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North Stand Construction Discussion
- Thread starter awest
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Didsbury Dave
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If the fans got together and made enough noise credibly as a single pressure group anything could be achieved here.
But yeah, without that, there's a risk of that happening and a few singers or a band wasting their time down at the front.
Don't really think this is a good idea but understand the club have to do it.
Enables us to host the Champions League final, makes the North Stand look less ridiculous, probably means we can go up to 45,000 season tickets as well.
But think it'll kill off an already flagging atmosphere and be used to drive up prices. North Stand will get "value tickets" while Colin Bell tier 3 will go above £1,000.
I've written about this at greater length somewhere else in the thread. Let me find it.
forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk
Enables us to host the Champions League final, makes the North Stand look less ridiculous, probably means we can go up to 45,000 season tickets as well.
But think it'll kill off an already flagging atmosphere and be used to drive up prices. North Stand will get "value tickets" while Colin Bell tier 3 will go above £1,000.
I've written about this at greater length somewhere else in the thread. Let me find it.
North Stand Expansion
That’s not how high end business works though? It’s a balancing act no doubt but when a north stand extension happens then it will be 18 months to do and the club also want to host champions league finals etc? 18 months on site, but the same again in planning/tendering. As far as i'm aware the...
forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk
For what it's worth, I was really excited about the South Stand extension when it happened. And any potential of the North Stand getting bigger years later was pretty enticing as well. I've sat in the North Stand since 2003 and I thought the expansion looked great when it was first built. I even sat up there for Kompany's testimonial and had a cracking night. Loads of legroom, a great view, good facilities, etc.
But I think, with hindsight, the atmosphere has grown considerably worse in the years since its completion. For a number of reasons. First of all, it does mean we have about 1,000 empty seats dotted about the place, but empty seats have never really concerned me. We've got about 45k core supports and the rest come and go as they please, that's who City are. But the South Stand expansion allowed to club to exploit something...
If they can keep the media (and the happier of clappers amongst our support) happy with "the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League" then they can continue to price out fans elsewhere in the ground. I remember in 2016 when a bunch of lads I'd known for years suddenly had to stop going to City - the club had put their season tickets up by 50% because they'd built "Joe's Bar" in their area of the ground.
So it was "Pay up £800" or "Fuck off".
The £299 "value season ticket" has always stayed the same price but in the same timeframe my season ticket has gone up by about £100. And I'm on the second tier of the North Stand. I don't even want to think about the prices people have to pay in the East Stand or Colin Bell. It all contributes to a large section of our working class support being slowly priced out over the years. They're generally the ones who make the most noise.
As more and more of our louder, working class fans have opted for cheaper tickets in other areas of the ground (or have just given up because they can't afford it anymore) the places where the atmosphere used to be the best (East/South Stand corner, South Stand tier 1) have been slowly picked apart. Maybe the club would have done this anyway without the expansion but I think the expansion only sped the process up.
Although I don't think our atmosphere has been the same since the 12/13 season. The 10/11 + 11/12 seasons were fantastic. A former member of this forum, Skashion (some will remember him), dubbed them "The Poznan Years". Two years of constantly rising as a club, the fans going to games with no expectations and coming away having seen yet another win. An FA Cup we never expected to win, then the greatest title win in history.
But I think 12/13 was a harsh reality check of what it was really like to be a top side. We actually had expectations going into that season and they weren't met. The fanbase has felt different to me since then, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the last year they had the £95 season ticket for kids under 16. Rising expectations and rising prices combined, then the South Stand was expanded...
The atmosphere will obviously be crackling on Sunday if things go well, but I think the club have to have a word with themselves about why we've become known amongst other fans for never selling out home games, having empty seats, and constantly having flat atmospheres. We have higher average attendances than Chelsea, Tottenham, and United, yet we're known as the plastics. Sometimes we have to look at ourselves.
We never had these issues when the average season ticket price was £600 (which is cheaper than some of the "cheaper" tickets in the ground these days) and the stadium had 48,000 seats. I think we sold out every single home game of the 11/12 season. The "Emptihad" stuff only really started during the Pellegrini years and got significantly worse after the South Stand was completed.
I'm old enough to remember when the only part of the ground that got stick on here for "people leaving too early" or "never being full on school nights" was the North Stand immediately behind the goal. Now it's everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that in 2015 our highest priced season ticket was £860, whereas next season it will be £980. That's a rise of 14% in seven years.
