[Albion] Perfect stadium size

[RandyWanger]

A bigger North stand would be nice.

 

[schmunk]

We should give some thought to a larger capacity ......................










.....just as soon as we've won a few Premier League titles and some domestic and European trophies

Until then, what we have is perfect

Didn't stop Spurs...

 

[Baldseagull]

If every game was 3pm Saturday, we would be able to sell more seats. It would be nice to have a little more capacity, but probably only need it for 6 or 7 games in the PL, maybe another couple if we get good home cup draws.
With a drop down to the championship, depending on how we were doing, we might see an increase in demand, no dodgy stream option, winning more often, less tourists and better atmosphere, more 3pm Saturdays.

 

[Simster]

But it's not reflected in our attendances even now, is it? Even over the last two seasons, there are plenty of empty seats for most games.

I mean, we are at home to one of the 'biggest' clubs in the world on Saturday, and there are still hundreds of tickets for sale in the exchange.

Alternatively it went to the exchange ages ago because it was a sell out, there are only so many seats available because it's still holiday season, tickets are not actually on general sale yet, and in any case we're still days away from what is a televised early kick off.

 

[Baldseagull]

But it's not reflected in our attendances even now, is it? Even over the last two seasons, there are plenty of empty seats for most games.

I mean, we are at home to one of the 'biggest' clubs in the world on Saturday, and there are still hundreds of tickets for sale in the exchange.

Lots of families on holiday, or skint after going on holiday. I have not checked, but I bet most exchange tickets are in the East.

 

[Comrade Sam]

Couldn't everyone have someone on their lap, like the front seat of a car in the '70s. We could squeeze 64,000 in then!

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

45,000 stadium please, built just after we extend the station and have a proper match day shuttle

 

[Shaktarman]

Completely depends on the match and cost of tickets. If it was Liverpool and £1 we’d probably get 200,000

 

[el punal]

We would still have the transport issues if we stayed at the Amex.

Transport issues at the Amex? Yes, certainly with trains on an evening game but not too bad for Saturday afternoon matches. P&R buses can be hit or miss on waiting times - again for midweek evening games. Bear in mind travel is free with a match ticket which is not the case elsewhere.

Compare all that with other PL clubs. My experiences:

Aston Villa - waiting for 30 minutes at Witton to go to Birmingham New Street.
Spurs - the horrible walk and wait at Northumberland Park.
Chelsea - easy peasy, Fulham Broadway or short walk to Earls Court tube.
Arsenal - not too bad, shortish queue at Arsenal tube or walk to Finsbury Park for tube and National Rail.
West Ham - a bit of a schlep to Stratford station but then loads of trains available in all directions.
Fulham - twenty minute stroll through Bishops Park then up to Putney Station.
Brentford - absolutely weird route to/from away end through a labyrinth of office blocks and flats to then try and access Kew Bridge station.
Liverpool/Everton - get your hiking boots and be prepared for the long trek back to Lime Street station. If you‘re lucky you can catch a football special bus £2.00 one way or get a Merseyrail train from Kirkdale or Sandhills - still a long walk.
Newcastle - the best! City centre stadium within spitting distance of Newcastle station.
Nottingham Forest - not bad, twenty minutes from station.
Southampton/Bournemouth - the same as Forest distance wise, respectively Southampton Central and Pokesdown stations.
Leicester and Ipswich - can’t comment.
Crystal Palace

 

[Anger]

 

[jonny.rainbow]

We need to build the monorail down to the Marina first and then extend Volk’s Railway to link it up to Central Brighton.

 

[kevo]

There's nothing more depressing than having a half-empty stadium.

As I understand it, the Amex is not built for expansion, so it would be extremely costly to make any structural changes.

The only way the club would even ever entertain the idea is if we were selling out week in, week out (which we currently aren't) and had established ourselves over several seasons as a leading contender in the EPL with Champions League qualification etc.

 

[Gazwag]

45,000 stadium please, built just after we extend the station and have a proper match day shuttle

Extending the station would be easy, but you couldn't run any longer trains than 8 carriages due to the signaling/points at Lewes, and that's without getting extra 8 car trains into the timetable

 

[Coldeanseagull]

The only things needed are the west stand water slide and a monorail. Everything else is irrelevant.

Don't forget the hotel, it's a long walk from Coldean!

 

[chaileyjem]

For my money 30k ish is just about the perfect staduim size for a club such as ours, yes at the moment whilst we are rikding high on the crest of a wave, it can be difficult finding a seat for some games, but lets not kid ourselves, the moment we rare elegated, (and it will happen sooner or later), those attendances weill probably start to drop away fsairly sharply. Is there anything worse than playing games in a half empty stadium?

If we were relegated i still think attendances would hold up. They would have to be careful about pricing etc - but Attendances are strong throughout football and relegated clubs in the Champ have held up pretty well in recent years - Norwich, Southampton , Leeds.
Our crowds in the Champ - on the way up - were always well above average anyway.

 

[Simster]

If we were relegated i still think attendances would hold up. They would have to be careful about pricing etc - but Attendances are strong throughout football and relegated clubs in the Champ have held up pretty well in recent years - Norwich, Southampton , Leeds.
Our crowds in the Champ - on the way up - were always well above average anyway.

Yep, I'd think we would need to see at least 3 seasons of disenchantment in the Championship before crowds dropped off below 25k.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Anyone remember that broadsheet-sized Albion dedicated newspaper than ran for a brief time in the 90s? One edition featured an artist's impression of a future stadium, very nice it looked too. Not sure if it was the once-mooted Palace share stadium or not. Anyone upload a pic?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yep, I'd think we would need to see at least 3 seasons of disenchantment in the Championship before crowds dropped off below 25k.

Doubt it. Football customers are fickle. And Insta-fans more so. Reckon we'd be back to the original 15k core fanbase within a season

 

[schmunk]

As I understand it, the Amex is not built for expansion, so it would be extremely costly to make any structural changes.

Essentially impossible without a full rebuild, as the main arches are stressed with significant tension, meaning that as soon as you start fannying around with them...

 

[Mustafa II]

I'd be surprised if a club like ours isn't already looking at our options how to build a 60,000 seater stadium in or around the city.

Suspect the best option is building on the existing site somehow, with major improvements to Falmer stadium, and possibly a monorail along the A270 Lewes Road into town.