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North Stand Construction Thread


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I'd say there was more diversity in how stands were then than there is now. Or at least now there is very much a 'stock'/template stand.

 

The brick facade I'd hate to lose, same with the paddock section, and the benches up the stairs are pretty unique. We'd never have a two tiered stand built now either. Obviously there are many flaws to it but on a very general level I love the Main Stand.

 

I'm not saying the club will be able to keep it all, but if they knocked it down and built another stand that made BP look like an identical copy of Chesterfield or Shrewsbury or Colchester's stadium I'd hate it. Deepdale is an example of how modern stadiums should be: close to the pitch, steep with not much gaps in the corners of the stand - as is Rotherham's, but we're obviously not getting a whole new stadium at once. I'm not against new stands, just I like to retain the character and the 'intimacy' of old stadiums that have struggled to be replicated in many new grounds.

 

I agree on the whole, it only takes a couple of little tweaks to make a stand our own. A brick facade would be ideal, it relates to the vernacular and would also help placate those living opposite. And as oafc-latics says it might well be necessary for there to be steps down to the pitch regardless.

 

Let's get this one finished first though, eh? :D

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I agree on the whole, it only takes a couple of little tweaks to make a stand our own. A brick facade would be ideal, it relates to the vernacular and would also help placate those living opposite. And as oafc-latics says it might well be necessary for there to be steps down to the pitch regardless.

 

Let's get this one finished first though, eh? :D

I guess t all comes down to what you get for your money.

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No, looks like it'll be totally opaque.

 

Personally I'm quite pleased, translucent/transparent roofing has a nasty habit of appearing very grubby very quickly.

 

Yep. Just have a look at the front of the roof on the Main Stand or the side panels of the Chaddy or the RRE .

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Thanks for taking the time to post so many pictures of the construction, Diego, it means a lot to fans like me, who live too far away to see it in the flesh.

 

My take on the stand, for what it's worth, is that it really is to Championship standard and the club are to be congratulated for having shown this level of ambition.

If you compare it to the likes of Northampton Town's new stand, which is of similar design, you will see that ours is on a completely different and grander scale. And, (younger fans look away now) Northampton, historically, are at about our level).

The fact that the seating capacity is relatively modest is to be applauded - pragmatic business approach, vast retail space, imposing silhouette and especially, that curved roof! All in all, a very appealing addition to Boundary Park. "The pint that thinks it's a quart", to paraphrase the old Greenhall whitley advert.

 

Regarding the Main Stand - it's imperative that we keep the Main Stand. If and when it were to be developed, it should run the full length of the pitch and conserve the paddock. It won't have escaped Simon Corney's notice that old stadiums are becoming "collectors items". Being a London lad, he no doubt frequented the late Highbury Stadium on occasion and will be fully acquainted with the architectural significance of Archibald leitch's "chef-d'oeuvre".

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Am I the only one who feels the Main Stand is nothing more than a dump and not fit for purpose in the 21st centuary ? Its okay a stand having character but come on it only covers 2/3 of the touchline the facilities are shocking and for the size of it it holds a pitiful amount of fans, for me it should be flattened and a single tier stand put in that allows the sun onto the near touchline .

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Am I the only one who feels the Main Stand is nothing more than a dump and not fit for purpose in the 21st centuary ? Its okay a stand having character but come on it only covers 2/3 of the touchline the facilities are shocking and for the size of it it holds a pitiful amount of fans, for me it should be flattened and a single tier stand put in that allows the sun onto the near touchline .

Piece of history to sentimentalists, with great value.

 

No one will dispute that in its current state it's not up to scratch but I'd hope they would renovate it to cover the full length of the pitch while keeping the paddock feature and the character that we'd never achieve from a totally new stand.

 

I'm fully aware it's probably a bit sad and this will never happen - there is an increasing culture in favour of money and a quick fix in the game. It's very boring if there is little variety that not retaining historical stuff brings. And things that may be impractical to build now, like having a paddock, that are great to have, you can keep and update to suit modern practicalities.

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Thanks for taking the time to post so many pictures of the construction, Diego, it means a lot to fans like me, who live too far away to see it in the flesh.

 

My take on the stand, for what it's worth, is that it really is to Championship standard and the club are to be congratulated for having shown this level of ambition.

If you compare it to the likes of Northampton Town's new stand, which is of similar design, you will see that ours is on a completely different and grander scale. And, (younger fans look away now) Northampton, historically, are at about our level).

The fact that the seating capacity is relatively modest is to be applauded - pragmatic business approach, vast retail space, imposing silhouette and especially, that curved roof! All in all, a very appealing addition to Boundary Park. "The pint that thinks it's a quart", to paraphrase the old Greenhall whitley advert.

 

Regarding the Main Stand - it's imperative that we keep the Main Stand. If and when it were to be developed, it should run the full length of the pitch and conserve the paddock. It won't have escaped Simon Corney's notice that old stadiums are becoming "collectors items". Being a London lad, he no doubt frequented the late Highbury Stadium on occasion and will be fully acquainted with the architectural significance of Archibald leitch's "chef-d'oeuvre".

