Etihad Campus, Stadium and Collar Site Development Thread

[Marvin]

You are dead right. The other day I was watching this video made by Wolves fans on the final day of the season, and it shows how shocking the view is at the back of the stand there (video is fun to watch from a City perspective if you haven't seen it BTW).

Sorry mods if this is straying off topic, but it's easy to forget how lucky we are sometimes

Thanks. I just edited my own comment because I saw similar footage from the Spurs v Liverpool game.

The Football Licensing Authority should force Liverpool to fence off those seats and give away fans seats in more suitable parts of the stand.

 

[Marvin]

Liverpool have plans to redevelop and expand that stand. That would include the away section. That’s the next and final phase of the Anfield expansion. That would bring the Anfield capacity up to 60,000 or just over.

In the meantime, those seats at the back of the stand should be ring fenced off, and Liverpool should give away fans seats in the home end that are lower down. That's damaging to people's health as well as being grossly unfair.

 

[Marvin]

I think the club will aim to eclipse the capacity at Old Trafford. It isn't their mindset to be second best. We need to be bigger than United and the premier football club both on and off the field. Manchester is growing in population and economy and it attracts a whole new scope of people. United still have that historic attraction but it will not take much longer for people to be drawn our way instead. Certainly to businesses and hospitality.

Internally the changes do not have to be mind blowing. I imagine the plans for expansion are similar to those drawn up way back when. It is externally that improvements can be made. There is sufficient room to create something quite spectacular. From external designs that make the stadium incredible, to further facilities that enable people to stay in the area post-match and pre-match for longer to try and address current transport issues.

Whilst transport can be improved, you are able to walk into town in 20-30mins if you get a gallop on. I had to do it to get last trains to Sheffield when I was at Uni and managed it without leaving early. That's more than an 800m walk which is deemed sustainable in planning terms, but it isn't too bad. It is part and parcel of football to have issues getting to and from games but it would certainly help draw additional support if transport improvements were made. There is scope to improve things significantly without mind blowing investment.

I live at the far end of Deansgate. Travel to Man Utd on match day is far worse than City. I've see a few reds walking it, but very few do. It's not really practical, whereas tens of thousands of blues do.

City's support since we moved from a 34,000 Maine Rd to the COMs / Etihad has grown significantly. We've basically grown with the stadium capacity. I remember reading in the last annual report that City have 125,000 different home fans in the home end each season now which shows the numbers of match-day fans. It was the case back at Maine Rd where we had the free the 30,000 where it literally was the same hard core turning up at every league game.

Football support though grows over generations. I think the success means that the churn rate on seasoncards drops (I think it's 2% p.a), fans who stopped going come back. You get all the easy gains first. The more encouraging thing is that there is now a huge Aguero boom generation coming through from the schools. If we can maintain our success for 3-4 more years, these fans will be the next group to come through the turnstiles, and there are huge numbers. We need to get the ground ready for it.

In my old school there were literally a handful of match going fans in the 70s/80s. Now I walk past and it's totally changed. The playground is swamped with City. We've yet to really see this effect at the ground as they are not really old enough, but we will see it in the coming years, if the ground is big enough.

 

[BrianW]

City have always had a huge "latent" support. I remember very clearly the early years of the Mercer era. We had been dogshit for years, and regular crowds had dropped to something like 10,000-15,000, with occasional dips below that. As soon as we got a half-decent side, the people came flooding back. I remember a night match against Norwich (Still in the 2nd Division). 34,000 rocked up. Paddy Crerand had actually bet Allison that City would never have more than 30,000 in the ground again. He had to pay up!

Before long we were getting 50,000 - 60,000 for the big matches. And there lies the difference. Back then people would turn up on a random basis, 99% of the time paying in on the gate. So the crowds varied hugely. Funnily enough, it wasn't always the "big" teams that got the biggest crowds. I remember a cup replay against Newcastle when there was barely room to breathe in the Kippax, it was that full. One of the few times I ever stood at the back - there was no choice.

City's current regular support is probably bigger than at any time in our history. But I wouldn't mind a small bet that there's at least as many again who would appear for big matches if the capacity was there and you could just wander down and pay on the day. That's why I always say "build it and they will come." Because with this side playing incredible football and winning trophies by the sackful, the sky is the limit.

 

[tommyKun]

North stand level 1 is UNDERGROUND and sound will not travel. It will be south stand 2.0 where people already stand.
It will be better than the ss because people not interested in bouncing about will not relocate and there won’t be the away fan split BUT it will NOT solve the overall ground atmosphere.
WE NEED A SINGING SECTION NEAR THE ROOF SO SOUND REFLECTS.

 

[HelloCity]

North stand level 1 is UNDERGROUND and sound will not travel. It will be south stand 2.0 where people already stand.
It will be better than the ss because people not interested in bouncing about will not relocate and there won’t be the away fan split BUT it will NOT solve the overall ground atmosphere.
WE NEED A SINGING SECTION NEAR THE ROOF SO SOUND REFLECTS.

The sound is great when people actually make some noise.

See the Liverpool & Spurs CL games which had arguably the best atmospheres in the country all season.

It’s just excuses to blame the stadium for sound level when most of the time people are just watching and not making the noise.

 

[tommyKun]

The sound is great when people actually make some noise.

See the Liverpool & Spurs CL games which had arguably the best atmospheres in the country all season.

