What is the optiumum size for an Albion stadium?

[perseus]

What is the optiumum size for an Albion stadium?

Question: if we ever got to the Premiership, would Falmer be big enough?

It might be. The prices will go up and the gates will go down.

If the bankers are in charge

£30 x 15,000 = £450,000
£15 x 30,000 = £450,000
£20 x 22,500 = £450,000

My feeling is that the Albion bankers feel that Falmer would be big enough and that they only have aspirations of being a Championship club (unlike Bolton and Middlesbrough with bigger grounds). They may be right. Football may slump back to the low attendances of the late seventies and eighties and 22,500 will be enough?

What attendances would Albion get?

Goldstone (since 1960):

Old Division One, average 18,000 to 22,000 (at a time when attendances were at least 20% lower than today) = 21,600 to 26,400 (today)

Old Division Two = average 14,000 to 26,000 (when attendances for the lower divisions were a bit lower)

Old Division Three: average about 8,000 to 20,000

Old Division Four: average about 6,000 to 17,000.

In unsuccessful seasons, the gates were at the lower end of the scale. The average for the Goldstone for all years was 10,500.

Myself, I would be inclined to favour a stadium of about 28,000 (with options to increase the size to 36,748. But then I am a romantic not a banker.

A banker would just up the prices to get in of the stadium got full up. But when has football been about the bank balance?

 

[Uncle Buck]

If and only if we did something silly like get promoted to the Premiership, then what is the scope for filling the corners in etc? I am guessing it is much easier to make changes once you are there (like the extra 1000 seats we put in at Withdean, compared with the hassle we had getting there in the first place). However with Falmer, will there be a problem as we seem to be trying to squeeze a large(ish) ground into a fairly small site?

 

[Publius Ovidius]

I dont know Mr Andy ( I am going to make sure Falmer never goes ahead as I am on one big f***ing ego trip) Horton.

Every post you do is done to give the NIMBY's more ammunition.

Some of us have very long memories

 

[Titanic]

Dave... Let it go - it definitely isn't worth it.

 

[brighton rock]

£25x23000 means awell balanced football club ready to compete in the championship

 

[CHAPPERS]

About so big...

 

[Marc]

This is IDEAL for the North Stand:

Infact just move BHA to Old Barn Way

 

[JJ McClure]

About so big...

Yes that looks about right. One of those please Mr DPM.

 

[Lammy]

I think 30,000 would be the right size. But since we are currently playing in a 'ground' of less than 7,000 I would happily accept the limitations of 22,500!

 

[The Large One]

Someone tell Horton to f*** off. I can't be bothered to waste my breath on the maggot.

Dave: over to you...

 

[southwickseagull]

Oh f***! Is that **** percy back again. Why dont You just crawl back into Your hole, You twat.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

It always has been and always will be 28,000. Any more is optimistic, any less is pathetically underselling this club's potential (see 'Falmer')

 

[Harry Lime]

Our opponents are trying to say we dont need 22,000 seats, we cant afford to build it and the site at Falmer isnt big enough for a stadium of that size. Untrue on all 3 counts but, given the choice is really between Withdean (hopeless) and Falmer, it isnt very helpful at the moment to suggest a bigger stadium than 22,000.

 

[beorhthelm]

What attendances would Albion get? Ok thats a valid question.

Well, its simple enough to look at what other similar size club get (the figures for 10, 15, 20 years ago are meaningless unless compared to other teams at the same level at the time).

Watford, solid championship club get 13-18K. Burnley, capacity 22K, attendances around 11K. Millwall managed 17K for the Liverpool game, and 15K against West Ham. Reading typically gets mid teens too. The likes of Crewe, Gillingham and Rotherham struggle to get 10K.

So a bit of basic research, and you have your answer - 22000 is fine for now and the future.

 

[Titanic]

And please PERCY - this is not an excuse to rehearse your very dull and wildly speculative 'research' into catchment areas and fan base potential.

Falmer seating 22000 will be FANtastic - if it's full then great, if it's full week after week, then even greater!! And we can investigate the option then - but for now 22k seats, with a decent view, under cover, with bars and shops sounds like HEAVEN to me

 

[WATFORD O]

15K top whack. Youll average 8k.

 

[3gulls]

What attendances would Albion get? Ok thats a valid question.

Well, its simple enough to look at what other similar size club get (the figures for 10, 15, 20 years ago are meaningless unless compared to other teams at the same level at the time).

Watford, solid championship club get 13-18K. Burnley, capacity 22K, attendances around 11K. Millwall managed 17K for the Liverpool game, and 15K against West Ham. Reading typically gets mid teens too. The likes of Crewe, Gillingham and Rotherham struggle to get 10K.

So a bit of basic research, and you have your answer - 22000 is fine for now and the future.

Try:-
30000 to Div 2 play-offs.
40000 to Old Div 2 play-offs.

If we get the team and ground, the fans will come.

Millwall fans can't/won't get their memberships so their client base is very limited. Watford have never enjoyed our fan base, Burnley are a yesterday club. Crewe, Gillingham and Rotherham are two-bit clubs.

Why not quote Leicester, Ipswich, Norwich, Saints, Palarse, etc. ?They are a similar sized club to us. Or how we used to be!

 

[Gully]

3gulls makes a valid point in relation to club size, I would put us exactly within the group that he has listed, the fact that we have played the majority of them on a regular basis since I have followed the Albion suggests that their history isn't much different to our own.

As for ground size, I think we are flattering ourselves somewhat if we think that we could fill a 30k stadium week in week out, we might push it for a big cup game or a fixture against Palace/Pompey or Saints but that is about it, I do however think that 25k would be round about ideal.

 

[Lammy]

3gulls makes a valid point in relation to club size, I would put us exactly within the group that he has listed, the fact that we have played the majority of them on a regular basis since I have followed the Albion suggests that their history isn't much different to our own.

As for ground size, I think we are flattering ourselves somewhat if we think that we could fill a 30k stadium week in week out, we might push it for a big cup game or a fixture against Palace/Pompey or Saints but that is about it, I do however think that 25k would be round about ideal.

If Saints can fill 30,000 in the Prem then we could easily. For div 1 *aham* the championship we could get about 15,000.

WHEN Saints go down and they are suffering mid table obscurity in the Championship for a couple of seasons see what they're attendances are like!

Take a look at Sunderland!!!

 

[perseus]

I think it is taken for granted that we have a potential (whether realised or not) comparable at least to cities of similar size.

What is probably more pertinent is the results and style of football, but in the long term: will the current football boom be maintained?

Will Bolton, Derby, Southampton, Blackburn, Reading, etc., find they have built too large stadia and end up playing before a TV audience with rows of empty seats?

Will the ordinary working class supporter be priced out and the small stadium with high-priced seats be what the bankers want?

So either of two things could happen, all the clubs that have invested in large stadia find out that they cannot fill them in the future. Or the clubs with smaller stadia find that they are too small?

What do you think?

I go for a larger stadium where the clubs can reduce the prices if they cannot be filled, rather than the smaller stadium where the clubs will increase the prices if the demand is greater than the number of seats.

PS: Southampton can still fill their ground every game now. Even against Bolton.