Closing different parts of the ground off

[Champagneblade]

Can we agree how rubbish this is.

I've not historically sat there because I always preferred the view on half way, but to get any sort of atmosphere you must have fans at ground level behind the goal.

Stand capacities give or take a few:
BLUT - 2,700
LOWER - 2,980
WESTFIELD HEALTH - 2,000
SOUTH - 7,500
KOP - 10,221
JSS - 7,000

So for me, if you don't fancy the cost of opening all, then despite the good view, you don't open the Westfield Corner and BLUT. That drops the capacity down to about 27,701.

If you still don't fancy opening all, then you don't bother with the JSS either. You need fans in the South Stand as this is where the players come out.

It leaves you a little north of 20k. Yes it makes it 3 sided but given the Kop and away end generate most noise then to me this is how the club should go.

Anything else looks somewhat tinpot.

 

[Deleted member 1486]

The reason they close the Kop and open the JSS is because all the TV cameras point towards the JSS.

It's a shit reason, and needs to change.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I moved from the kop to the South Stand many years ago so that I could have a better view and not have my enjoyment of the game spoiled by low-life, drunken idiots. That’s not to say all who go on the kop are low-life drunken idiots, The majority aren’t. But there are a fair few who are.

I got to an age where I wanted to go to a game, sit down and watch it, not having to stand up every two minutes to let others out for a piss and a pie or a fag, not having to listen to vile language, not have fights breaking out around me and not being thrown up on. Doesn’t seem much to ask to me, for an afternoon’s “entertainment”, but it was a challenge most weeks on the kop.

It’s a challenge sometimes in the South Stand as well. But less so. Except when they close the kop.

Think I might need to get an Exec box next and see if that’s any better?

 

[SwissBlade]

The reason they close the Kop and open the JSS is because all the TV cameras point towards the JSS.

It's a shit reason, and needs to change.

I thought it was because the kop is the shittest stand in terms of facilities and open concourse.

I've actually no problem with the Kop being shut for cup games when we're not going to get a crown of more than 15,000. It makes no sense and if theres 11,000 there you're not going to get the atmosphere.

I have a bigger issue with the fans that seem to be clamouring for Premier League tickets when the ground has sold out and away tickets to places like MK Dons on the last away game of the season when we can take 7,000+, but we can't get 15,000 for £15 tickets in an FA cup game...

Will we even sell our allocation for Millwall? Of course

 

[CrookesBlade]

I’ve no issue with it. The view and facilities on the Kop are poor so it’s only fair that the club offers up the decent seats first to those who can be bothered to attend.

That said we weren’t averaging much more than 11,000 under Adrian Heath for league games. I’m sure I remember 20 odd years ago the whole ground being open for early round of the league cup with only 3/4000 in.

 

[DaleHillBlade]

I thought it was because the kop is the shittest stand in terms of facilities and open concourse.

I've actually no problem with the Kop being shut for cup games when we're not going to get a crown of more than 15,000. It makes no sense and if theres 11,000 there you're not going to get the atmosphere.

I have a bigger issue with the fans that seem to be clamouring for Premier League tickets when the ground has sold out and away tickets to places like MK Dons on the last away game of the season when we can take 7,000+, but we can't get 15,000 for £15 tickets in an FA cup game...

Will we even sell our allocation for Millwall? Of course

This exactly. Puts to bed any debate about ticket availability.

 

[Davalon]

Much ado about nothing.

In small crowds opening the Kop would make little or no difference. People would be even more sparsely populated and the 50 or so together at the back of the Kop would make bugger all difference imho.

 

[mattbianco1]

The reason they close the Kop and open the JSS is because all the TV cameras point towards the JSS.

It's a shit reason, and needs to change.

Well they should close the South then (my stand ).

The problem with not opening the Kop is that all the singers at the back grab tickets on another stand and don't end up sitting together like they do on the Kop. I heard a few people try to get a song going on Sunday, but nobody is/was bothered.

The Kop should ALWAYS be open. Until they knock the terrible structure down and rebuild it

 

[Ricky]

11,000 is more than enough to justify opening all sides of the ground - especially at £15 ticket prices.

And then as a result you'd get additional attendees on top of that.

Yes we can squeeze into 2 stands but it's cheap, it's tinpot, it's pathetic, it's disrespectful, it sends out the wrong message and only damages the atmosphere and the feeling of the game.

Some can see this. Some just can't.

 

[Champagneblade]

Much ado about nothing.

