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SOL expansion

Hank Scorpio said:
Although away fans are hosted in the upper tier at both the SOL and SJP, we are in a very different situation mate.

The mags ultimately didn’t have the entire security of their away enclosure fail like ours did against Coventry. It’s easy to forget now but at half time, the club were sacking stewards as things were out of control. The police were even being stopped accessing the stand by Coventry fans. It was a total shitshow.

Unfortunately even after that day, we continued to give tinpot clubs big allocations, so their fans could have a big day out and we could cash in a bit. Sadly this meant there was still issues with objects being chucked.

By the time we got promoted back to the championship, SAG had put us on warning.
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Fair, I don't know the ins and outs of it evidently haha. I still think the risk is low in the PL but if their hands are tied and they can't open up those blocks, then they have to look at moving them downstairs next season imo
 

Hot Since 82 said:
As things stand I would expect the club to try and keep the away fans exactly where they are. The South Stand extension will be the priority, probably for the reason you mention coupled with external pressures. I'd also expect more hospitality seating, as you say likely to be exec boxes extending around. Eventually the sag enforced issue will pass and those seats in the north upper will be filled again.

Demand is there right now to sell out an extended south stand. KLD is very ambitious and wants the club playing in Europe asap, maybe if we can consolidate and push and build the demand further then the East stand will follow. I was told he wants to build a large music and conference type venue on Sheepfolds (and get it done and running before the Gateshead one which appears to be totally stalled again). This is apparently why the council are trying to force his hand to see actions to the words.

Check out what happened in the summer to understand KLDs ambitions for Safc.
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theres no available physical site within the sheepfolds this could go, every available space is taken up by the council housing plans
 
Hot Since 82 said:
As things stand I would expect the club to try and keep the away fans exactly where they are. The South Stand extension will be the priority, probably for the reason you mention coupled with external pressures. I'd also expect more hospitality seating, as you say likely to be exec boxes extending around. Eventually the sag enforced issue will pass and those seats in the north upper will be filled again.

Demand is there right now to sell out an extended south stand. KLD is very ambitious and wants the club playing in Europe asap, maybe if we can consolidate and push and build the demand further then the East stand will follow. I was told he wants to build a large music and conference type venue on Sheepfolds (and get it done and running before the Gateshead one which appears to be totally stalled again). This is apparently why the council are trying to force his hand to see actions to the words.

Check out what happened in the summer to understand KLDs ambitions for Safc.
Click to expand...
Ambition is fine and very much welcome. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking we've been banging on the door for an extension for years, we haven't. We'd look very silly adding say 10k seats to a ground which we probably wouldn't fill unless doing exceptionally well.
 
Disco_Pants93 said:
Ambition is fine and very much welcome. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking we've been banging on the door for an extension for years, we haven't. We'd look very silly adding say 10k seats to a ground which we probably wouldn't fill unless doing exceptionally well.
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We would definitely sell 10k extra this season . The challenge is next season when the novelty will wear off for some . Presumably we stay in top flight
 
Weststand said:
theres no available physical site within the sheepfolds this could go, every available space is taken up by the council housing plans
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Unless of course the developers are sensing some headwinds in getting a housing development done and are considering / testing the potential development of an entertainment quarter.
Just for clarity I have no knowledge on these matters and the above is just the musings of a senile old codger
 
Disco_Pants93 said:
Staggers me how people genuinely believe we need the stadium expanding. We need years of it selling out to even consider it.
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I'm on the cautious side of expanding but don't think its ridiculous. I'd say give it 3 years first. Tweak ticket prices as needed while preserving the concession structure to test demand.
 
Hot Since 82 said:
That's the point I think those plans will go if the venue plan is submitted and actioned, it would be fantastic for the city economically, even the council understands that.
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aye all sounds good but theres £40mill+ already been given to the council from the govt for housing in the sheepfolds...its the council priority to get people living in and around the city for the economy to grow...This is earmarked for 600 houses - pretty sure this will go ahead
 
Disco_Pants93 said:
Ambition is fine and very much welcome. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking we've been banging on the door for an extension for years, we haven't. We'd look very silly adding say 10k seats to a ground which we probably wouldn't fill unless doing exceptionally well.
Click to expand...

