[Albion] Ground extensions - that old chestnut!

[southstandandy]

I know this has been brought up in the past and has often been quietly dismissed by the club, BUT now that we're riding the crest of a wave both on the pitch and financially off it, is it worth seriously considering whether the North and South stands could have second tiers put on them?

Logistically a lot of work would need to be done re-alining the roof sections but surely some decent architect could design it so that this was possible?

I just think with ever increasing demand for tickets (you only have to see that there are people willing to pay top dollar even for the Tunnel Club) for this as well as most clubs always selling their away ticket allocation when visiting, and with our income stream in a very healthy state then as a 'progressive' club, maybe now is the time to consider some small but considerable expansion. If another 4000 seats at either end could be established bringing capacity nearer to 40k then should we not be looking at this option now?

Strike while the irons hot, or not?

 

[gullshark]

I think the fact you have to pull the entire roof off to add another tier makes it a non starter... but I always wondered if we could have a shelf at the back of the north stand.

 

[Is it PotG?]

I'm no engineer, but that looks impossible without basically scrapping the whole stadium first.

 

[Muzzman]

It is physically impossible, you can't mess with the structure of the roof, any improvement has to be contained within what we have right now. It's full to capacity, unless you want to scrap the 1901 for more seats in the West, or get rid of the brassiere in the East.

 

[brighton_tom]

Who knows whether it’s logistically even doable, but it must be on Tony’s mind to build on this position if strength. He must be thinking about how we could take Brighton to the next level, & part of that could be an investigating into if a stadium expansion is possible. It might not be, but if somehow you could get the Amex up to say 37k or upwards, it takes us substantially away from being in line with the Southampton/Fulham/palace’s of the sport (in terms of stadium size) and more in line with Everton & Villa. Given the engineering of the roof all that might not be possible, but what might be is to continue the west middle tier around over the north & south stand, and replicate the south east box in the north east corner. That could take us to nearer 35k.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Seem to recall there was some mocks ups shared for extending the North by utilising some of the office space above the concourse.
Think it was only 1500 extra seats or so.

Would be great if they could

 

[Napper]

I reckon 32k is perfect for us

 

[Mr Bridger]

Easy.

 

[Brok]

Easy.

View attachment 166755

Or...

 

[Coldeanseagull]

There's all that space in the middle, just get rid of that bit of grass.........

 

[tronnogull]

Given that there are still a handfull of tickets available for tonight's game it seems that the current capacity is about right.........maybe sufficient demand to justify perhaps 2500 greater capacity.

 

[trueblue]

It is physically impossible, you can't mess with the structure of the roof, any improvement has to be contained within what we have right now. It's full to capacity, unless you want to scrap the 1901 for more seats in the West, or get rid of the brassiere in the East.

I'm all for getting rid of brassieres.

 

[Muzzman]

I'm all for getting rid of brassieres.

Oops..

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Unsafe standing could double the capacity.

 

[Husty]

I really don’t see any reason you can’t take out the office etc behind the north stand and just extend the stand back into that space. Maybe generate another 10 rows or so? Maybe not financially worth it but can you put a price on additional backing for the team coming from the north?

The club argument we always hear these comments about the exits and the concourse not being big enough - no reason these couldn’t also be expanded out backwards though they don’t need to fit within the existing building structure? There is nothing stopping the exits being doubled in size is there?

 

[Live by the sea]

I know this has been brought up in the past and has often been quietly dismissed by the club, BUT now that we're riding the crest of a wave both on the pitch and financially off it, is it worth seriously considering whether the North and South stands could have second tiers put on them?

Logistically a lot of work would need to be done re-alining the roof sections but surely some decent architect could design it so that this was possible?

I just think with ever increasing demand for tickets (you only have to see that there are people willing to pay top dollar even for the Tunnel Club) for this as well as most clubs always selling their away ticket allocation when visiting, and with our income stream in a very healthy state then as a 'progressive' club, maybe now is the time to consider some small but considerable expansion. If another 4000 seats at either end could be established bringing capacity nearer to 40k then should we not be looking at this option now?

Strike while the irons hot, or not?

I’m pretty sure PB has gone on record in the last couple of years saying it’s not possible to increase capacity .

 

[Greavsey]

Surely as the sale of Caicedo was enough to have paid for the build of the Amex and the training ground, when we sell Ferguson for £200m we can just go and build a bigger ground somewhere else??

Perhaps Gillingham...

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I reckon 32k is perfect for us

This. Paul Barber has already publically said that the option remains top add a few hundred more seats dotted around the stadium, but the club has no intention of making any structual changes so thousands more could be added.

Basically what we have now will remain much the same for the years to come.

 

[el punal]

I think the fact you have to pull the entire roof off to add another tier makes it a non starter... but I always wondered if we could have a shelf at the back of the north stand.

Ikea’s the place for that, shouldn’t cost Tony too much coin.

 

[Vin]

Give the ground to the women’s team and build a new 45k seater stadium that’s easy to get in and out