
DonaldDownTheWing said:
Aye, they did start jetwashing the ground and then realised they were actually putting holes in it so wrapped in. I know they spent quite a bit on getting the roof support beams painted as they need a special rust protection paint on but obviously that's not immediately visible to the fans. The leaks from the roof are terrible really.

The entire stadium needs painting tbf. From the toilets, to the walls, the metal work in the stadium bowl, the markings on the steps up to the seats, the concourse floors etc. The whole place looks very tired and needs sprucing up.
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@chunksafc has made some great posts about the roof and supports in recent years. Seem to be in a poor state
 
DonaldDownTheWing said:
I disagree about the city mind. Yes the outlying areas need some work but every city in the country has rough areas. Our city centre is one of the fastest developing in the country, with fortunes being spent and its unrecognisable to 10 years ago
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My comment had absolutely nothing to do with the improved infrastructure or planning. It’s about attitudes, outlook and conditioning.
 
Mowgli said:
@chunksafc has made some great posts about the roof and supports in recent years. Seem to be in a poor state
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It's 25 plus years old, it's going to need some serious tlc / replacing in the next few years.

Edit. That's just from experience in the roofing and cladding industry and what's probably best described as patchy maintenance over the years by the club
 
Zimba said:
The problem is there's no money in it.

Spend £10m on an extension for some bars, depreciate it over 20 years, that's a £500k a year. That's another 250k pints (assuming a profit of £2 per pint) a season to just break even. The money isn't there.

Corporate is where the money is and it's where they've been spending it aswell; the new rumours bar in the club shop, rumours of Black Cat refurbishment, Quinns bar refurbishment etc.

All the rebuilds people keep bringing up are about increasing capacity, which we don't need, and if you're rebuilding a stand it makes no sense to build it to 90's standards.
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I don’t think that’s the case at all. The stadium could be redeveloped to increase corporate capacity whilst actually reducing overall capacity
 
Surely an outward expansion of the south and east would be the way forward first. This could create corporate areas within the stands and also allow for bigger concourses.

The foundations are then in place if they ever wanted to put a third tier on. Once they are complete then address the issues with north and west.
 
RedandWhiteRebel said:
The concourses were purposely built small for supporter welfare during the colder months. It encourages us to huddle together like penguins for warmth.

You might be able to get away with big wide open concourses down south where it is milder but not in Sunderland. Well done Bob.
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Planned everything to precission Berb, even a nicely timed relagation a few months before opening.
 
Oily Oily Oily said:
Surely an outward expansion of the south and east would be the way forward first. This could create corporate areas within the stands and also allow for bigger concourses.

The foundations are then in place if they ever wanted to put a third tier on. Once they are complete then address the issues with north and west.
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That’s probably the biggest factor (other than money) that needs considering. They’d not want to do anything that would effect the ability to do any future extensions.
 
The Great Soprendo said:
And let's be honest, even if we were building a new stadium now it still wouldn't be comparable to any of the top stadia in the country like Spurs who have benefitted from uninterrupted decades in the top flight and the investment that can be drawn in for being an established financially successful club with enormous corporate income pretty much guaranteed. Given our circumstances over the last 70 years, we did very well to get the SoL and it still stands up as a good stadium to watch football in, despite the shortcomings we are all aware of.
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Zimba said:
Aye no arguments, I meant the examples like Nott. Forest, Everton etc. If they didn't need more seats, I'd doubt any of them would be looking at new stadiums tbh.
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How far would you go in reducing the number of seats?Back to 42000?Were a second tier club and our crowds go from 36to 44000 thousand ..reducing the capacity by more than a few hundred would be bonkers!
 
Mackemansj1 said:
It isn’t like it can be very sketchy at times when it’s absolutely rammed. Like others have said it’s old now and didn’t need to be built like that and it’s not been touched since it opened. I posted ages ago we took my cousins kid to the preseason friendly the other year went down for chips and it was literally a crush down there. He got scared and we had to leave. Granted that was because it was one stand open but there’s been times it’s been like that in league games. People hang around the bar/toilet areas and it causes cramming. I just don’t bother anymore it’s not worth the chew on for shite drinks with kids that get overwhelmed behind the bar etc. whole thing needs to be revamped.
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You’re doing the right thing mate, stay in the stands and it’s one less person for me in the queue 👍🤣🤣🤣
 
DonaldDownTheWing said:
A reduction to 45k would be fine I think. We rarely get above that.
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That makes complete sense if we were to always stay in the championship!Im not saying expand but to deliberately reduce the capacity to 45000 just to satisfy the sad souls who have a fear of empty seats makes no financial sense ..the seats are paid for and you would be reducing the possibility of extra income !Businesses need to plan for growth or stagnate and your thinking is small minded and makes no financial sense!
 
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