New Kings Park Stadium

thegazzyb said:
They'll quickly recognise if ticket availability becomes an issue and they'd be mad not to address it.

So I'd rather start small, have the stadium largely full with a great atmosphere and then go for expansion as soon as ticket availability becomes a problem ( to the extent that it is now ).

If we then go on to sell out a 22k stadium with fans still being unable to get tickets, then I'm sure that further expansion would be considered.

From the very beginning Bill has said that he wants to change the fan demographic, less old geezers, more youngsters. So having home tickets readily available is a key part of that.

Hopefully from 2027 onwards, the days of wanting to go to the odd game but struggling to find a ticket at short notice will be over.
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Folley said "It could go up to 22,000" sounds like a pretty definitive upper limit to me.

I would put my house that walk up ticket sales will not be a thing in 2027.
 
It's not hard to work out/gauge demand. We are a club that on the field is looking to become an established EPL side with aspirations of playing in Europe. Our ground sits in the middle of a half million population conurbation and has (to the west at least) a catchment area of at least the same population before the next professional club. We regularly had 20,000 plus gates in the early 70's when we were doing well in the old Division 3 (league 1 for you youngsters). This does feel like a once in a long lifetime chance of actually building something for the next lifetime and beyond. Bill should be looking at 25,000 minimum (including his beloved hospitality.)
Yes I know it's not my money and I know there would be occasions when it may be barely half full with possibly our current capacity rattling around in a 25,000 capacity stadium. The point of capacity is just that; the capacity to hold a big crowd on the good days, of which hopefully there will be many more to come, irrespective of if it is not always utilised.
I say to Bill; build it and they will come.
 
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Those 35 unsold tickets for the friendly against Lorient coming back to bite us here clearly.

Got to say I am thoroughly underwhelmed by the capacity and the quotes regarding having the right restaurant setup. I’d imagine 18k capacity will mean it’ll unlikely I’ll be able to get my son, who has zero points, a season ticket once he’s old enough. Which is a huge shame.

Let’s hope 18k is just the start and the stadium is built in such a way that adding a new tier to certain parts of the ground is relatively easy to do, a bit like at Brighton.
 
yoof said:
Oooh - first indication of potential orientation of the new ground. Sounds like we’ll be the first club to rotate their stadium twice!
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If it is to be on the footprint of the current athletics stadium then the ends would be oriented South West and North East much the same as the old Dean Court so I guess we could have our South End again.
 
northstandmark said:
I've always said 18k would he a nice sweet spot between giving us extra room and not going into white elephant territory.
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For all of the points fiddling, database refreshing, tent erecting, analysis of number that have been said to be going on, we’ve ended up getting to the same point that the fans knew 8 years ago.

:hehe:

That said though, we’ve had 8 years of establishing ourselves in the top two divisions since then. So demand could be seen as a little higher. Especially with a growing younger fan base.

Still makes me chuckle somewhat though.
 
DJ said:
I think you’re probably right. Those numbers for a second tier does sound more likely to be a stand along the length of the pitch rather than behind the goal.
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Not necessarily, that 3,500 increase of a whole tier is about the equivalent of the current North stand.
 
Just looked up Swanseas capacity - chose that as I like their ground, close to the pitch good view etc. They are just over 21,000. If we end up with something a bit bigger than that I will be happy.
I suspect 18,000 is a test the water thing as well as being a practicality - it may take a fair bit longer to build at the larger capacity which could impact on our ability to move in on time.
This timescale would also seem to fit in quite nicely with the expiry of our lease with Structadene for the current ground which I think is in about 5 years.
 
redharry said:
Just looked up Swanseas capacity - chose that as I like their ground, close to the pitch good view etc. They are just over 21,000. If we end up with something a bit bigger than that I will be happy.
I suspect 18,000 is a test the water thing as well as being a practicality - it may take a fair bit longer to build at the larger capacity which could impact on our ability to move in on time.
This timescale would also seem to fit in quite nicely with the expiry of our lease with Structadene for the current ground which I think is in about 5 years.
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Watch LASK tonight in Europe if you can - nice tidy stadium (19k I think) - similar to Swansea but next level up. Think it was £70mish so similar ballpark.
 