It’s just excuses to blame the stadium for sound level when most of the time people are just watching and not making the noise.

The sound is great when SS3 joins in with level 1 and it spreads to the other stands. This only happens in the big games.
Songs never spread from ss1 to east or Colin bell, because yes they’re half asleep half the time but also cos its unintelligeable, you hear sound and see singing but it’s almost impossible to work out what is being sung.
If 1894 and 114-119 populated level 3 the same level of singing that goes on now would sound 10x louder and it would spread to the east stand and rest of the ground.

 

[mikeskitz]

https://www.manchester.gov.uk/downl...ands_regeneration_framework_-_2019_update.pdf

 

[JOGAMIGMOG]

https://www.manchester.gov.uk/downl...ands_regeneration_framework_-_2019_update.pdf

Bloody hell, I'm not reading all that! Maybe we could all read a line each?

 

[bladdered]

No sign of Asda moving then...

 

[NeilYoungIsBack]

Bloody hell, I'm not reading all that! Maybe we could all read a line each?

There's some interesting stuff on pp46-47 about development of land next to the stadium, including the ideas for an Arena, hotels, cinemas and other leisure. It also suggests that ongoing studies are looking at the potential for a "City Experience" which I guess would be some sort of visitor centre/museum

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

https://www.manchester.gov.uk/downl...ands_regeneration_framework_-_2019_update.pdf

A very positive report but virtually no mention of transport infrastucture. The new arena looks like a valid project though based on the quoted figures. But no more details yet on the North Stand plans. A copy should be sent to every national journalist in the UK, especially the idiots who don't really understand what is happening in Manchester thanks to the city's partnership with our owners.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

Why didn’t they just swap seats?

(Sorry for the random question!)

 

[jrb]

..

 

[Marvin]

A very positive report but virtually no mention of transport infrastucture. The new arena looks like a valid project though based on the quoted figures. But no more details yet on the North Stand plans. A copy should be sent to every national journalist in the UK, especially the idiots who don't really understand what is happening in Manchester thanks to the city's partnership with our owners.

It's not ignorance though. They just don't like us.

 

[monkeymagic]

I think the club will aim to eclipse the capacity at Old Trafford. It isn't their mindset to be second best. We need to be bigger than United and the premier football club both on and off the field. Manchester is growing in population and economy and it attracts a whole new scope of people. United still have that historic attraction but it will not take much longer for people to be drawn our way instead. Certainly to businesses and hospitality.

Internally the changes do not have to be mind blowing. I imagine the plans for expansion are similar to those drawn up way back when. It is externally that improvements can be made. There is sufficient room to create something quite spectacular. From external designs that make the stadium incredible, to further facilities that enable people to stay in the area post-match and pre-match for longer to try and address current transport issues.

Whilst transport can be improved, you are able to walk into town in 20-30mins if you get a gallop on. I had to do it to get last trains to Sheffield when I was at Uni and managed it without leaving early. That's more than an 800m walk which is deemed sustainable in planning terms, but it isn't too bad. It is part and parcel of football to have issues getting to and from games but it would certainly help draw additional support if transport improvements were made. There is scope to improve things significantly without mind blowing investment.

Why do we need to be bigger than United ???
Make the ground 80k !!
Doubt it

 

[blueyorkie]

Unless the transport infrastructure is improved to a massive degree there will be problems with the development of the area. Furthermore the Stadium will continue to empty from 75 minutes without bringing the transportation being brought into the modern world, rather than the shambles we have now

 

[supercity88]

Why do we need to be bigger than United ???
Make the ground 80k !!
Doubt it

Our owners want us to be the best club in Manchester with the biggest and best facilities. It draws in fans and revenue. The same way Spurs made their ground bigger than Arsenal's we will get the same. The ambition our owners have is mighty. The CL win would help, globally, for them which is why it is a priority. But the owners have bigger plans and not all align to the everyday City fan I would imagine.

They will have reviewed all sports to see what makes a great stadium and what makes money and will look at creating something that gets fans spending their money in the area a lot more than just a few hours either side of matchdays.

 

[Marvin]

Unless the transport infrastructure is improved to a massive degree there will be problems with the development of the area. Furthermore the Stadium will continue to empty from 75 minutes without bringing the transportation being brought into the modern world, rather than the shambles we have now

Numbers, details, estimates? My experience is travelling by foot/bus. In takes 50 mins in for me and an hour out. They are not going to widen roads, and there's not going to be any infrastructure spend, unless ADUG do it, which is highly unlikely unless they were given a stake in the result. Still unlikely. Manchester population is surging but it's largely young single people, who travel on foot and live and work in manchester.

In my opinion less and less people will travel into the City for shopping/work so you're unlikely to see major transport infrastructure works. What's the biggest workplace in Manchester now? Council, hospitals? Offices and shops are closing down. People will work and shop from home, and the world will come to you rather than the other way around. In the short term anyway.

I would like to know how traffic into Manchester has changed over the years. In my opinion the numbers of car journeys into Manchester are way way down but that's just anecdotal thinking back on how the roads used to be.

 

[Marvin]

Why do we need to be bigger than United ???
Make the ground 80k !!
Doubt it

To be the best we have to keep striving to improve

Other clubs are not standing still. City could command average gates now of 70,000 easily, and that's without continued success/growth.

How long will Guardiola be here? We need to capitalise on this now, or the opportunity to grow will pass us by. Every club is ultimately tested by their crowds.