Wallsendmag

Yeah but that's not really what I was getting at. People saying ST holders wouldn't be able to go to games but I just can't see how that would be the case. We only have 31k ST holders and the Milburn and Leazes ends alone could comfortably accommodate all them. Anyway, hope it's a theory that's never tested!

But even if we "lost" the entire Gallowgate End that's only 12k seats if you include both corners, and of those 12k seats there's probably 8/9k ST holders so still can't work out why people are saying they wouldn't be able to go whilst the work is being carried out. Surely they'd just be relocated as the capacity would still be around the 40k mark.

Not sure what the reported costs are tbh but over quarter of a century on, and with the spiralling costs of materials and labour I'd expect costs to be far higher anyway. Still unsure as to why some of the 31k ST holders wouldn't be able to go for a year or two.

Not that I'm advocating an extension of the Gallowgate (waste of time and money) but never understood why people think current ST holders would lose their seats whilst said expansion was happening. I had my ST in the Leazes when the L7 expansion happened and none of us lost out seats, same with those in the Milburn Stand. We just got wet when it rained for a season. That infamous Derby being the worst!

Can totally see that POV as well tbf. We could easily double our revenue with a new stadium but that guarantees nothing if the restrictions are still in place. Using Spurs was a good example. However the more you can spend means you do increase your chances of success. My view was based as much on that we are getting left behind by staying at an ever more outdated SJP which means we can't at least maximise our potential. We'll have a near identical capacity to Everton next season. It'll be interesting to compare how much money BM generates for them compared to what SJP does for us given that both stadiums will be sold out for every game.

Definitely. Probably a 6 or 7 minute walk from the Central Station. I've always thought of the Arena being as Central as SJP to be honest.

Expanding would clearly allow us to spend more though. That's just stating the obvious. Man City are going from their original 47k up to 60k. Anfield gone from 45k to 61k. Arsenal and Spurs both moved to massively increase their capacity. Then you've got West Ham who went up to 65k, Man Utd, Villa and Chelsea all looking at their options. Everton have possibly gone too small with 52k imo. But they've all expanded for good reason.

I'd actually say the opposite. Probably not an exaggeration to say a brand new 70/75k stadium could potentially double our matchday revenue with the extra capacity and all the extra corporate offerings it could bring. That would massively help us if PSR rules continue. Tbh I'm coming more and more to the opinion that SJP isn't really fit for purpose anyway as a modern footballing venue. The design is poor, it looks tired and it is too small. For the last quarter of a century our average gate is around 50k and for a lot of that time we've been utterly shite, even a 2nd tier team for 2 of those years. We need something bigger and we need something better, but it needs to be in the city centre.

Obviously that image shows it's slightly less than a mile going south as that takes you across the river but it's a rough guide. Certainly a mile, North, East, West or South as far as the river. Certainly wouldn't like it to be anywhere outside of that circle.

Aye near enough. I mean obviously there's no exact definition and everyone will have their own opinion on it but for me the exact centre of the city is Greys Monument and if you drew a circle around that I'd class anything within a mile radius as being city centre.

First time I've said this, and any pedants are welcome to check, but I think it's time we considered a change. This is a team in decline from the team that finished 4th. The decline started last season and has carried through into this one. I'm not sure what we do well anymore. We don't attack well, we don't defend well, we don't press with intensity anymore, we arent pleasing on the eye. We need a freshen up. By this I mean on the pitch and in the dugout. I love Howe and am very grateful for what he's achieved here but I don't think he's the calibre of manager who can now allow us to push on. It's a brutal sport and I think we need to move on now. I'm not going to start calling for his head or anything daft like that but if Chelsea beat us again on Wednesday then Arsenal beat us at home, we're out the cup and likely 13th/14th the owners will rightly get twitchy. In mitigation the transfer window was a shambles but I still think there's enough there to be above the likes of Forest, Brentford, Fulham amd Bournemouth.