And that's not including the "Premium Seats" where you get charged £1450 to sit on a padded cushion (?) and get to visit the exclusive and allegedly brilliant 93:20 Bar, which I was treated to for a home game against West Ham in 2016 and it just seemed like a slightly glorified version of the basic concourse that everybody else uses and doesn't pay over £1000 for the privilege of using.
So yeah, the South Stand expansion. It's sucked atmosphere away from the loudest areas of the ground, it's taken our most vocal supporters away from the singing areas (or been used as a method to price them out), and it makes the stadium look a bit like a toilet seat when you look at it from the train approaching Piccadilly. A nice idea that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. A North Stand expansion would only make things worse, in my opinion.
But I think, with hindsight, the atmosphere has grown considerably worse in the years since its completion. For a number of reasons. First of all, it does mean we have about 1,000 empty seats dotted about the place, but empty seats have never really concerned me. We've got about 45k core supports and the rest come and go as they please, that's who City are. But the South Stand expansion allowed to club to exploit something...
If they can keep the media (and the happier of clappers amongst our support) happy with "the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League" then they can continue to price out fans elsewhere in the ground. I remember in 2016 when a bunch of lads I'd known for years suddenly had to stop going to City - the club had put their season tickets up by 50% because they'd built "Joe's Bar" in their area of the ground.
So it was "Pay up £800" or "Fuck off".
The £299 "value season ticket" has always stayed the same price but in the same timeframe my season ticket has gone up by about £100. And I'm on the second tier of the North Stand. I don't even want to think about the prices people have to pay in the East Stand or Colin Bell. It all contributes to a large section of our working class support being slowly priced out over the years. They're generally the ones who make the most noise.
As more and more of our louder, working class fans have opted for cheaper tickets in other areas of the ground (or have just given up because they can't afford it anymore) the places where the atmosphere used to be the best (East/South Stand corner, South Stand tier 1) have been slowly picked apart. Maybe the club would have done this anyway without the expansion but I think the expansion only sped the process up.
Although I don't think our atmosphere has been the same since the 12/13 season. The 10/11 + 11/12 seasons were fantastic. A former member of this forum, Skashion (some will remember him), dubbed them "The Poznan Years". Two years of constantly rising as a club, the fans going to games with no expectations and coming away having seen yet another win. An FA Cup we never expected to win, then the greatest title win in history.
But I think 12/13 was a harsh reality check of what it was really like to be a top side. We actually had expectations going into that season and they weren't met. The fanbase has felt different to me since then, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the last year they had the £95 season ticket for kids under 16. Rising expectations and rising prices combined, then the South Stand was expanded...
The atmosphere will obviously be crackling on Sunday if things go well, but I think the club have to have a word with themselves about why we've become known amongst other fans for never selling out home games, having empty seats, and constantly having flat atmospheres. We have higher average attendances than Chelsea, Tottenham, and United, yet we're known as the plastics. Sometimes we have to look at ourselves.
We never had these issues when the average season ticket price was £600 (which is cheaper than some of the "cheaper" tickets in the ground these days) and the stadium had 48,000 seats. I think we sold out every single home game of the 11/12 season. The "Emptihad" stuff only really started during the Pellegrini years and got significantly worse after the South Stand was completed.
I'm old enough to remember when the only part of the ground that got stick on here for "people leaving too early" or "never being full on school nights" was the North Stand immediately behind the goal. Now it's everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that in 2015 our highest priced season ticket was £860, whereas next season it will be £980. That's a rise of 14% in seven years.
And that's not including the "Premium Seats" where you get charged £1450 to sit on a padded cushion (?) and get to visit the exclusive and allegedly brilliant 93:20 Bar, which I was treated to for a home game against West Ham in 2016 and it just seemed like a slightly glorified version of the basic concourse that everybody else uses and doesn't pay over £1000 for the privilege of using.
So yeah, the South Stand expansion. It's sucked atmosphere away from the loudest areas of the ground, it's taken our most vocal supporters away from the singing areas (or been used as a method to price them out), and it makes the stadium look a bit like a toilet seat when you look at it from the train approaching Piccadilly. A nice idea that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. A North Stand expansion would only make things worse, in my opinion.
Gone for a Burton
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Mail Danny in.
He's sensible & responsive.
He's sensible & responsive.
Del_Bosque
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- Joined
- 27 Aug 2008
- Messages
- 2,795
So realistically the second tier NS is going to have to be removed completely and a new one re-added as the current rake is all wrong?
Might be a good opportunity to sort out the acoustics above any standing area.
