Bramall Lane

[Houston_Blade]

Why would you want to give away teams the advantage of 7000 fans backing them? The away fans area really should be the east end of the John st stand give them the 3000 minimum and no more sell both tiers of Bramall lane to home fans, I hate seeing away fans behind the goal everyone else puts away fans in a corner or on the side stands. How often did we get allocated more than 3000 seats in the Premier League? Not very often I'd say.

I wouldn't want to, I'm just saying that it's the only way we sell out a 35k+ capacity stadium on anything like a regular basis.

 

[SRA76]

Agree....our ground looked really impressive on TV, great atmosphere too.
Our ground has actually improved it's reputation and has become more and more attractive to neutrals over the years.

Many grounds these days are nondescript bowls built on the outskirts of towns and cities. Where as ours is affectionately describes by outsiders as "old skool" and is rated highly due to being in the city centre with dozens of pubs within 15 minutes walk of the ground.

The only thing that still gets me though is how the national media STILL never mention that Bramall Lane is the oldest and most historical ground in world football.

If they start going on about history of lane to much they’d have to say pigs played there first so leave em to it

 

[ShropsBlade]

It's clear as day a successful Sheffield football club would pull in some of the biggest crowds in the country. I don't see how its even up for debate.

It’s not clear as day though.United and Wednesday both get very healthy average crowds for our success levels.However none of us are close to being a club who hang around the the top half of the premier league constantly.And even when Wednesday was part of the premier league furniture in the 90s they only averaged late 20ks.I think both clubs would average more now but we do have a ceiling , and I reckon that’s somewhere in the mid 30s

 

[Sean Thornton]

Sunderland. Leicester, Brighton off the top- sure there are others - who arguably built stadia not justified by their crowds in many seasons - but they seemed to have an attitude of actively trying to attract floating and new fans.
We have this bizarre approach of trying to keep them out. Countless stories just from own circle of people fancying going to a game and being put off by the ticketing policy often for games when there was no chance away fans would be buying tickets in our end.

We’ve never had the money. We may produce some mighty fine mock ups of what we’d like to do but the reality is we’ve never been in a financial position to break ground. The theory of ground expansion is obviously great, but as things stand now, and did in the past, without a hugely wealthy owner. It’s a pipe dream. The clubs being mentioned have that, pretending it’s some sort of reasonable comparison is pushing it a bit.



Now if Widler hadn’t relegated us all on his own…….

(Farts, exits full lift).

 

[Houston_Blade]

It's clear as day a successful Sheffield football club would pull in some of the biggest crowds in the country. I don't see how its even up for debate.

Define "successful" for me please.

I'd say we'd need to be top half PL for a good few years to have anywhere near 40k fans on a regular basis.

 

[Working Class Hero]

The last time Bert looked there was a street right behind the stand.
Bert figured that building on that street might not go down well.

He also spotted one behind the Bramall Lane stand.

Very observant Bert, but I meant expanding the capacity, not the footprint.

 

[Champagneblade]

The last time Bert looked there was a street right behind the stand.
Bert figured that building on that street might not go down well.

He also spotted one behind the Bramall Lane stand.

I suppose the alternative is a death defying gradient like at Newcastle.

Then again those in the houses in the street probably wouldn't mind seeing daylight from time to time. The fussy buggers!

 

[bladesmanluke]

It’s not clear as day though.United and Wednesday both get very healthy average crowds for our success levels.However none of us are close to being a club who hang around the the top half of the premier league constantly.And even when Wednesday was part of the premier league furniture in the 90s they only averaged late 20ks.I think both clubs would average more now but we do have a ceiling , and I reckon that’s somewhere in the mid 30s

What is the point in comparing 90's attendances when everyone got fewer through the gates by a huge amount?

Hypothetically, if there was no limit to the size of the ground, no restricted views. No issues for day trippers with no memberships or lack of 500 loyalty points. No "single seats only remaining". We'd have averaged at least 35k in our first season back in the prem. Every game (save for the Bournemouth one in 60mph winds) was effectively sold out if you discount single seats and restricted views.

It's not even far off in the championship. 3 sides of the ground are effectively (same issues permitting) sold out nigh on every week. Only the Bramall Lane Upper is available for anyone wanting to turn up on the day and buy 2 or 3 tickets sat together. Of course this is only possible if you've a purchase history. Without such restrictions we'd be even closer to selling out games completely.

We've sold over 22k season tickets again this season. Considering we normally average around 6,000 more across a season than the number of ST's sold, we're looking at a 28k average in the 2nd tier. Which is now only around 2k lower than our realistic capacity. The ground NEEDS expanding if we are to grow as a club.

All that said, it is not the priority. The squad, the training ground come first, but it is on the list of things required if we want to grow. The fan base will never grow if they can't get to games.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Define "successful" for me please.

I'd say we'd need to be top half PL for a good few years to have anywhere near 40k fans on a regular basis.

