CEO Forum Thursday March 13th.

[Holy Joe]

Unless it's done so that, eventually, the pitch is moved 10m that way to make more room for a new west stand.

I think they dismissed that as it would mean new north and south also needed, unless those stands remain but off centre

 

[Holy Joe]

Have they thought about rotating the pitch 90 degrees

 

[Liam AAS]

This is a very good point and the sort of thing that gets snuck in and is permanent.

What if the stand was built back from the pitch, allowing everything to be moved backwards later to allow for further ground expansion?

 

[londonblue]

I think they dismissed that as it would mean new north and south also needed, unless those stands remain but off centre

Agreed, but a new North bank would be nice. I guess that would increase costs considerably though.

 

[Cricko]

Have they thought about rotating the pitch 90 degrees

I can't understand why that has never been mentioned before.

 

[londonblue]

I can't understand why that has never been mentioned before.

I know we've discussed this ad nauseum in the past, but i still think rotating the pitch 180° is better. That way we can shoot towards a newly developed north stand in the 2nd half.

 

[rigsby]

I think they dismissed that as it would mean new north and south also needed, unless those stands remain but off centre

The NE and SE corners could do with some development….. Both the North and South don’t have a central area as such. So don’t see why the pitch can’t move 10 yds to the East.

 

[Liam AAS]

The NE and SE corners could do with some development….. Both the North and South don’t have a central area as such. So don’t see why the pitch can’t move 10 yds to the East.

There is lots of space behind the North and East stand. Both could be rebuilt and set back 20m from the pitch to allow for additional redevelopment of the South & West. It's a risky idea because it would essentially mean an entire rebuild but it's possible.

 

[rigsby]

There is lots of space behind the North and East stand. Both could be rebuilt and set back 20m from the pitch to allow for additional redevelopment of the South & West. It's a risky idea because it would essentially mean an entire rebuild but it's possible.

Yes I would prefer a larger safe standing North. To overcome the loss of seats when the East gets rebuilt they could do that first. Plus and add a NE corner, ready to connect to the new East.

Could even do the SE corner with plenty of facilities and access via Roots hall ave…..Ready for the increase of away fans once we are back in the EFL

 

[Strykr]

What if the stand was built back from the pitch, allowing everything to be moved backwards later to allow for further ground expansion?

Long term it makes sense to me in terms of maybe demolishing each other stand over several years and making them all better/larger capacity. Depends on the long term plan really.

 

[Avl1983]

For me Hooly the ironic thing about the South is it would do a job as the Away end, similarities to Bradford City (pic). Obviously currently the access doesn't lend itself fit for purpose, although post new East Stand and what infrastructure is in place then, I wonder if it could become a more logistical possibility.

View attachment 35981

Would it not be possible to somehow grant access to the South stand from the West stand current entrance on Shakespeare Drive? I’m not sure how far down the stand the entrance is. If it is possible, you could arrange access to the West from the North West corner potentially and make the away fans go down Shakespeare Drive.

I have a feeling it’s not feasible but if it was it would allow the away fans into the south which would be a better solution.

 

[bazzashrimper]

I know we've discussed this ad nauseum in the past, but i still think rotating the pitch 180° is better. That way we can shoot towards a newly developed north stand in the 2nd half.

Or we could do a 360 degree turn and play at fossetts

 

[Crowstone Crevette]

Would it not be possible to somehow grant access to the South stand from the West stand current entrance on Shakespeare Drive? I’m not sure how far down the stand the entrance is. If it is possible, you could arrange access to the West from the North West corner potentially and make the away fans go down Shakespeare Drive.

I have a feeling it’s not feasible but if it was it would allow the away fans into the south which would be a better solution.

@Avl1983 Anything's possible if you're prepared to throw enough money at it. However I would imagine it's not a practical option. The entrance to the west stand is approximately halfway along the southern half of the Roots Hall pitch. And bringing everyone in to the West Stand from the North Bank end, I would have thought, would cause major congestion.

 

[Supershrimper]

Would it not be possible to somehow grant access to the South stand from the West stand current entrance on Shakespeare Drive? I’m not sure how far down the stand the entrance is. If it is possible, you could arrange access to the West from the North West corner potentially and make the away fans go down Shakespeare Drive.

I have a feeling it’s not feasible but if it was it would allow the away fans into the south which would be a better solution.

Away fans could access the south standing if made available to them from Roots Hall drive. Where Ron used to store the astro turf until it caught fire in mysterious insurance related circumstances

 

[BEERMONSTER]

Away fans could access the south standing if made available to them from Roots Hall drive. Where Ron used to store the astro turf until it caught fire in mysterious insurance related circumstances

Most things are possible if the expenditure is considered viable which wouldn't really be the case in the here and now. That's why it would realistically have to 'piggy back' off the new East Stand if that development offered an opportunity to but an access via that Roots Hall Avenue South East corner, which I agree would be the logical access point, but again would still need to meet the criteria of being a viable expenditure.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I think the rebuilding of the East is not just about the amount of fans they can get in there, it is about how much space they can create for all the other revenues of income they need

Exactly this.

Tom's mentioned before about some temporary seating when the East is demolished, so there must be some intention to move it slightly.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Was any mention made of what capacity we are looking for long term? You only have to look at the current average attendances in the championship and L1 to see that the minimum should be 15 to 17k to even compete at those levels. Our area can certainly support it ,and if you take the West Ham example of an average of 38k becoming 60k shows that given the right success on the pitch we could get to those 15k plus gates

 

[stewart]

I believe Tom said they was looking at going away preseason for a friendly etc,some what like they did preseason this time , Just looking at some beautiful grounds in the Faroe Isles , reckon the players and management would enjoy preseason training and some friendlies there, some really scenic grounds and look in good order too . Just a thought.

 

[stewart]

Was any mention made of what capacity we are looking for long term? You only have to look at the current average attendances in the championship and L1 to see that the minimum should be 15 to 17k to even compete at those levels. Our area can certainly support it ,and if you take the West Ham example of an average of 38k becoming 60k shows that given the right success on the pitch we could get to those 15k plus gates

Ive always thought given a good team and management playing attractive football we are capable of crowds in excess of 20k.And i stand by that ,first talked about it way back in the 60s. Yes we would need a ground capable of holding that many i know, We did have when it was standing as proven by the crowd when we played Man City way back in my rugrat years

 

[Dave Smiths Love Child]

Ive always thought given a good team and management playing attractive football we are capable of crowds in excess of 20k.And i stand by that ,first talked about it way back in the 60s. Yes we would need a ground capable of holding that many i know, We did have when it was standing as proven by the crowd when we played Man City way back in my rugrat years

That game you mention was when Man City brought down thousands of fans, I was working in Tilbury and a guy I worked with was City and told me to expect thousands he wasn’t wrong
If memory serves me we were 3-0 down , came back to 3-2 and Roget missed a sitter of a header to get an unlikely draw,
Think crowd was around 9,000 atmosphere was incredible