Might be a good opportunity to sort out the acoustics above any standing area.
trevorriley
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- Joined
- 18 Jan 2012
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- 3,124
exactly, down to the fans, not a roof, a beer or what ever ideas. Fans move and sing its quite simple.
supercity88
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- 9 Aug 2009
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- 13,617
Don't really think this is a good idea but understand the club have to do it.
Enables us to host the Champions League final, makes the North Stand look less ridiculous, probably means we can go up to 45,000 season tickets as well.
But think it'll kill off an already flagging atmosphere and be used to drive up prices. North Stand will get "value tickets" while Colin Bell tier 3 will go above £1,000.
I've written about this at greater length somewhere else in the thread. Let me find it.
North Stand Expansion
That’s not how high end business works though? It’s a balancing act no doubt but when a north stand extension happens then it will be 18 months to do and the club also want to host champions league finals etc? 18 months on site, but the same again in planning/tendering. As far as i'm aware the...
For what it's worth, I was really excited about the South Stand extension when it happened. And any potential of the North Stand getting bigger years later was pretty enticing as well. I've sat in the North Stand since 2003 and I thought the expansion looked great when it was first built. I even sat up there for Kompany's testimonial and had a cracking night. Loads of legroom, a great view, good facilities, etc.
But I think, with hindsight, the atmosphere has grown considerably worse in the years since its completion. For a number of reasons. First of all, it does mean we have about 1,000 empty seats dotted about the place, but empty seats have never really concerned me. We've got about 45k core supports and the rest come and go as they please, that's who City are. But the South Stand expansion allowed to club to exploit something...
If they can keep the media (and the happier of clappers amongst our support) happy with "the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League" then they can continue to price out fans elsewhere in the ground. I remember in 2016 when a bunch of lads I'd known for years suddenly had to stop going to City - the club had put their season tickets up by 50% because they'd built "Joe's Bar" in their area of the ground.
So it was "Pay up £800" or "Fuck off".
The £299 "value season ticket" has always stayed the same price but in the same timeframe my season ticket has gone up by about £100. And I'm on the second tier of the North Stand. I don't even want to think about the prices people have to pay in the East Stand or Colin Bell. It all contributes to a large section of our working class support being slowly priced out over the years. They're generally the ones who make the most noise.
As more and more of our louder, working class fans have opted for cheaper tickets in other areas of the ground (or have just given up because they can't afford it anymore) the places where the atmosphere used to be the best (East/South Stand corner, South Stand tier 1) have been slowly picked apart. Maybe the club would have done this anyway without the expansion but I think the expansion only sped the process up.
Although I don't think our atmosphere has been the same since the 12/13 season. The 10/11 + 11/12 seasons were fantastic. A former member of this forum, Skashion (some will remember him), dubbed them "The Poznan Years". Two years of constantly rising as a club, the fans going to games with no expectations and coming away having seen yet another win. An FA Cup we never expected to win, then the greatest title win in history.
But I think 12/13 was a harsh reality check of what it was really like to be a top side. We actually had expectations going into that season and they weren't met. The fanbase has felt different to me since then, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the last year they had the £95 season ticket for kids under 16. Rising expectations and rising prices combined, then the South Stand was expanded...
The atmosphere will obviously be crackling on Sunday if things go well, but I think the club have to have a word with themselves about why we've become known amongst other fans for never selling out home games, having empty seats, and constantly having flat atmospheres. We have higher average attendances than Chelsea, Tottenham, and United, yet we're known as the plastics. Sometimes we have to look at ourselves.
We never had these issues when the average season ticket price was £600 (which is cheaper than some of the "cheaper" tickets in the ground these days) and the stadium had 48,000 seats. I think we sold out every single home game of the 11/12 season. The "Emptihad" stuff only really started during the Pellegrini years and got significantly worse after the South Stand was completed.
I'm old enough to remember when the only part of the ground that got stick on here for "people leaving too early" or "never being full on school nights" was the North Stand immediately behind the goal. Now it's everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that in 2015 our highest priced season ticket was £860, whereas next season it will be £980. That's a rise of 14% in seven years.
And that's not including the "Premium Seats" where you get charged £1450 to sit on a padded cushion (?) and get to visit the exclusive and allegedly brilliant 93:20 Bar, which I was treated to for a home game against West Ham in 2016 and it just seemed like a slightly glorified version of the basic concourse that everybody else uses and doesn't pay over £1000 for the privilege of using.
