City to expand Etihad to 62,000?

[Wilf Wild 1937]

A bit shocked that Stockport outnumbers Manchester given that Manchester has twice the population.
I'm less surprised that over half of all our season ticket holders in GM come from Stockport,
Manchester & Tameside. I always assumed that these were our core areas of support. I think studies
in the past have pointed to an East / West split of GM in terms of City v United support with a smaller
South / North split. The fact that we have a healthy support in Trafford reinforces this view. What is
also notable is that 70%+ of season card holders are from "Manchester" ie Greater Manchester
where as I've heard 40% quoted for United.

 

[stony]

Only question I have is attendance, You think the fans can fill it regularly?

We sell out every league home game, have done for years, and there is a waiting list for season tickets. For the first time since I can remember, the club is being run by serious professionals. They have done their homework and they are confident that a 62,000 seater stadium is not just a viable option, but a necessity. They aren't extending it as a vanity project or an ego boost. If that was the case they would have ensured capacity was greater than the swamp.
We will fill it, have no worries on that score.

 

[Kinkys Left Foot]

A bit shocked that Stockport outnumbers Manchester given that Manchester has twice the population.
I'm less surprised that over half of all our season ticket holders in GM come from Stockport,
Manchester & Tameside. I always assumed that these were our core areas of support. I think studies
in the past have pointed to an East / West split of GM in terms of City v United support with a smaller
South / North split. The fact that we have a healthy support in Trafford reinforces this view. What is
also notable is that 70%+ of season card holders are from "Manchester" ie Greater Manchester
where as I've heard 40% quoted for United.

The club is quite open about our SC demographics. Noticeably the sum total of SC in Greater Manc is approx 75% so 25% from elsewhere.
I've seen this depiction before but never seen Yooniteds ST spread across Manchester. (Anyone wonder why?) Wouldn't surprise me if those figures were reversed. Not that it matters a fucking jot really.

 

[Puppet Master Silva]

Only question I have is attendance, You think the fans can fill it regularly?

It'll look a bit shit for the League cup, FA cup replays and some Champions League games, but who gives a shit it's the same for 99% of the country. We're only going to grow in fan base and we sell out every league game so why wouldn't we extend?

 

[Gordyola]

Does anyone know if the existing roof covers these three rows? If not the Colin Bell & East Stand seats will be exposed to the elements
until we redevelop those two stands. It will be a bit like the block in the North Stand at Maine Road that was uncovered until Swales
put the new roof on the Main Stand.

The planning application says (not quite in these words) that these seats will be open to the elements and have a crap view.
Umpteen pages back someone asked if the club will do both ends together. Last I heard just doing south end first was the intention. They can do one end, and the other end can wait (so can the extra three Gene Kelly rows) - planning consent normally requires a start within three years but there's no time limit to complete.

There has been no official comment as to both at same time or south first other than the preferred option is both

 

[cheddar404]

Only question I have is attendance, You think the fans can fill it regularly?

It'll look a bit shit for the League cup, FA cup replays and some Champions League games, but who gives a shit it's the same for 99% of the country. We're only going to grow in fan base and we sell out every league game so why wouldn't we extend?

I think we might see seriously cheap tickets for those fixtures.

 

[M18CTID]

This really is hurting the rags

There really are some clueless cunts on that thread on Rag Café. It's hilarious seeing them regurgitate such ill-informed bollocks as:

Couldn't even sell out the Chelsea game. Lots of empty seats in their Champions League games. Is this extension purely for the demand for tickets when they play United?

Oh right, that'll be the Chelsea game that sold out 17 days before the match took place eh? <a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Tickets-and-Travel/2014/January/City-v-Chelsea-sold-out" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Tickets-and- ... a-sold-out</a>

Some of them are so thick that they honestly believe we only ever sell out our home games when we're playing them. Seriously, if I was a United fan, instead of worrying about whether we'll be able to fill a 62,000 capacity stadium, I'd be far more concerned about filling Old Trafford going forward because if 5th, 6th, or 7th place is going to be their natural level over the next few seasons then you can bet your mortgage that there will be a drop-off in their attendances!

 

[blueyorkie]

These rag feckers over on ragcafe genuinely think there are 20,000 empty seats each game and that the club just fudges the attendance figures, Just goes to show how dilusional this twats are. i suppose they just read the Evening news.

Most people on Rag Caf have never even been to England. Don't worry about it.

Ironic really, after the MEN highlighted the GMP report indicating that there are regularly 20000+ empty seats at the swamp!

 

[Vic]

perusing the planning documents (again) and found this little gem on Page 19 of the Transport Assessment Document - its the distribution of seasoncard holder addresses across Greater Manchester, so proving (as alleged by the rags) that more City Fans come from Stockport than any other Greater Manchester Borough!

A bit of a shift from 2002 - it was about equal then between Manchester and Stockport (about 14% of s.t. holders from both)
http://www.e-space.mmu.ac.uk/e-space/bitstream/2173/12506/1/seasonticketreport - brown1.pdf
(pages 4 and 10) - you have to know which M postcodes are within the city of Manchester, and the SK list doesn't include SK7 (SK14 and SK16 are in Tameside). The best stat is that City had more fans living in the city of Manchester (City 2725, United 1968) even though the Rags had more fans in total. Far more s.t. holders for both clubs since then of course.

 

[cheddar404]

Only question I have is attendance, You think the fans can fill it regularly?

Pricing is the key. Plenty of cheap seats and we'll fill it. If non season ticket prices remain the same, then we won't for all matches. With an increased capacity, there should be the luxury to cater for every budget.