Time to move the family stand

[LongsightM13]

Would anyone consider a guy on a microphone getting the crowd going? I don't particularly like the idea but it seems to be in our stadium it's an organisational issue

You can get fucked with that idea, right now. This is not America

 

[Beaker]

They have made noises about doing this but didn’t follow through. I had a season ticket in 232 from 2013-14 and they never said anything about family groups at that stage.

The guy who sat next to me had a six year old son and they relocated to the South Stand tier three when it opened because the seats were much cheaper there. Someone behind me was threatened with relocation because his children were over age. He, and his family, still there now!

The whole administration of the family stand is confused, and at times self-contradictory. The area is far too large to be sustainable as a family stand, hence all the anomalies.

I remain convinced that the empty seats are pretty well all no shows by season ticket holders rather than unsold seats. The seat next to me is occupied at best for two thirds of League matches and it has always been sold as a season ticket and is never available for purchase apart from Cup matches. It has been much the same for the last seven seasons.

There are a few blocks of seats in the lower tier which are sometimes occupied by visiting groups often dressed in the same kit (junior teams?). I suspect that these are the seats that may be given as comps for a few games.

There is absolutely no prospect of major changes in the Family Stand. It would be far too disruptive. Maybe, when or rather if, the North Stand is expanded there might be major relocations.

I thought the club put out a communication a couple of years ago saying that NSL1 was no longer an area where you had to have kids with you, and it would no longer be part of the family section. Did I dream this or did it actually happen because it seems to have been given up on?

 

[Forzacitizens]

You can get fucked with that idea, right now. This is not America

I agree with you really longsight but we're trying to think of ways to improve the atmosphere. They do it quite a lot in serie A

 

[LongsightM13]

I agree with you really longsight but we're trying to think of ways to improve the atmosphere. They do it quite a lot in serie A

Totally different fan culture. We don’t have or want ‘capos’ here because English atmospheres are more related and reactive to the game itself rather than the choreographed and stage managed European style.
I could see poseurs like them Palace divs doing something like that but they are European wannabes
I genuinely think our problems could only be solved through changes to matchday pricing and stadium layout

 

[Forzacitizens]

Totally different fan culture. We don’t have or want ‘capos’ here because English atmospheres are more related and reactive to the game itself rather than the choreographed and stage managed European style.
I could see poseurs like them Palace divs doing something like that but they are European wannabes
I genuinely think our problems could only be solved through changes to matchday pricing and stadium layout

For me there's a stark difference between the category a matches/big champions league matches and the ordinary Premier league match. Obviously because people are not as up for certain games. Could anything be done in the concourse to?

 

[spacecadet]

Totally different fan culture. We don’t have or want ‘capos’ here because English atmospheres are more related and reactive to the game itself rather than the choreographed and stage managed European style.
I could see poseurs like them Palace divs doing something like that but they are European wannabes
I genuinely think our problems could only be solved through changes to matchday pricing and stadium layout

Spot on again. Pricing and layout are the main problem.

 

[johnnytapia]

As we’ve both said previously. The club can argue that all they want. But one of the main reason we aren’t always selling out/ filling seats is because of their poor choices. Expensive tickets, areas of the ground/ seats that are unavailable. If they made tickets more accessible and affordable we’d always sell out

the level 2 premium areas are some of the emptiest areas in the ground and we really struggle to sell tickets in those areas. Seems to be away fans who are filling those seats

I’m in 93:20, dozens of Leeds fans sitting around me last week and several Leicester fans yesterday. I got bumped out of Colin Bell 1 after being told extra room was needed for wheelchair access. We were told 93:20 was only place they could guarantee 4 seats together. Horseshit.
It got a bit tempestuous against Leeds and I envisage worse in some “bigger” games ahead.
The whole seating issue needs addressing afresh. Bin the family stand; make north stand one big stand, fuck off for good any corporate ticket holder found selling their seat to non city fans. And let me have my old seat back!

 

[fathellensbellend]

No it's not anyone can buy tickets in there

ok its the family stand where anybody can buy tickets

 

[Dodgy ankle]

It was.
And it was full for most of the games.
We always sold the 44,000 Capacity out.
Even when we went to 48,000 it was pretty much sold out every home game.
Then we went to 54,000 and there’s been empty seats ever since.
The Family stand was created, older fans were move out of the Family stand to accommodate the kids and their parents.

Sorry mate but your memory is different to mine, it didn't sell out many times, only the big games. Have a look back through some of the season dvd's there were lots of empty seats (sadly). Our fan base has grown since those days but not necessarily fast enough to fill all the seats all the time. I'm sure the family stand issues do need addressing though. Coincidentally during the second half I relocated fro ESL1 to the corner of the NSL1 during the Leicester game just to experience it myself, it was soulless & lacked even less "vibe" than my own seat, at 80 mins the exodus started (not only NSL) thousands missed the 6th goal. Keep smiling.

 

[jrb]

Sorry mate but your memory is different to mine, it didn't sell out many times, only the big games. Have a look back through some of the season dvd's there were lots of empty seats (sadly). Our fan base has grown since those days but not necessarily fast enough to fill all the seats all the time. I'm sure the family stand issues do need addressing though. Coincidentally during the second half I relocated fro ESL1 to the corner of the NSL1 during the Leicester game just to experience it myself, it was soulless & lacked even less "vibe" than my own seat, at 80 mins the exodus started (not only NSL) thousands missed the 6th goal. Keep smiling.

TBH my memory isn’t great, so I’ll accept that.

However, I seem to remember the stadium being full or almost full most of the time prior to Pearce, when he single handedly shaved 1000’s off the gate with his dire football that season and the following season. Hughes struggled to get the fans back. Mancini and his great title winning team brought the fans back in their drives. I don’t recall much piss taking of our attendances then, or empty seat jibes.