So yeah, the South Stand expansion. It's sucked atmosphere away from the loudest areas of the ground, it's taken our most vocal supporters away from the singing areas (or been used as a method to price them out), and it makes the stadium look a bit like a toilet seat when you look at it from the train approaching Piccadilly. A nice idea that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. A North Stand expansion would only make things worse, in my opinion.
I'd be very surprised if City looked at this from anything other than a financial perspective. I remember a few years ago seeing matchday income per fan of each of the PL clubs at the time. Chelsea topped it at around £1,600 per fan each season. Arsenal, Spurs, the rags and dippers were all at a similar level. It was measured against the same data from a decade earlier and rises had been between 3% and 90% iirc. We were sat below them having gone from about £350 to over £1,000 in that period at a 180% increase. That's a monumental change, particularly when you consider the historic prices blues would pay to attend games. Yes we're the best in the league and have been dominant but that's such a major change in cost it's not surprising many historic fans have stopped going. It used to be cheap to watch City and the football was shite so it would be about a beer and a sing song.
The club will see a huge gulf in income compared to our rivals. It could work out as a player a season by the time you run it through considering the higher attendances at Spurs, Arsenal and the swamp.
It would be lovely for them to market the NS as per the suggestions by 1894 and in line with what Didsbury Dave has said. That's the ideal method in my opinion. Create a buzz around it, talk of the Maine Road days. Entice the old singers back through attractive pricing - although they'd have to wait their turn. Make the stadium an environment where people are willing to pay more and come because it's bouncing - there is a market there particularly with younger audiences. Seats in the SS from movers can be available for those who are struggling with the costs in the CB and ES. Then you sell those seats to day trippers who will happily pay a fortune to see us. Overall though that's going to fail every single test on the financial system they'll be looking at this expansion through. It will be the only one that meets the "fan satisfaction" criteria, but even then that will not be universal. So why would they do it? Cost of living crisis? Giving back to the loyal fans of old? I'm not sure they give a shit about atmosphere or fan satisfaction too much when there is money to be made. If they lose someone who has been going for 30+ years and replace them with someone who has more cash and spends it, happy days!
A very cynical view this, and I like to believe the club do care about the fans. As JRB has said, let's hope they're reading this thread and that they'll listen to feedback once proposals are shared.
remember arthur mann
Well-Known Member
Don't get this so called atmosphere problem, like Mark Hughes said with the Aguero moment, he'd never heard a noise as loud, in any stadium, anywhere, ever.
For me, the Rodri goal, the last game of the season. I've never, ever, heard a noise like it, the stadium resonated, it rocked.
For me, the Rodri goal, the last game of the season. I've never, ever, heard a noise like it, the stadium resonated, it rocked.
HelloCity
Well-Known Member
Don't really think this is a good idea but understand the club have to do it.
Enables us to host the Champions League final, makes the North Stand look less ridiculous, probably means we can go up to 45,000 season tickets as well.
But think it'll kill off an already flagging atmosphere and be used to drive up prices. North Stand will get "value tickets" while Colin Bell tier 3 will go above £1,000.
I've written about this at greater length somewhere else in the thread. Let me find it.
North Stand Expansion
That’s not how high end business works though? It’s a balancing act no doubt but when a north stand extension happens then it will be 18 months to do and the club also want to host champions league finals etc? 18 months on site, but the same again in planning/tendering. As far as i'm aware the...
For what it's worth, I was really excited about the South Stand extension when it happened. And any potential of the North Stand getting bigger years later was pretty enticing as well. I've sat in the North Stand since 2003 and I thought the expansion looked great when it was first built. I even sat up there for Kompany's testimonial and had a cracking night. Loads of legroom, a great view, good facilities, etc.
But I think, with hindsight, the atmosphere has grown considerably worse in the years since its completion. For a number of reasons. First of all, it does mean we have about 1,000 empty seats dotted about the place, but empty seats have never really concerned me. We've got about 45k core supports and the rest come and go as they please, that's who City are. But the South Stand expansion allowed to club to exploit something...
If they can keep the media (and the happier of clappers amongst our support) happy with "the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League" then they can continue to price out fans elsewhere in the ground. I remember in 2016 when a bunch of lads I'd known for years suddenly had to stop going to City - the club had put their season tickets up by 50% because they'd built "Joe's Bar" in their area of the ground.
So it was "Pay up £800" or "Fuck off".
The £299 "value season ticket" has always stayed the same price but in the same timeframe my season ticket has gone up by about £100. And I'm on the second tier of the North Stand. I don't even want to think about the prices people have to pay in the East Stand or Colin Bell. It all contributes to a large section of our working class support being slowly priced out over the years. They're generally the ones who make the most noise.
