Question to me today from a relative of ours...a Plymouth supporter.
How come Bournemouth cannot fill an 11,000 capacity Stadium v Man City ? He said according to the paper it was 10,690 ish....300 short!
I couldnt give him an answer...but it is strange and disappointing while we are hoping for a larger around 30,000 structure to match Brighton for example or even 20,000 to match Port Vale, who dont even play Man City at present.
The desire and interest from the local population needs to be apparent if we are to convince the investors of the need to build or extend at least!
I fear some glib half-arsed designer answer will come sailing across the cyberssphere!
Bill, regarding a 20-30k stadium, I would not have the answer on that. In my opinion that is a much wider topic.
But just a thought, to explain the 300 or so who did not show up. Think of airlines. I was told once they overbook by around 5%. This may vary on country/airline/time of year etc etc. People don't turn up for a variety of reasons. If they all do, they can bump people to the next flight an hour later or even the next day safe in the legalese of the terms and conditions of the ticket.
Now for a football club, there is not the luxury of the same match/product/service 90 mins or 4 hours later. Some of the same no show issues would apply here - eg: Illness, last minute emergencies, stuck in traffic etc. There would be bedlam, and rightfully so, if you bought a ticket to a match and could not get in as it was overbooked. The offer of a free ticket and upgrade to the next home game say 2 weeks later and against a different opposition, would not be close to adequate recompense for most people.
300 short, and you live close to the ground and cant get a ticket - that would be annoying I agree. However, looking at it from a different perspective, circa 3% wastage is probably about right when you factor in the vagaries of everyday life.
Edit - saw this earlier, had to go away then came back. Seen other replies on the same line. Not meant by me as a pile on Bill