North Stand Construction Discussion

[supercity88]

I agree. It's going to take a lot of persuasion, coordination, planning by the club with fans and fan groups to make it work and convince people to move. Which is why I think all the confusion/lack of information surrounding the "GA+" section at the front of L2 (would I think would ruin and put a lot of people off moving) is not helpful at all, a clear plan on this and relocations is needed sooner rather than later, instead of a scramble over a few weeks the summer it opens.

That's the issue. It takes proper planning and an adequate pricing/ticket/relocation structure which in all honesty is something the club are never going to be able to do! You need to give current season ticket holders first dibs on moving over there, price it accordingly, then have a relocation window for other season ticket holders to move where they want to - possibly with the club respecting/reflecting their existing season ticket pricing for a number of seasons to incentivise it. Then make the day trippers pay up. Again...how likely is that?

 

[jrb]

With the increased capacity of the 2nd tier, they could move the entire family stand up to that level - it's effectively not a family stand anymore anyway, but has traditionally discouraged standing and singing most songs due to the number of kids.

If they move the kids upstairs, they could put safe standing in to match the other end, so there would be standing behind both goals. That would be more effective than a single tier with mixed membership

Why would anyone move from SSL1 to NSL1? I certainly wouldn’t. It’s like for like, without being next to the away fans. There’s no incentive in doing that. The pull and novelty is to have NSL2, which will hold 8000 fans, as the new home end full of singers. We don’t want NSL2 sat down and quiet throughout the match. There’s enough stands and tiers that already do that.

 

[blueparrot]

That's the issue. It takes proper planning and an adequate pricing/ticket/relocation structure which in all honesty is something the club are never going to be able to do! You need to give current season ticket holders first dibs on moving over there, price it accordingly, then have a relocation window for other season ticket holders to move where they want to - possibly with the club respecting/reflecting their existing season ticket pricing for a number of seasons to incentivise it. Then make the day trippers pay up. Again...how likely is that?

Relocation is the issue, existing fans were given first choice with tne South Stand meaning new fans were left with the dearer tickets and they were scattered all over, so difficult for groups of friends and family.
If S/C are given first go the numbers should be li ited as should the blocks available off the top of my head maybe half, then another quarter to new S/C holders.
The last 2000 should be blocks ring-fenced for matchday fans so it’s easy to get seats together for groups of friends and families. Also can we stop with the day tripper nonsense probably the vast majority of matchday fans will be long term fans that can’t go every week or new fans that may become long term fans, baybe a few that have been fans longer than you or me. Will some one only come to one game, yes, but as long as there is room so what.

 

[jimharri]

Have they finished it yet?

 

[jrb]

No offence to the people who currently sit on NSL1. :-)

Can you imagine having 700 hospitality seats at the front of NSL2, behind them families, kids, and the current make up of fans on NSL1, and behind them at the back of NSL2 more hospitality from the hotel, and hotels rooms with balconies overlooking NSL2 and the pitch. That really is a proper home end that will generate chants and an atmosphere. :-?

 

[jimharri]

No offence to the people who currently sit on NSL1. :-)

Can you imagine having 700 hospitality seats at the front of NSL2, behind them families, kids, and the current make up of fans on NSL1, and behind them at the back of NSL2 more hospitality from the hotel, and hotels rooms with balconies overlooking NSL2 and the pitch. That really is a proper home end that will generate chants and an atmosphere. :-?

The North Stand has never been a "home end", not in the way I'm guessing you're meaning. Certainly not since it was turned into a family stand. Whenever I'm over for a game, I usually sit in the E or CB stands, in line with the penalty area at that end of the ground. There's nearly always empty seats in there, and the early leavers don't do it any favours either. Add in the fact that, by it's nature, there's a lot of kids and families in there; it doesn't make for a bear pit, does it?

 

[jrb]

The North Stand has never been a "home end", not in the way I'm guessing you're meaning. Certainly not since it was turned into a family stand. Whenever I'm over for a game, I usually sit in the E or CB stands, in line with the penalty area at that end of the ground. There's nearly always empty seats in there, and the early leavers don't do it any favours either. Add in the fact that, by it's nature, there's a lot of kids and families in there; it doesn't make for a bear pit, does it?

