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worsleyweb
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So nearly 3 years away when Pep has gone? :(
Who says Pep will be gone?! His kids and mrs are settled. Where is better?
So nearly 3 years away when Pep has gone? :(
Isnt it one year befor his current contract ends ?So nearly 3 years away when Pep has gone? :(
Bullet points only because I want my tea !
About 16 of us split into 2 groups. Run by ISG on behalf of City who have worked on stadiums all over the world. 95% of debate was related to the development of the North Stand. It's only going to be on two levels but huge ! Debate about safe standing, ticket cost and would fans relocate from other areas. Talk about moving the family stand and talk about atmosphere and also moving away fans. Talk about a new Supporters Club area within new development but posher than the old social club ! Talk about what we'd pay to have access to it. Most talking points came back to keeping costs reasonable although accepting the club needs to make money ! Talk about rewarding loyalty by perhaps chucking in a CL Group game or two with your season card cost. Talk about transport links to the ground and parking. Talk about new fans areas in the empty areas in the corners at the back of the second tiers. About mid corporate areas in the very bottom of the new North Stand and also at the very top. Talk about a teens area (but generally not seen as a good idea) and also potential family season cards. Criticism of the ticket office from some. Talk of perhaps a pay as you go business centre and possibly a gym on the campus. ISG stressed nothing has been agreed or signed hence getting fans views. Everything discussed was hypothetical. That's it for now I think and my apologies if I've forgotten anything but it was an interesting 90 minute session. It was a great insight as to how the club is thinking and whilst wanting to attract new fans City stress that they will not forget the rest of us who have been on the great City rollercoaster ! TTFN
Interesting to see the feedback from the first group. One of the City Matters guys was there, purely as an individual, and he gave us some feedback.
The impression I got last week was that the North Stand would be identical to the South Stand, that is three tiers. We discussed the difficulty of having a single tier so I thought they were talking about three. It was certainly mentioned to us that they're thinking of putting in rail seating in at least the lower tier of the new North Stand and we were enthusiatic at the City Matters committee but apparently there was less enthusiasm last night. However they were all Family Stand season ticket holders I believe so more worried about their seats.
There were some discussions last week about where to move the Family Stand but we said, quite firmly, that it should just be a straight swap with the South Stand, including the away fans. However they should be stuck in the corner, not in the middle. We also talked about ticketing and Sam from ISL talked about things like a weekend only S/T or a 'Top 6' one. No one was particularly enthused about those but we did talk about a ticket type that could cover all of those options. I think they also mentioned an unallocated area, where there were no S/T holders and where tickets were only sold on a match-by-match basis. That sounded like a good idea to me.
The rest was about catering, both inside and outside the ground. Our suggestion was a covered City Sqaure area which was like a sort of food court, where you could have a range of options from the cheap (Greggs, Subway, Burger & Chips, etc) to something a bit better such as Croma, Solita, Harry Ramsdens etc. It seems that the feedback from last night was that people wanted cheap mainly. We were presented with all these ideas about members clubs outside the stadium and little areas in it but none of those floated our boat.
It's one of my bugbears that they talk about all these premium options but they really don't understand our fan-base that well. They need to look very strategically at how we get the next generation to attend matches regularly and fill the stadium. I think they're taking a very short-term view at the moment.
Its the same as becoming a Freemason. Friends who know friends who know ... ;)How do you become a Mod. How do you spot one. Do they have a special sign to look out for. Don't want to get in an argument with one and get my balls chopped off. Is getting a ban a disclosure requirement for a CRB check. I have a clean record so far and I want to keep it that way.
Away fans won’t be moved from where they are since the section is right next to the away fans coach park.
Having them at the northern end would also mean having them all around City square.
If away fans were kept in the South Stand then you really wouldn’t want the Family Stand next to them either.
Fantastic stuff thanks for sharing that!City were disappointed with phase 1 of the expansion that they lost so many seats when putting in the extra few rows at the front. There were a lot of seats lost with disabled provision and just general row lengths and other issues. They were looking for 56,000 and it fell about 700 short in reality. I am told also that a few hundred more seats may be explored in the large tunnel area in the corner. The area where the boxes are now at he north stand is quite a zone and a single rake will allow a lot of extra seats. Also don’t worry the long term master plan is all 4 sides and a reclad. Just give it time. I will say confidentiy I will watch city in front of 78,000 plus fans at the etihad within 15 years.
If away fans were kept in the South Stand then you really wouldn’t want the Family Stand next to them either.