In small crowds opening the Kop would make little or no difference. People would be even more sparsely populated and the 50 or so together at the back of the Kop would make bugger all difference imho.

With the same logic, how do 2-3k behind the goal make such a din away?

 

[SB_90]

i said yesterday on the fylde thread yesterday that sheff utd are blameless in this. change starts with the fans. & that if we were drew at home to anyone in rd 4 if you can go. do, dont have a week off & prove the people at the ticket office wrong & make them think twice about opening the kop if the demand is there which it currently isnt. because we have nobody to blame but ourselves as a fan while the fans for the last decade are no shows as ive said before 4 of now last 29 home cup ties since 2010 had a crowd of over 20,000. January 2015 was the last game. so if want week off this will carry on

on SwissBlade point you can guarantee maybe 5th rd certainly home quarter final if we make it we will be besieged by people wanting a ticket who could be arsed to turn up 86% of other cup ties

 

[BushBlade]

I think next season they should open the kop and see how much difference it makes. If we still get around 12k then don’t bother in the future.

 

[Davalon]

With the same logic, how do 2-3k behind the goal make such a din away?

I'm not sure you can compare 2 or 3 thousand Blades filling an away end to the same number sparsely scattered across a 10,500 stand at home for a cup game against lower league opposition.

 

[PokerBlade]

I go to the ground to watch football and I want the best view I can get. Everything else is secondary.

Simple thing is we don't take the cup seriously and so fans don't come in large numbers and so it's not worth opening the whole ground.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

The Kop is my stand of choice, if only because I enjoy singing. All the other stands have little or no atmosphere in comparison, but a far superior view.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

I see Fulham have knocked a stand down.

 

[BushBlade]

I go to the ground to watch football and I want the best view I can get. Everything else is secondary.

Simple thing is we don't take the cup seriously and so fans don't come in large numbers and so it's not worth opening the whole ground.

It’s only four seasons since we played at Wembley. It’s just excuses. We haven’t got an affluent fan base and straight after Christmas is difficult for many. That and we have a decent proportion of ‘fair weather’ fans who only turn out when we’re doing well or playing a PL club.

 

[PokerBlade]

It’s only four seasons since we played at Wembley. It’s just excuses. We haven’t got an affluent fan base and straight after Christmas is difficult for many. That and we have a decent proportion of ‘fair weather’ fans who only turn out when we’re doing well or playing a PL club.

All clubs have fair weather fans yet we still got double the numbers playing in League One than we have for the cup in the last two seasons. We all knew (this time the manager actually said it) that we'd make 11 changes and it'd be a poor spectacle. I went anyway but it's not surprising others didn't.

 

[Ecco1889]

Was the kop closed on Sunday for financial reasons?

 

[Broomhall Blade]

The Club can not win.
They open the stands with the best view and facilities.
Opening the kop would not create a better atmosphere, equally it will not encourage more people to go. It could actually make it worse with people dotted about the kop.
In the early rounds of the cup we are only ever going to get between 8-12k, this would only change if we got the S6 mob or possibly any of the big 6.
Opening the SS and JS plus BLUT is the right choice.

 

[BladeByChoice]

I'm not sure you can compare 2 or 3 thousand Blades filling an away end to the same number sparsely scattered across a 10,500 stand at home for a cup game against lower league opposition.

I agree you can’t compare the 2 but, we wouldn’t be sparsely scattered, people would group together as they naturally do.

1500 Sunderland fans made one hell of a noise, 500 Fylde fans made themselves heard, and pre-season around 30 Chesterfield fans at back of their kop were very vocal.

The bigger problem is how to get 2 o 3k Blades excited enough to go in the first place, would the kop being open attract that many extra fans.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

They will always choose to close the Kop because it is the worst stand by a country mile.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

The Kop is my stand of choice, if only because I enjoy singing. All the other stands have little or no atmosphere in comparison, but a far superior view.

Why don’t you sing in the bath before you come to the game? Then you could come and enjoy the view in the south stand?

 

[Sean Thornton]

Open concourse.
Can’t get served.
People just sit there.
No legroom.
Pissed up arseholes.
Needs rebuilding
Disgraceful part of the ground


Kop closed - Waaah!

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Why don’t you sing in the bath before you come to the game? Then you could come and enjoy the view in the south stand?

I'm a shower man.
Also means I can use the showerhead as a pretend mic.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I'm a shower man.
Also means I can use the showerhead as a pretend mic.

Pah! Not for me that. I like playing with me matey in the bath best.