As more and more of our louder, working class fans have opted for cheaper tickets in other areas of the ground (or have just given up because they can't afford it anymore) the places where the atmosphere used to be the best (East/South Stand corner, South Stand tier 1) have been slowly picked apart. Maybe the club would have done this anyway without the expansion but I think the expansion only sped the process up.
Although I don't think our atmosphere has been the same since the 12/13 season. The 10/11 + 11/12 seasons were fantastic. A former member of this forum, Skashion (some will remember him), dubbed them "The Poznan Years". Two years of constantly rising as a club, the fans going to games with no expectations and coming away having seen yet another win. An FA Cup we never expected to win, then the greatest title win in history.
But I think 12/13 was a harsh reality check of what it was really like to be a top side. We actually had expectations going into that season and they weren't met. The fanbase has felt different to me since then, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the last year they had the £95 season ticket for kids under 16. Rising expectations and rising prices combined, then the South Stand was expanded...
The atmosphere will obviously be crackling on Sunday if things go well, but I think the club have to have a word with themselves about why we've become known amongst other fans for never selling out home games, having empty seats, and constantly having flat atmospheres. We have higher average attendances than Chelsea, Tottenham, and United, yet we're known as the plastics. Sometimes we have to look at ourselves.
We never had these issues when the average season ticket price was £600 (which is cheaper than some of the "cheaper" tickets in the ground these days) and the stadium had 48,000 seats. I think we sold out every single home game of the 11/12 season. The "Emptihad" stuff only really started during the Pellegrini years and got significantly worse after the South Stand was completed.
I'm old enough to remember when the only part of the ground that got stick on here for "people leaving too early" or "never being full on school nights" was the North Stand immediately behind the goal. Now it's everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that in 2015 our highest priced season ticket was £860, whereas next season it will be £980. That's a rise of 14% in seven years.
And that's not including the "Premium Seats" where you get charged £1450 to sit on a padded cushion (?) and get to visit the exclusive and allegedly brilliant 93:20 Bar, which I was treated to for a home game against West Ham in 2016 and it just seemed like a slightly glorified version of the basic concourse that everybody else uses and doesn't pay over £1000 for the privilege of using.
So yeah, the South Stand expansion. It's sucked atmosphere away from the loudest areas of the ground, it's taken our most vocal supporters away from the singing areas (or been used as a method to price them out), and it makes the stadium look a bit like a toilet seat when you look at it from the train approaching Piccadilly. A nice idea that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. A North Stand expansion would only make things worse, in my opinion.
Don't really think this is a good idea but understand the club have to do it.
Enables us to host the Champions League final, makes the North Stand look less ridiculous, probably means we can go up to 45,000 season tickets as well.
But think it'll kill off an already flagging atmosphere and be used to drive up prices. North Stand will get "value tickets" while Colin Bell tier 3 will go above £1,000.
I've written about this at greater length somewhere else in the thread. Let me find it.
North Stand Expansion
That’s not how high end business works though? It’s a balancing act no doubt but when a north stand extension happens then it will be 18 months to do and the club also want to host champions league finals etc? 18 months on site, but the same again in planning/tendering. As far as i'm aware the...
For what it's worth, I was really excited about the South Stand extension when it happened. And any potential of the North Stand getting bigger years later was pretty enticing as well. I've sat in the North Stand since 2003 and I thought the expansion looked great when it was first built. I even sat up there for Kompany's testimonial and had a cracking night. Loads of legroom, a great view, good facilities, etc.
But I think, with hindsight, the atmosphere has grown considerably worse in the years since its completion. For a number of reasons. First of all, it does mean we have about 1,000 empty seats dotted about the place, but empty seats have never really concerned me. We've got about 45k core supports and the rest come and go as they please, that's who City are. But the South Stand expansion allowed to club to exploit something...
If they can keep the media (and the happier of clappers amongst our support) happy with "the cheapest season ticket in the Premier League" then they can continue to price out fans elsewhere in the ground. I remember in 2016 when a bunch of lads I'd known for years suddenly had to stop going to City - the club had put their season tickets up by 50% because they'd built "Joe's Bar" in their area of the ground.
So it was "Pay up £800" or "Fuck off".
The £299 "value season ticket" has always stayed the same price but in the same timeframe my season ticket has gone up by about £100. And I'm on the second tier of the North Stand. I don't even want to think about the prices people have to pay in the East Stand or Colin Bell. It all contributes to a large section of our working class support being slowly priced out over the years. They're generally the ones who make the most noise.