The 3,000 tickets for Saturday sold out in 8 minutes. A 5K south stand extension would sell out. Just being in the PL and competing does that. Football is more popular than ever now. The trajectory of Safc since KLDs arrival reflects his ambition. Thankfully he's got bags of it as well as access to resources. What happened prior to his involvement is irrelevant to him. He did however see over 55,000 Safc fans attend a league one game so he knows what's possible with an ambitious project on Wearside.
 
Hot Since 82 said:
As things stand I would expect the club to try and keep the away fans exactly where they are. The South Stand extension will be the priority, probably for the reason you mention coupled with external pressures. I'd also expect more hospitality seating, as you say likely to be exec boxes extending around. Eventually the sag enforced issue will pass and those seats in the north upper will be filled again.

Demand is there right now to sell out an extended south stand. KLD is very ambitious and wants the club playing in Europe asap, maybe if we can consolidate and push and build the demand further then the East stand will follow. I was told he wants to build a large music and conference type venue on Sheepfolds (and get it done and running before the Gateshead one which appears to be totally stalled again). This is apparently why the council are trying to force his hand to see actions to the words.

Check out what happened in the summer to understand KLDs ambitions for Safc.
Click to expand...

I did notice KLD was part of the official opening of the new bridge on Saturday.

A good sign he is very much involved with with developments around the SOL and hopefully on good terms with the council.
 
Hot Since 82 said:
The 3,000 tickets for Saturday sold out in 8 minutes. A 5K south stand extension would sell out. Just being in the PL and competing does that. Football is more popular than ever now. The trajectory of Safc since KLDs arrival reflects his ambition. Thankfully he's got bags of it as well as access to resources. What happened prior to his involvement is irrelevant to him. He did however see over 55,000 Safc fans attend a league one game so he knows what's possible with an ambitious project on Wearside.
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But in real terms, the stadium wasn’t full on Saturday. People don’t have a way to resell tickets. A day out at Wembley attracts absolutely everyone but it’s not quite the same for league games. Once the stadium is sold out without a seat to spare we can consider it but I think we’re a way off that. We need years of stability in this league first imo.
Wrenthorpe Mackem said:
I'm on the cautious side of expanding but don't think its ridiculous. I'd say give it 3 years first. Tweak ticket prices as needed while preserving the concession structure to test demand.
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That's what I'm meaning. First thing's first we need to stay in this division before we consider anything of the sort.
Its Him Again said:
We would definitely sell 10k extra this season . The challenge is next season when the novelty will wear off for some . Presumably we stay in top flight
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I wouldn't like to put a bet on that personally. 3/4k maybe but definitely not 10k imo.
 
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I think we'd sell another 5K to 10K. 10K for the big boys. Perhaps even more. So adding another 5000 seats seems eminently reasonable. The club will hopefully do this but we must see what happens in next 3 years first. Is this a huge novelty factor right now? I don't think so but we're in uncharted territory. Last time anything like this was under Reid and that went tits up. To be clear I am confident with current owners and changes in the whole structure and management of the club it would not happen again. My point is give it 3 years.
 
Hot Since 82 said:
That's the point I think those plans will go if the venue plan is submitted and actioned, it would be fantastic for the city economically, even the council understands that.
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He doesn't own any of the land , the council own it all

I have my doubts over this , as if KLD was keen to acquire that land he would have tried already
 
No point waiting too long we need to strike while the iron is hot and take advantage of the current mood around the football club & city. Especially since the Saudis are dragging their feet.

Get the stadium and Sheepfolds developed so they compliment each other. An arena would be fantastic but so would extra housing aslong as it does not hinder the SOL.

The potential for development is there i hope they get on with it.
 
RedandWhiteRebel said:
No point waiting too long we need to strike while the iron is hot and take advantage of the current mood around the football club & city. Especially since the Saudis are dragging their feet.

Get the stadium and Sheepfolds developed so they compliment each other. An arena would be fantastic but so would extra housing aslong as it does not hinder the SOL.

The potential for development is there i hope they get on with it.
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Current mood and a feel good factor isn't a sound reason to expand. Clear progression and stability in this league and consistent sell outs over more than one season is
 
How come it's a 5,000 expansion yet will probably be bigger than the North Stand which was 7,000 seats when complete.
Are they going to do more premium experiences?
 
Neebosh said:
How come it's a 5,000 expansion yet will probably be bigger than the North Stand which was 7,000 seats when complete.
Are they going to do more premium experiences?
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Wider more comfortable seats, extra legroom and 23 rows instead of 27. Thats my conclusion until i see official seating deck plans.
 
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