I'd counter, had we not so many restricted views, single seats and obstructions to buying tickets we'd have been a lot closer to that figure 2 years ago

 

[SRA76]

A massive factor regards PL football is the "floating/ neutral" fan.
When we were in the PL I personally know 4 people who had little interest in football, actually tell me they fancy going to see a live match at Bramall Lane.
They weren't on our database and just wanted to pay for a ticket without jumping through hoops.
So they failed to attend any of our matches matches, meaning LOST revenue and LOSS of a potential future fan.

I know that Leicester City always allowed season tickets holders to purchase extra tickets using their card.
Not sure why United don't do the same instead of asking every single fan to register and in some cases pay an additional membership fee.

Was same round our end. People who were suddenly going to lane in prem who had never shown any intrest b4 was amazing !!a family near us never missed a steelers game never went to a football game then bang , suddenly they were die hard blades !! But that’s what sucsess brings init ?

 

[Houston_Blade]

I'd counter, had we not so many restricted views, single seats and obstructions to buying tickets we'd have been a lot closer to that figure 2 years ago

It's all about opinions, I base mine on the lack of sell-outs in the PL season. I just don't think there are another 10k floating fans that some people seem to think we have.

 

[ShropsBlade]

What is the point in comparing 90's attendances when everyone got fewer through the gates by a huge amount?

Hypothetically, if there was no limit to the size of the ground, no restricted views. No issues for day trippers with no memberships or lack of 500 loyalty points. No "single seats only remaining". We'd have averaged at least 35k in our first season back in the prem. Every game (save for the Bournemouth one in 60mph winds) was effectively sold out if you discount single seats and restricted views.

It's not even far off in the championship. 3 sides of the ground are effectively (same issues permitting) sold out nigh on every week. Only the Bramall Lane Upper is available for anyone wanting to turn up on the day and buy 2 or 3 tickets sat together. Of course this is only possible if you've a purchase history. Without such restrictions we'd be even closer to selling out games completely.

We've sold over 22k season tickets again this season. Considering we normally average around 6,000 more across a season than the number of ST's sold, we're looking at a 28k average in the 2nd tier. Which is now only around 2k lower than our realistic capacity. The ground NEEDS expanding if we are to grow as a club.

All that said, it is not the priority. The squad, the training ground come first, but it is on the list of things required if we want to grow. The fan base will never grow if they can't get to games.

Averaging 28k in our first season back in the championship when expected to bounce back is much different to averaging 35-40k with a fanbase we simply don’t have.Would we get a few hundred maybe a thousand in extra in if we didn’t have restricted view seats and a crappy system for new fans attending ? Possibly . Would we increase our average attendance by 10k ? Seriously doubt it.

I agree with your last paragraph.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Some of the funniest and deluded comments I’ve read from the Truffle Botherers..

My favourite comment was the claim by one of them that Hillsborough is more famous.
Surely infamous is the correct word.

 

[alcoblade]

If they start going on about history of lane to much they’d have to say pigs played there first so leave em to it

They only ever rented it for their big games though, it was never their home.

Fucking pigs.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Averaging 28k in our first season back in the championship when expected to bounce back is much different to averaging 35-40k with a fanbase we simply don’t have.Would we get a few hundred maybe a thousand in extra in if we didn’t have restricted view seats and a crappy system for new fans attending ? Possibly . Would we increase our average attendance by 10k ? Seriously doubt it.

I agree with your last paragraph.

I mean we'll be averaging that again this season. The growth of our fan base over the last 20 years has been astronomical and i just think it would be a shame if we can't put ourselves in a position to capitalise on it.

That few hundred to a thousand would've filled the ground for the smaller fixtures. It then goes without saying what would happen for the bigger games in the Premier League if we had a bigger capacity.

No we wouldn't have averaged 40k with an unlimited capacity in 2020. Maybe around 34-35 I reckon, but a few years up there and I think we'd top 40 averages if we carried on the current trajectory of growing our fan base. We'd have to stop making it so difficult for the general public and tourists to get tickets on a one off though

 

[alcoblade]

It's all about opinions, I base mine on the lack of sell-outs in the PL season. I just don't think there are another 10k floating fans that some people seem to think we have.

I agree with BML though - the sales restrictions we place, and the lack of quality seating together drives away the Daytrippers that are the fans of the future.

I do agree that it doesn't make financial sense to expand though.

 

[metalblade]

Averaging 28k in our first season back in the championship when expected to bounce back is much different to averaging 35-40k with a fanbase we simply don’t have.Would we get a few hundred maybe a thousand in extra in if we didn’t have restricted view seats and a crappy system for new fans attending ? Possibly . Would we increase our average attendance by 10k ? Seriously doubt it.

I agree with your last paragraph.

What you have to remember is a fanbase is not built overnight, true add 5-10k seats and you might not sell all of them straight away. 20 years ago we were playing in front of sub 14-15k crowds 20 years on we have doubled that. Got to keep building that fanbase it is not only bums on seats, fans buy shirts and all sorts of other shite it all means more money into the club which in turn means better players.

 

[3-GBlade]

They only ever rented it for their big games though, it was never their home.