As more and more of our louder, working class fans have opted for cheaper tickets in other areas of the ground (or have just given up because they can't afford it anymore) the places where the atmosphere used to be the best (East/South Stand corner, South Stand tier 1) have been slowly picked apart. Maybe the club would have done this anyway without the expansion but I think the expansion only sped the process up.
Although I don't think our atmosphere has been the same since the 12/13 season. The 10/11 + 11/12 seasons were fantastic. A former member of this forum, Skashion (some will remember him), dubbed them "The Poznan Years". Two years of constantly rising as a club, the fans going to games with no expectations and coming away having seen yet another win. An FA Cup we never expected to win, then the greatest title win in history.
But I think 12/13 was a harsh reality check of what it was really like to be a top side. We actually had expectations going into that season and they weren't met. The fanbase has felt different to me since then, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the last year they had the £95 season ticket for kids under 16. Rising expectations and rising prices combined, then the South Stand was expanded...
The atmosphere will obviously be crackling on Sunday if things go well, but I think the club have to have a word with themselves about why we've become known amongst other fans for never selling out home games, having empty seats, and constantly having flat atmospheres. We have higher average attendances than Chelsea, Tottenham, and United, yet we're known as the plastics. Sometimes we have to look at ourselves.
We never had these issues when the average season ticket price was £600 (which is cheaper than some of the "cheaper" tickets in the ground these days) and the stadium had 48,000 seats. I think we sold out every single home game of the 11/12 season. The "Emptihad" stuff only really started during the Pellegrini years and got significantly worse after the South Stand was completed.
I'm old enough to remember when the only part of the ground that got stick on here for "people leaving too early" or "never being full on school nights" was the North Stand immediately behind the goal. Now it's everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that in 2015 our highest priced season ticket was £860, whereas next season it will be £980. That's a rise of 14% in seven years.
And that's not including the "Premium Seats" where you get charged £1450 to sit on a padded cushion (?) and get to visit the exclusive and allegedly brilliant 93:20 Bar, which I was treated to for a home game against West Ham in 2016 and it just seemed like a slightly glorified version of the basic concourse that everybody else uses and doesn't pay over £1000 for the privilege of using.
So yeah, the South Stand expansion. It's sucked atmosphere away from the loudest areas of the ground, it's taken our most vocal supporters away from the singing areas (or been used as a method to price them out), and it makes the stadium look a bit like a toilet seat when you look at it from the train approaching Piccadilly. A nice idea that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. A North Stand expansion would only make things worse, in my opinion.
I think your points mostly aren’t really valid (apart from prices) and some are quite bizarre.
You seem to think we should never have expanded at all, which is just crazy considering we’re now even selling out early round league cup games. In the entire history of the club, demand for tickets has never been as high as it is now.
I also disagree that the South Stand expansion made the atmosphere worse. The atmosphere was at it’s best around 2012 simply because success was ‘new’. Expectations change as we get better and therefore fans are just quieter for lesser games because people sit back and expect the team to put on a show. It’s nothing to do with having an expanded South Stand. Some of the best ever atmosphere’s at this stadium have come since the the expansion including the best ever in the league vs Liverpool in 2019.
I also think you’re wrongly wrapped up about empty seats. League games in the main are restricted to ticket exchange seats and as mentioned before even early round league cup games are now selling out. There will always be people who don’t turn up to games - it’s the same at many clubs.
Tbh, I think your real issue is that you’re worried you might have to move, so you’re thinking of any reason you can to try and justify not progressing as a club.
Could be that my mind's playing tricks on me. I was 16-18 during the Poznan Years, as they've been dubbed by former BM member Skashion, so there's a chance my view of it all is rose-tinged nostalgia. I was a (newly) single teenage lad from Stockport, I was in college all week, playing football and video games on a Friday night, going to City on a Saturday morning, rinse and repeat. So it was a very happy and exciting time in my life and therefore everything I remember about it should be taken with a pinch of salt. But I remember the atmosphere of those two full seasons under Mancini being electric 99% of the time. I think it was the lack of expectations matching up with the success we were having that made the Etihad an exciting place to be. But after we won the title in 2012, expectations were significantly raised and the 12/13 season was a big reality check. Then the club started pricing out loads of people in the singing sections, then they built the third tier on the South Stand. Gradually, a lot of the conditions that made the atmosphere what it was were changed. The singing sections were broken up by inflated pricing, the sold out games grew fewer and further between because of the South Stand expansion, and things haven't ever really turned around since.