SteveJonesLegend said:
First and foremost, this news is great... Regardless of capacity, it's fantastic news to hear things are actually underway, plans are being made and one would assume architects and designs have been approved (to a degree)...
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MB1980 said:
And in Kings Park too. Imagine weird it'd be if it wad build out towards Ringwood or someone closer to home.

Our home is staying where, I assume, most want it. Thst is a massive plus, and peace of mind imo...(haven't slept properly in years, worrying about it... ;))
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Good points, shouldn’t just take for granted staying in Kings Park.

It’s always been the ideal, common sense location, but that hasn’t stopped Matchams, the hospital, the BIC, even Poole speedway being suggested as locations.
 
Excellent news. It’s one thing to discuss about a new stadium but quite another to commit to one so well played Bill. :clap:
I’m over the moon that the stadium is staying in kings park! I really feared it might move to some out of town destination which in my opinion would have sucked big time.

Capacity wise if we are going to spend 5 of the next ten years in the championship then it sounds about right, if however we see continued improvements to our standing in the premier league then I can imagine that number would change relatively quickly.

Can’t wait to see the plans.
Merry Christmas one and all Bday
 
DJ said:
For all of the points fiddling, database refreshing, tent erecting, analysis of number that have been said to be going on, we’ve ended up getting to the same point that the fans knew 8 years ago.

:hehe:

That said though, we’ve had 8 years of establishing ourselves in the top two divisions since then. So demand could be seen as a little higher. Especially with a growing younger fan base.

Still makes me chuckle somewhat though.
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Haha that is a good find DJ.

8 years of consolidation later, and I guess my gut feeling figure has slightly grown. But it does go to show that you can do all the feasibility studies and calculations in the world, at some point you just gotta pick a number and build the thing.
 
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Kudos said:
Folley said "It could go up to 22,000" sounds like a pretty definitive upper limit to me.

I would put my house that walk up ticket sales will not be a thing in 2027.
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No, I don't think it is a final upper limit.
I suspect that 22000 is the limit for the initial expansion.
There's no reason to assume that beyond that, other areas of the ground couldn't be expanded. It's just that those options are not yet on their radar because they don't need to be.
 
I wonder if the capacity is partly being effected by the infrastructure or rather the lack of. There are no lifts at Pokesdown railway station, the buses are rammed after a match and there will be (and I am guessing here) another 1,000 or so cars parking in the streets around the stadium. At the very least I would have thought there must be discussion about shuttle bus and train services on match days and we may have restrictions on cars.
 
Redpost said:
I wonder if the capacity is partly being effected by the infrastructure or rather the lack of. There are no lifts at Pokesdown railway station, the buses are rammed after a match and there will be (and I am guessing here) another 1,000 or so cars parking in the streets around the stadium. At the very least I would have thought there must be discussion about shuttle bus and train services on match days and we may have restrictions on cars.
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Spot on. BCP will be all over this in any talks with AFCB. I wouldn't be surprised if this initial 18.5k with potential to expand in later years - if more travel infrastructure is put in place - is all part of that equation.

There's plenty scope to do more with busses and coaches.
 
DJ said:
For all of the points fiddling, database refreshing, tent erecting, analysis of number that have been said to be going on, we’ve ended up getting to the same point that the fans knew 8 years ago.

:hehe:

That said though, we’ve had 8 years of establishing ourselves in the top two divisions since then. So demand could be seen as a little higher. Especially with a growing younger fan base.

Still makes me chuckle somewhat though.
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We've had that many threads on a new ground that you could probably find a post for any capacity you wanted.
 
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