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Question The North Bank and your thoughts?

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Would have been needed and a success capacity wise if the team were playing well and pushing for promotion. Unfortunately the results haven't gone well enough to increase demand and financially the club have lost a good opportunity
 
Much rather be there than West stand. Smiffy's right, get away fans out of there. The noise generated against the walls of the away stand (what are they, toilets/burg stand/turnstiles?) project much better out to the pitch than the current blocks given to home fans. I want to walk through the car park to the North bank, straight from our Fan Zone. The scoreboard needs taking up a few feet, it blocks the opp goal up the back of the stand behind the goal.
Quite happy to go back to W block now, we did against Fylde, until we have a proper sort out.
Really impressed that the club want to hand it over to a singing section ie the Blue Voice. I see that as homage to the fellas that started the BV quite a few yrs ago in the West stand, after suffering in the morgue that was Roots Hall for years without home fans in the North.
Theyre doing the right thing here. People that dont give a **** about our vocal support and no doubt dont want to hear the drum, i'm sure love the sight of empty terracing in the North bank the last few home games.
I'm knocking on for 60 and still hate sitting down at games.
 
Holy Joe said:
But was it 900 TBV? The rest of the west is what - 5x the numbers as block w, but a tenth of the noise?
Click to expand...
The problem is, there is no such thing as 900 TBV. The W block holds what, 200? 300?

I don’t see how that 300 is going to turn into the 1,000 needed to generate the desired atmosphere in the North Bank.

On top of that, at least 80% of that 300 probably weren’t even born the last time the North Bank was a home end (excluding the other failed attempt during the Sturrock era). So they have no connection to it or any real reason to want to move over there. I’m not sure who this change is really aimed at, and the lack of take up over the last month reflects that.

It’s handy to have the North Bank operational again as overspill for busier games, and for bigger away crowds if we get back to the EFL. But in it’s current guise it just doesn’t work as the area for TBV. Opening up the X Block for TBV next season is the best option to improve the atmosphere in the short term.

As has already been suggested, the North Bank is only really worth revisiting if it is converted to safe standing and made into a proper home end.
 
Just sent the club's media response to my son and his half dozen mates who are around 20yrs old who do a lot of away games too and they all said theyd be happy with the NB if the club pushed it and made sure it was a singing section. They love a beer and some good atmosphere at games, thats why they love Southend, for the atmosphere. His Spurs mate has seen more Southend games this season and i often see him at away games. I mean i know Spurs have had a rough ride and we laugh at/with him about it, but better atmosphere at Roots Hall than Spurs with their massive stadia ?
I find it interesting what that age lads enjoy, theyre our future and will be suffering Southend long after ive gone. So i think its important to cater for them. Be interesting to hear from other people of all ages currently with the BV?
 
Ideally the North Bank needs redeveloping (possibly something similar to what @Sherif H shared from Bristol Rovers, the finished project as shown by @Smiffy here:

www.shrimperzone.com

SUFC: The Future - The regeneration of Roots Hall

I think @Sherif H mentioned the Bristol Rovers example on here previously and I thought their new stand looks like a similar size to the North Bank. One of the big challenges though will be that it seems we will need to totally knock down and rebuild the East Stand. As this is currently the...
www.shrimperzone.com www.shrimperzone.com

Possibly could include some modular hospitality for when the East Stand finally gets redeveloped.

If this was all accessed via the car park then the fanzone can be in there and the away fans enter the North End of the West Stand via the Fairfax Drive entrance.
 
In the circumstances, this is the best we can hope for and a great statement from the club. It says what many of us have been saying, which is that the current setup isn't working, but if you put a coordinated effort in to make it a singing section and move over TBV en masse it could be a success. They're probably right that the best time to achieve this will be at the end of the season rather than now. Hopefully the time between now and then can be used to plan it well so it is a successful trial!
 
I don't think we should consider making it so we shoot towards the north in the second half.

Only ever known that we shoot towards the south in the second half so don't want to see that change aswell.

Has to be give and take
 
North Banker said:
In the circumstances, this is the best we can hope for and a great statement from the club. It says what many of us have been saying, which is that the current setup isn't working, but if you put a coordinated effort in to make it a singing section and move over TBV en masse it could be a success. They're probably right that the best time to achieve this will be at the end of the season rather than now. Hopefully the time between now and then can be used to plan it well so it is a successful trial!
Click to expand...
The problem as i see it is that once TBV start anything off then V block etc moving along join in. You would need all of those to move over if you wished to make an impact and i just cannot see that happening atm.

TBV isnt just W block. Opening X would help but that cannot be done without taking away some of the family block seats due to HS capacity stands regulations.

As it stands we are only allowed a maximum of 85% population in any stand.
 
Last edited:
Smiffy said:
Not worth re-opening it until:

a) The away fans are housed elsewhere.
b) Either it's completely rebuilt as a new seated home-end, or ideally terracing or safe-standing has been implemented.
Click to expand...
Or we have demand for the added capacity
 
Shrimpergonzo said:
Ideally the North Bank needs redeveloping (possibly something similar to what @Sherif H shared from Bristol Rovers, the finished project as shown by @Smiffy here:

www.shrimperzone.com

SUFC: The Future - The regeneration of Roots Hall

I think @Sherif H mentioned the Bristol Rovers example on here previously and I thought their new stand looks like a similar size to the North Bank. One of the big challenges though will be that it seems we will need to totally knock down and rebuild the East Stand. As this is currently the...
www.shrimperzone.com www.shrimperzone.com

Possibly could include some modular hospitality for when the East Stand finally gets redeveloped.

If this was all accessed via the car park then the fanzone can be in there and the away fans enter the North End of the West Stand via the Fairfax Drive entrance.
Click to expand...
The Bristol example is more the sort of thing we're looking at for the NB, but a boy can dream... https://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/news/2...--wrexham-afc-reveal-design-of-new-kop-stand/
 
North Banker said:
In the circumstances, this is the best we can hope for and a great statement from the club. It says what many of us have been saying, which is that the current setup isn't working, but if you put a coordinated effort in to make it a singing section and move over TBV en masse it could be a success. They're probably right that the best time to achieve this will be at the end of the season rather than now. Hopefully the time between now and then can be used to plan it well so it is a successful trial!
Click to expand...
In the 1960's and early 1970's you could actually change ends at half time (only the East had seating), and you would pass any opposition supporters going the other way (we passed at the back of the West Stand). That way we would always have large support behind the opposition goal and into whichever end we were kicking. The North was by far the loudest and our favourite as the South was just high open terrace. I think we were spoiled!
 
Just had a call from the ticket office saying that they’re closing the NB for the rest of the season.

Apologies if this has already been posted.
 
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