I was at PSG v PSV on Tuesday night, and Wow, what an experience! Probably the 2nd best atmosphere I've ever witnessed after attending well over 1,000 matches in a variety of Countries over 40 years. Possibly only Marseille was better when I went when we played them in the UEFA Cup Semi in 2004. We got in in the ground 45 mins before KO and the stand behind the opposite goal to where we were was already full and every one of them singing. It was absolutely deafening! Proper made the hair on the back of your neck go up! They literally did not let up from then all the way through to the final whistle, even after they went a goal down. Was one of those rare games where I found myself watching the crowd more than the match. They were so good! Just a totally different mentality from over here. The match was everything. Nothing else seemed to matter to them. I had to run down for a piss on 42 mins as I'd been drinking most of the day and my bladder is shite these days, and the concourse was still virtually deserted! Was completely taken aback by it all. For some reason I had this pre conceived idea that it would be pretty poor atmosphere wise but I couldn't have been more wrong. Clearly they've got issues with crowd behaviour. I received an email on the afternoon of the match basically saying that they didn't want a repeat of the racist and homophonic chanting that marred their last home game v Strasbourg so that's one thing where we are better than them, but other than that they are absolutely light years ahead of us in every other way. Was a real eye opener but yet another sad indictment as to where our country now lies in terms of fan culture and atmosphere. Should also add that away supporters were banned from attending this match so it was home fans only so it's not even like they had (or needed tbf) the away support to get them going, as you sometimes see. Apparently the Old Firm has gone downhill atmosphere wise since away fans were stopped from attending.

My mate went down on the bus. Ended up going to Wetherby on the drink instead. Got back about an hour ago.

Wimbledon was a midweek 2nd Round League Cup match against a League 2 team. Comparing that with a Premier League game is just silly.

Depends on your standards or whereabouts in the ground you are I suppose. I don’t think people are saying it's poor just to be "cool" on some football forum though That's just silly!

I'll be watching it in Crete. Can't see anything other than a home win sadly.

He's still a young kid. He'll get better no doubt but not sure he's quite ready to be our 1st choice RB for an entire season. That's why I could never understand the clamour from some fans to get rid of Trippier for a paltry £10m or whatever it was.

I think now we're at the stage in the PL where there's only us, Leicester, Fulham, Bournemouth and Brentford don't have a full end that stands all game. Some clubs have both ends behind the goals who stand continuously. Tbf to 3 of those clubs I've mentioned they are traditionally very small clubs with small fanbases. Meanwhile I got told to sit down in the Gallowgate when I stood up to watch Schar take a penalty

I just think it's largely, not exclusively though, down to the new way of allocating tickets. There was a noticeable drop off in atmosphere from the start of last season when they went with the ballots. In the past, generally speaking and going back decades, those who were the most desperate to get in were the ones who would get in. If that meant getting up to the ground early to queue for tickets that's what happened. In later times it was a case of how many browsers you could get hold of to maximise your chances. Maybe even having to take some tome off work to get sorted. Nowadays you don't need to be the most dedicated or the most desperate to get in, and I think it shows. The amount of people who either don't really look like they're enjoying it or don't really look emotionally invested in the game is crazy. It's such a passive crowd. At one time the though of missing a goal cos you needed to rush down for a piss was unthinkable. Now we have unprecedented amounts of people nipping off well before HT, happy enough to either watch in the concourse or not even watch at all. They aren't particularly bothered and what we are left with is what we have now which is a crowd that doesn't really get into the game. One thing I will say, and I don't know why this is but our Saturday 3pm matches always seem to have a truely awful atmosphere. Bizarre considering that is the traditional KO time for football matches in this Country.

https://x.com/19Darren89/status/1847704038126559690?t=yP5oYFQg9biCHEaxgWXCfQ&s=19

Had a few texts off people today (I wasn't there) who normally don't really mention the atmosphere but have said it was absolutely dreadful.

You think? Personally think he's been shite! His most noticeable contribution was blocking Isaks goal bound attempt.

Reading the last few pages of this, is it fair to assume that there's been no further developments then?

Went through 3 Spectrum 48 keyboards from playing that game alone.

Lower bowl holds 38k.