'Whitbread Big Head, Trophy Bitter, the pint that thinks it's a quart' now that brings back memories!
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Am I the only one who feels the Main Stand is nothing more than a dump and not fit for purpose in the 21st centuary ? Its okay a stand having character but come on it only covers 2/3 of the touchline the facilities are shocking and for the size of it it holds a pitiful amount of fans, for me it should be flattened and a single tier stand put in that allows the sun onto the near touchline .

Nope - I think so too, no matter how much I love it.

 

Piece of history to sentimentalists, with great value.

 

No one will dispute that in its current state it's not up to scratch but I'd hope they would renovate it to cover the full length of the pitch while keeping the paddock feature and the character that we'd never achieve from a totally new stand.

 

I'm fully aware it's probably a bit sad and this will never happen - there is an increasing culture in favour of money and a quick fix in the game. It's very boring if there is little variety that not retaining historical stuff brings. And things that may be impractical to build now, like having a paddock, that are great to have, you can keep and update to suit modern practicalities.

Unfortunately there's not as much room for sentimentalism in today's world (football or otherwise). That stand is my childhood, I've never sat in any other stand for more than the occasional game with mates, I've been knocked unconscious by a warm-up ball in the old days, being knocked off my spot sitting on the sponsors boards' wall at the front. I've ran down those steps as fast as my chubby little legs would carry me as mascot. I love it.

 

But, all that said it's simply not sustainable. I would speculate that to just renovate it to a state where year on year it broke even, let alone made money, would cost as much as the new stand is. It's a crumbling wreck internally, you only have to go in the back of the upper stand to see the state of the brickwork etc. The idea we could bolt-on an improved upper tier and extend it the length of the pitch is as wilder a fantasy as seeing us in the Champions League, as sad as that may be to say.

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"The pint that thinks it's a quart", to paraphrase the old Greenhall whitley advert.

 

 

I thin kyou'll find that was "Whitbread big head Trophy bitter, the pint that thinks it's a quart" ANd it was as closely related to beer as John Smith's Extra Smooth is today!

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If Corney stays in charge then get ready for the Main Stand being closed within 5 years.

 

If the mainstand were to be closed without plans in place for redevelopment aka the Lookers that would equate to another few hundred regular fans down the Swanny.

 

I would hope that the club now realise that the knocking down of the ' Lookers ' was the biggest single factor in contributing to the continuing reduction in our fanbase and to repeat it with the demolition of the ' Mainstand ' would be suicidal.

 

However, when the new stand is up and running it will give us a minimum home capacity on three sides of 7700 and a maximum of over 9000 which would probably be enough even in the 'Championship.'

 

With that in mind and purely for financial reasons, knowing Corney I wouldn't rule it out!!

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The whole ground will equate to just under 14,000 wont it? If I've read correctly. Saying that, its all well and good having said capacity, but even in the championship if we were to get there, I would only expect 5,000 home fans with the average away attendance I'd assume between 1500 and 2500 as we would be a 'newish' ground to many in the championship. Hopefully, even if we are to remain in League 1 for the next 2-3 years, having this new stand with bring back many... who knows..

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The whole ground will equate to just under 14,000 wont it? If I've read correctly. Saying that, its all well and good having said capacity, but even in the championship if we were to get there, I would only expect 5,000 home fans with the average away attendance I'd assume between 1500 and 2500 as we would be a 'newish' ground to many in the championship. Hopefully, even if we are to remain in League 1 for the next 2-3 years, having this new stand with bring back many... who knows..

5000 in the Championship after 20 years of absence?

 

Even Yeovil were getting better crowds than that. Brentford regularly get 8000 home fans, same with Rotherham. Peterborough were getting 7000 in their relegation season.

 

Surely we could muster more than 5000...We'd be relegated straight away with them crowds, that's for sure.

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5000 in the Championship after 20 years of absence?

 

Even Yeovil were getting better crowds than that. Brentford regularly get 8000 home fans, same with Rotherham. Peterborough were getting 7000 in their relegation season.

 

Surely we could muster more than 5000...We'd be relegated straight away with them crowds, that's for sure.

We'd catch the eye of some City and United SkySports fans, I suspect.

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Main stand should be demolished as soon as the new stand is fully functioning and planning approval passed for a single tiered stand IMO...

 

No time for sentiment in this game that doesn't pay the bills

 

Hopefully the number of new fans the opening of the new stand brings offsets the loss of any fans that leave due to mothballing of the main stand...

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Perhaps it is an age thing, but the main stand has so much character i feel it should be retained. This is my opinion as sometimes change isn't for the better. Too many sterile football grounds, give me a crumbling wreck any day.

Maybe there is a way of retaining the facade like Rangers did with their main stand. The thing is though, that probably costs a lot more money than demolishing and starting from scratch, so we know which option Latics will take.
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