City to expand Etihad to 62,000?

[OB1]

That’s a decent shout. I walk up by the canal from Piccadilly and then fork off up by the Ashton New Road. It’s a nice walk and the bit up by the lock keeper’s cottage could easily be boosted with one or two mobile outlets. They need a dedicated tram route for that stretch from New Islington towards the ground though

We have an arrangement for parking very close to the ground and have always traveled by car, expect on a few occasions so I have walked up from Piccadilly a few times and establishing a "dedicated", well maintained walking route along the canal sounds like a good idea. I'm sure the club's owner could fund a Sheikh Mansour Walk / Way.

 

[Corky]

The u25 ticket thing is good if there is low demand, otherwise there would need to be a Logan's Run policy.

 

[kev20971]

A fleet of electric mcfc branded bendy buses to and from town on match days would be a good idea.

The club could get a sponsor to sponsor them, that would go some way to paying for them. And the club could charge £1 each way.

The buses could be parked up on the back car park during the Week.

They would eventually become a common site in the city centre on matchday's.

The capacity is about 150 people, twice that of a normal bus.

10 buses parked up after the match on Alan Turing way could transport 1500 fans back to town after the match.

A first for football clubs in England.

London has them.

Nice idea but I can't see being very practical, I don't think the club would like to buy 10 buses only for them to be used once may twice a week, also you would need to employ at least 10 drivers and maybe a couple of mechanics. What I think would work if the club did a deal with a local bus company , ie maybe buy the buses , put them in a City livery and loan them to a local company for use on none match days .

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

We can pontificate and chew the fat on this all we like, makes no difference to the club when they do finally expand. They want to fill the stadium with middle class families and rich tourists.

Well that's how it seems to me. You may be a blue that has gone for donkeys years. But if your pockets don't have the cash then your long standing support is not important anymore.

 

[whp.blue]

We can pontificate and chew the fat on this all we like, makes no difference to the club when they do finally expand. They want to fill the stadium with middle class families and rich tourists.

Well that's how it seems to me. You may be a blue that has gone for donkeys years. But if your pockets don't have the cash then your long standing support is not important anymore.

Sadly this is true.
Sky football is not a working class game any more.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Sadly this is true.
Sky football is not a working class game any more.

Given the changes in demographics over the last couple of generations in this country and the fact that football is a simply brilliant game, meant that was inevitable. Nothing stands still, mate.

 

[jrb]

A good idea in theory, but the road network around the stadium simply isn't good enough as it is. On matchday it's gridlock, one of the main reason we have so many early leavers.

I'm not sure a new fleet of huge buses would help much with this problem .

A new and revamped "green" walkway is a good idea although unfortunately a 25 minute walk each way is not possible for all. Therefore I think the Metrolink needs to be looked at, both from a volume of trams point of view, and also a possible extra line/station as mentioned .

It's good enough for current bus operators.

There are 5 or so buses parked up on Alan Turing Way after the match. They seem to get off straightaway.

But because they are only 75 capacity, they are always packed.

10, 150 capacity bendy buses going to Piccadilly Station, would be ideal. Quick Journey, drop off and turn around.

The current arrangement is akin to a transport sticking plaster.

At MGB we had free bendy buses waiting for us. We all piled on after the match, straight to the train station, and the train was waiting to take us back to Dusseldorf.

Brilliant.

 

[jrb]

One more thing that is often missed, is that the city centre population has doubed over the years. It's booming.

There are over 60 cranes in Manchester city centre and SQ ATM. 1 example. Just walk around Ancoats and New Islington.

For every crane or cranes, there is a new tower, Apartment block, Office block, etc being built. And another city centre population increase.

Yet one thing is constant, our roads. They haven't changed for decades. Thank God for Metrolink, even though it isn't great at times. If it wasn't for Metrolink the roads around the Etihad and in and out of town would be even more congested.

 

[Marvin]

One more thing that is often missed, is that the city centre population has doubed over the years. It's booming.

There are over 60 cranes in Manchester city centre and SQ ATM. 1 example. Just walk around Ancoats and New Islington.

For every crane or cranes, there is a new tower, Apartment block, Office block, etc being built. And another city centre population increase.

Yet one thing is constant, our roads. They haven't changed for decades. Thank God for Metrolink, even though it isn't great at times. If it wasn't for Metrolink the roads around the Etihad and in and out of town would be even more congested.

 

[jrb]

It was look at decades ago.

But because of the underground canals and waterways criss-crossing the city centre, it was too expensive to do.