Comments on: Plans afoot for changes at Eastlands?

By: True Blue

True Blue — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:21:50 +0000

I think we could attract 80,000+ per game if our ticket pricing was fairer, like in Germany, Italy or France, etc… Like with most teams in England, it’s not lack of fan numbers, but lack of cash in fans pockets.

In Germany, a ticket behind the goal costs approx Â£8-10 for Bundesliga games and local transport is free! For me, it’s approx Â£27 on a ticket and Â£5 on the tram. I spend possibly 3-4 times as much as a similair German!

In reality, attendances in England are absolutely phenomenal, considering our football tickets are by far the most expensive in the World! The Championship is the 4th highest attending soccer league in the World despite being a 2nd tier league and having the 2nd most expensive tickets in the World after the Premiership!

Make the North Stand a huge single tier ‘singing’ terrace of 15-20k, priced at say Â£12 a ticket, the backbone of our vocality. Then, make the rest of the ground a 3 tiered bowl similair to the Millenium Stadium, not waving up and down like the Emirates. Embrace the 12th man! Price tickets fairly. The place would be a fortress!

If this is to be a truly exceptional stadium and Â£1Billion is being talked about with regards to regeneration, why not even build a retractable roof as well?

We have such potential in terms of attendances, I hope it’s not messed up! We need our working class fans to attend!

Average Ticket Prices:

Â£34 English Premiership
Â£16 Spanish Primera
Â£13 German Bundesliga
Â£12 Italian Serie A
Â£ 9 French Premier League

By: CiTyBlUe

CiTyBlUe — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:11:10 +0000

I for one am totally against the renaming of our stadium and feel any City fan wanting it to change is clearly close-minded.

The current stadium name says it all, it spells out to the world that this is Manchesters sole representative.

I for one am deeply rooted against United, even my great grandfather, an Ardwick fan was quoted by my Grandfather as saying, United are a lie and total fake.

CITY OF MANCHESTER stadium says it all, maybe my vote against wont be heard and our stadium will be renamed eventually but atleast i have aired my opinion on the matter.

By: Martin Grayfield

Martin Grayfield — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:02:21 +0000

I think the building down idea is well passed it’s sell by date and achieves little in return.
I am no builder or planner etc but would think that a new ground bigger n better than Liverpools plan would be great !! I would prefer them to build a new one near the old, keep that or let the Council use it. Regenerate even more of Manchester will do wonders for our support and for our PR

By: durham-blue

durham-blue — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:00:18 +0000

The answer is simple. For us and any other prem club looking to increase the stada size. Get the FA to bring back standing. The new standing areas like they have in Germany are much safer than the old type would increase gates and also reduce prices

By: brassneck

brassneck — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:57:46 +0000

I say lets buy that tip in salford use it for a season as we re-build coms then knock the tip down, use it as a car park and float the fans over to coms on balloons flying on the spirit fumes from taggarts breath….

By: Russ

Russ — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:21:38 +0000

I believe the owners are adopting a wait and see policy. There is no doubt City will fill the stadium whilst we are doing well and I believe that if we continue to do well we could fill a 60,000 seat stadium which could be built easily by rasing the ends of the ground but how many more fans than 60,000 could we get?

I think the owners will wait to gauge the size of the fan base, they won’t want to spend millions altering the stadium to 60,000 only to have to spend millons again changing it.

I don’t think digging down is an option. That would be far to expensive and time consuming for the extra couple of rows it would create

By: Dave0

Dave0 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:46:59 +0000

I’m not sure which one I would prefer. New stadium or expand the old one. I do agree that our owners if any are the ones likely to be able to buy the land and rebuild. I’m not sure axpanding downwards is going to be a great idea. The area is already prone to flooding and this could cause major problems. This could possibly be fixed with some sort of pumping station but I think it could be a problem that wouldn’t go away and would be a pain long term. Im sure ADUG’s experts will know more than me though and if anybody can do pumping stations it’s them.

By: Andy Arry

Andy Arry — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:27:04 +0000

I say go for the BIG one! Buy up COMS and all the land around from the Council (great for the Council) and Build a whopping new stadium there (great for jobs in a recession!). Keep COMS for the World Cup and decide what to do with it afterwards (turn it into a plush hotel for all us loyal supporters perhaps!) and let’s call the new stadium the DHABI ground (ha ha) – a bit like Arsenal have the ‘Emirates’, and very approriate once a season at least!!

By: Blue Days

Blue Days — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:55:09 +0000

Hmm, I can’t see playing away from Eastlands for a season being likely. I know we let United play at Maine Road after they got bombed in WW2, but I think it’s fair to say that war-time spirit is long gone!

A third tier at the ends could have more chance, but would need a major re-think of the roof. I’d be interested to see how that would work.

By: ew8allthepies

ew8allthepies — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:09:14 +0000

with regards to expanding the existing ground

i was told that 2 things could be done

1- third tier on each end, which could be done with a small amount of interrruption

2 – it is also possible to dig down further – ie lower the pitch and extend all four sides downwards / inwards as there is plenty of space to do so. But this would mean City being unable to play at Eastlands for a season.

These adjustments would increase capacity to over 60,000.

ps i was told this during the Thaksin days and at the time there didnt seem much liliehood of it happening