Fucking pigs.

Correct.
They are just like I would be if I claimed to live at Claridge's cos i once rented a room there

 

[Houston_Blade]

I agree with BML though - the sales restrictions we place, and the lack of quality seating together drives away the Daytrippers that are the fans of the future.

I do agree that it doesn't make financial sense to expand though.

I acknowledge that we definitely kept genuine Blades fans out of the stadium when we were in the PL, it was proper 'club retard' stuff.

 

[Houston_Blade]

fans buy shirts

Or would do if they were available!

 

[ShropsBlade]

I mean we'll be averaging that again this season. The growth of our fan base over the last 20 years has been astronomical and i just think it would be a shame if we can't put ourselves in a position to capitalise on it.

That few hundred to a thousand would've filled the ground for the smaller fixtures. It then goes without saying what would happen for the bigger games in the Premier League if we had a bigger capacity.

No we wouldn't have averaged 40k with an unlimited capacity in 2020. Maybe around 34-35 I reckon, but a few years up there and I think we'd top 40 averages if we carried on the current trajectory of growing our fan base. We'd have to stop making it so difficult for the general public and tourists to get tickets on a one off though

I think a subtle capacity increase is all we need at the moment, even if that’s just making the restricted views actually un restricted.The short term goals I’d like to see the club prioritise are..,,

Upgrade the training ground/academy achieving CAT 1 status to make the academy thrive even more and hold on to our best prospects.

Removal of the posts on the kop and possible refurb as it’s really starting to look shoddy and too many seats with obstructed view.

Making it much more accessible for new fans or day trippers.The current system is crap for newbies.

 

[ShropsBlade]

What you have to remember is a fanbase is not built overnight, true add 5-10k seats and you might not sell all of them straight away. 20 years ago we were playing in front of sub 14-15k crowds 20 years on we have doubled that. Got to keep building that fanbase it is not only bums on seats, fans buy shirts and all sorts of other shite it all means more money into the club which in turn means better players.

Yes I was there against your watfords in 2001 with 14k there.Or growth has been brilliant.However I don’t think we will be achieving anywhere close to 35-40k averages unless a billionaire comes in and makes us the next city or Newcastle.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Upgrade the training ground/academy achieving CAT 1 status to make the academy thrive even more and hold on to our best prospects.

On a tangent here I was having a chat with a club employee who told me the shorter term plan while the academy improvements are fully researched and implemented is that the club sets aside £250k per year to pay for kids released by Cat 1 academies. Bearing in mind that it's around £14k a year then that's probably only 2 players max per year, however I'm assuming this is what we did with Brooks/Peck etc. Probably similar with Ndiaye, albeit his wasn't from a Cat 1 but some compensation would have changed hands.

 

[bladesmanluke]

I think a subtle capacity increase is all we need at the moment, even if that’s just making the restricted views actually un restricted.The short term goals I’d like to see the club prioritise are..,,

Upgrade the training ground/academy achieving CAT 1 status to make the academy thrive even more and hold on to our best prospects.

Removal of the posts on the kop and possible refurb as it’s really starting to look shoddy and too many seats with obstructed view.

Making it much more accessible for new fans or day trippers.The current system is crap for newbies.

I can't disagree with any of that, only to say purely from a cost of work point of view it's probably beneficial to do a capacity expansion alongside removal of posts and a new roof on the kop. Else it's throwing 10 to 15 million at something that whilst is a problem, wouldn't recoup much of that outlay. And yes, certainly bigger priorities right now

 

[ShropsBlade]

On a tangent here I was having a chat with a club employee who told me the shorter term plan while the academy improvements are fully researched and implemented is that the club sets aside £250k per year to pay for kids released by Cat 1 academies. Bearing in mind that it's around £14k a year then that's probably only 2 players max per year, however I'm assuming this is what we did with Brooks/Peck etc. Probably similar with Ndiaye, albeit his wasn't from a Cat 1 but some compensation would have changed hands.

That sounds believable with the players we have brought from other academy’s .Seems a decent idea for now.

 

[ShropsBlade]

I can't disagree with any of that, only to say purely from a cost of work point of view it's probably beneficial to do a capacity expansion alongside removal of posts and a new roof on the kop. Else it's throwing 10 to 15 million at something that whilst is a problem, wouldn't recoup much of that outlay. And yes, certainly bigger priorities right now

I know some of the newer grounds and stands now , Stoke and Brentford for example are purpose built so they are easy to extend.So maybe something similar to that for the kop.There is also the corner spare between the kop and south stand too for extra seating.

 

[SwindonBladeJnr]

We sold out all home tickets well in advance of that game, so yes.

What you have to consider is that we rarely sell all the tickets as there's plenty of restricted view seats, that people simply refuse to sit in.

Remove those restricted view seats, increase capacity, and average attendance will increase.

It was also live on Sky Sports.

 

[Stanthemanfan]

 

[Stanthemanfan]

View attachment 140421

Why is that then?

 

[Stanthemanfan]