When we first moved to the City of Manchester stadium, as it was then, the North stand was quite a vocal and noisy stand, similar to most of the other stands and tiers. When the relocation happend from MR most of us were relocated together, so everyone knew each other, and it was a good mixture of singers nd ages spread all over the ground. Blocks 111, 110 and 109 became the unofficial singing sections due to their proximity to the away fans. When the club decided to make NSL1 a family stand, and in doing so, they moved people out of NSL1 who had been there since the relocation from MR, and it totally change NSL1 from a generally noisy stand with a good mixture of fans and ages, into a ‘family stand’, which could only be accessed by adults if they were accompanied by a child or children. I stand corrected on that point.

 

[jimharri]

When we first moved to the City of Manchester stadium, as it was then, the North stand was quite a vocal and noisy stand, similar to most of the other stands and tiers. When the relocation happend from MR most of us were relocated together, so everyone knew each other, and it was a good mixture of singers nd ages spread all over the ground. Blocks 111, 110 and 109 became the unofficial singing sections due to their proximity to the away fans. When the club decided to make NSL1 a family stand, and in doing so, they moved people out of NSL1 who had been there since the relocation from MR, and it totally change NSL1 from a generally noisy stand with a good mixture of fans and ages, into a ‘family stand’, which could only be accessed by adults if they were accompanied by a child or children. I stand corrected on that point.

And having what noise is generated in there, confined to L2 doesn't help. It lessens the impact, in my opinion. Now don't get me wrong; football stadia back in the 70s and 80s were not a place you'd want to bring the wife and young kids to. So; getting more families in the stadia is a welcome move, and is to be encouraged. Unfortunately, it comes with a minus. The atmosphere in said areas of the ground during matches will suffer.

 

[jrb]

And having what noise is generated in there, confined to L2 doesn't help. It lessens the impact, in my opinion. Now don't get me wrong; football stadia back in the 70s and 80s were not a place you'd want to bring the wife and young kids to. So; getting more families in the stadia is a welcome move, and is to be encouraged. Unfortunately, it comes with a minus. The atmosphere in said areas of the ground during matches will suffer.

Sorry Jim, you’ve lost me on that one. I don’t understand.

‘And having what noise is generated in there, confined to L2’

Having 8000 City fans on a single ‘upper tier’, with a roof that has been specially designed to amplify the noise and sound, won’t only be confined to NSL2, it will be heard all over the ground, and will hopefully encourage City fans in other tiers and stands to join in with the singing. It may not?

As many people have often stated on the atmosphere thread, even though blocks 114, 115, 116 in the official singing section are singing, other parts of the ground can’t hear that singing. I stand in 115. I can see 111, 110, 109 singing, but I can’t hear them most of the time. Sometimes I can.

If we can get most of the singers in those blocks, as well as other fans who want to sing from other parts of the ground, and relocate them together on NSL2, that will create a proper home end full of singers.

 

[jimharri]

Sorry Jim, you’ve lost me on that one. I don’t understand.

‘And having what noise is generated in there, confined to L2’

Having 8000 City fans on a single tier, with a roof that has been designed to amplify the noise and sound, won’t only be confined to NSL2, it will be heard all over the ground, and will hopefully encourage City fans in other tiers and stands to join in with the singing. It may not?

As many people have often stated on the atmosphere thread, even though blocks 114, 115, 116 in the official singing section are singing, other parts of the ground can’t hear that singing. I stand in 115. I can see 111, 110, 109 singing, but I can’t hear them most of the time. Sometimes I can.

If we can get most of the singers in those blocks, as well as other fans who want to sing from other parts of the ground, and relocate them to NSL2, that should create a proper home end full singers.

I meant the stand, as it is now; not the redeveloped stand. L1 is reserved for "families" and, as such, there isn't the same atmosphere generated compared to other parts of the stadium. There, the majority of noise coming from the North Stand will be from L2, no?