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- #1
Day off work and already I'm bored (and a little bit hungry).
So let's tackle this mammoth of comparison between the two Sheffield clubs.
Crowds
This old gem of a fiery nugget, seemingly central to the "bigger club, better club" argument.
Using the past five years as a comparison...
2002/03 - 18,068 20,326
2003/04 - 21,645 22,379
2004/05 - 19,488 22,731
2005/06 - 23,650 24,853
2006/07 - 30,378 23,638
You have to have a begrudging respect for how many grunters turn out to watch their team, especially when two of those seasons were spent in Division Two. However, this season, the Blades were a full +5373 on the Owl's average attendance up to October 17th... 25,288 to 19,915. (Stats from http://www.emfootball.co.uk)
Ticket Price
Hmmm... wonder if there's any difference here.
The Blades work on a category system, the most expensive and cheapest price for each category are as follows:
Cat A* - £30 (South Stand) - £26 (Kop)
Cat A - £26 (South Stand) - £22 (Kop)
Cat B - £24 (South Stand) £20 Kop
Cat C - £10 all areas of ground.
The Owls don't work on a category system. Tickets are £1 more expensive if bought on the day of the match. Pre-match day ticket prices are as follows:
Cheapest: Kop & Family Enclosure - £21
Most Expensive: South Stand - £26
So sometimes the Blades can be more expensive, sometimes they can be cheaper. No pricing reason for the difference in attendance this year.
Grounds
This is always an interesting one.
Hillsborough's capacity = 39,814
Bramall Lane's capacity = 32,609
Age of the grounds:
Hillsborough:
West Stand - Opened in 1966
South Stand - Opened 1914, renovated 1966 and 1996.
North Stand - Opened 1961
Kop - Covered in 1986, can't find any other date.
So most of Hillsborough is the best part of half a century old and it's showing. There is hardly any available land around the ground for further development and the flooding cost millions in insurance pay-outs, making any developers think twice about the ground nestling next to the river.
Bramall Lane:
South Stand - Opened 1975
Bramall Lane End - Opened 1966
John Street - Opened 1996
Kop - Renovated 1991
"Evolution Corner" - Opened 2002?
New Corner - Opened 2006
Despite being smaller, the Lane is newer and utilising all the spare land being a former cricket ground has afforded us, work has just begun on a new hotel to further improve the image of the club.
More to come in a bit...
So let's tackle this mammoth of comparison between the two Sheffield clubs.
Crowds
This old gem of a fiery nugget, seemingly central to the "bigger club, better club" argument.
Using the past five years as a comparison...
2002/03 - 18,068 20,326
2003/04 - 21,645 22,379
2004/05 - 19,488 22,731
2005/06 - 23,650 24,853
2006/07 - 30,378 23,638
You have to have a begrudging respect for how many grunters turn out to watch their team, especially when two of those seasons were spent in Division Two. However, this season, the Blades were a full +5373 on the Owl's average attendance up to October 17th... 25,288 to 19,915. (Stats from http://www.emfootball.co.uk)
Ticket Price
Hmmm... wonder if there's any difference here.
The Blades work on a category system, the most expensive and cheapest price for each category are as follows:
Cat A* - £30 (South Stand) - £26 (Kop)
Cat A - £26 (South Stand) - £22 (Kop)
Cat B - £24 (South Stand) £20 Kop
Cat C - £10 all areas of ground.
The Owls don't work on a category system. Tickets are £1 more expensive if bought on the day of the match. Pre-match day ticket prices are as follows:
Cheapest: Kop & Family Enclosure - £21
Most Expensive: South Stand - £26
So sometimes the Blades can be more expensive, sometimes they can be cheaper. No pricing reason for the difference in attendance this year.
Grounds
This is always an interesting one.
Hillsborough's capacity = 39,814
Bramall Lane's capacity = 32,609
Age of the grounds:
Hillsborough:
West Stand - Opened in 1966
South Stand - Opened 1914, renovated 1966 and 1996.
North Stand - Opened 1961
Kop - Covered in 1986, can't find any other date.
So most of Hillsborough is the best part of half a century old and it's showing. There is hardly any available land around the ground for further development and the flooding cost millions in insurance pay-outs, making any developers think twice about the ground nestling next to the river.
Bramall Lane:
South Stand - Opened 1975
Bramall Lane End - Opened 1966
John Street - Opened 1996
Kop - Renovated 1991
"Evolution Corner" - Opened 2002?
New Corner - Opened 2006
Despite being smaller, the Lane is newer and utilising all the spare land being a former cricket ground has afforded us, work has just begun on a new hotel to further improve the image of the club.
More to come in a bit...
