St James' Park

[bobbydazzla]

They could relocate Leazes Terrace to where the Arena is now

[Jackie Broon]

4 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

Oh well. I guess we are moving away from the current SJP site then.

 

Lets see what division we're in next season before worrying about that. It should still be possible to extend the Gallowgate.

[Jackie Broon]

2 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

They could relocate Leazes Terrace to where the Arena is now

 

[Wandy]

33 minutes ago, Jackie Broon said:

 

Lets see what division we're in next season before worrying about that. It should still be possible to extend the Gallowgate.

 

Unless the current office block proposal gets scrapped, it isnt.

[Jackie Broon]

10 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

Unless the current office block proposal gets scrapped, it isnt.

 

There would probably still be ways to extend the Gallowgate even if the Strawberry Place development goes ahead. Well, it's much more likely to be feasible than extending the east stand.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Jackie Broon

[Wandy]

11 minutes ago, Jackie Broon said:

 

There would probably still be ways to extend the Gallowgate even if the Strawberry Place development goes ahead. Well, it's much more likely to be feasible than extending the east stand.

 

 

 

 

There will be a dirty big building on Strawberry Place literally across the road from where the current Gallowgate End is. Its a nonsense that the Gallowgate can feasably extended with that there. And even if it could, the nature of the structure would make SJP's stands look even more mismatched. No thanks, if Level 7 cannot be extended to the Gallowgate then its a new stadium on a new site.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Wandy

[Izakaya]

2 hours ago, midds said:

Would have been way easier to do that from ropes than a BMU

[Wilson]

Would have just used a grappling hook and a crowbar personally.  But each to their own. 

[Doc]

Anti gravity boots for me.

[Dancing Brave]

Machine gun for me.

[Doc]

Always an option.

[christ]

Anything to be said for just chucking rocks at it?

[NE27]

5 minutes ago, christ said:

Anything to be said for just chucking rocks at it?

 

Whilst it's nailed to a cross?

[midds]

22 minutes ago, Dancing Brave said:

Machine gun for me.

'Big fucking hammer' seemed to be the tool of choice tbh

[Doc]

Spear of Longinus anyone?

[Bimpy474]

Semtex.

[Holloway]

The difference in the crush barriers was remarkable, the Gallowgate being chunky concrete things and the Leazes ones were scaff poles painted orange

[Robster]

Should have launched Mike Ashley at it using a Trebuchet.

[Miggys First Goal]

6 hours ago, midds said:

Were all those empty white boards where SD was or have some others been removed?

[nufcjb]

5 hours ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Were all those empty white boards where SD was or have some others been removed?

Pretty sure it had SD on them.

[MarkyMark]

There’s significant constructibility issues re extending the Gallowgate.  For all the griping about Ashley ‘stopping expansion potential’ by selling the land, it would be a nightmare place to try and construct an expansion - an expansion which I doubt is technically possible.

 

St James’ is, infamously, built on a slope (again, part of that ‘unsuitable site for a football ground’ thing).  That slope continues further down, which presents problems.  Pretty much the only way you could foresee an extension under those conditions is via massive piling.  Then you’ve the issue of attempting to build a stand extension on a slope over an underground railway station - which means that the obvious route of massive piles is pretty much ruled out.

 

My old practice had the plans for a massively increased SJP, which did the rounds in a few professional construction firms in the late ‘90s.  It’s not just prohibitively expensive - it may be impossible due to the site conditions and risks from the site; certainly in terms of extending capacity by c.7k it just seems daft.

 

And the existence of Leazes Terrace (which is a truly beautiful piece of architecture) effectively snookers the only other extension on the site.

 

I don’t think anyone wants a stadium on the outskirts of the city.  But I stand by SJP being a lopsided eyesore, the layout of which actively harms the atmosphere inside the ground (SJP was never particularly loud post-Taylor all-seating, but the atmosphere took an obvious nosedive after the expansion in 2000).

 

There would be the option to remain at SJP with a rebuild - which would mean a reduced capacity during construction - you could achieve this by moving the pitch to where the current west stand is; it would also be achievable by rotating the pitch 90deg. With the option of rotating the pitch, you could leave the Leazes and East Stands in place, and the Gallowgate while construction occurs (it would remain a fair distance from the field of play).  Demolish the West Stand, extend the Leazes (which would become a new stand rather than end), and then sequentially you could rebuild both the current East Stand (which could be moved further forward), before rebuilding a new Gallowgate stand of the same size as the Leazes, as well as a new West End.  A costly rebuild, which would likely take two years - but the club would still be at SJP, you’d still have punters in the stands (albeit reduced capacity), and you’d end up with a shiny, modern stadium as a result.

 

Or you could see if you can buy a site close to the city centre (expensive), though ultimately you’d have an expensive site available once a move is complete.  And given that stadium investments don’t impact FFP, it would be an obvious means of increasing income.  

[Kaizero]

11 hours ago, bobbydazzla said:

They could relocate Leazes Terrace to where the Arena is now

This deserves more appreciation  

[TK-421]

8 hours ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Were all those empty white boards where SD was or have some others been removed?

 

Are they blanks (where SD was) or could they be new sponsor boards, covered over to be revealed for next home game? 

[Whitley mag]

3 hours ago, MarkyMark said:

There’s significant constructibility issues re extending the Gallowgate.  For all the griping about Ashley ‘stopping expansion potential’ by selling the land, it would be a nightmare place to try and construct an expansion - an expansion which I doubt is technically possible.

 

St James’ is, infamously, built on a slope (again, part of that ‘unsuitable site for a football ground’ thing).  That slope continues further down, which presents problems.  Pretty much the only way you could foresee an extension under those conditions is via massive piling.  Then you’ve the issue of attempting to build a stand extension on a slope over an underground railway station - which means that the obvious route of massive piles is pretty much ruled out.

 

My old practice had the plans for a massively increased SJP, which did the rounds in a few professional construction firms in the late ‘90s.  It’s not just prohibitively expensive - it may be impossible due to the site conditions and risks from the site; certainly in terms of extending capacity by c.7k it just seems daft.

 

And the existence of Leazes Terrace (which is a truly beautiful piece of architecture) effectively snookers the only other extension on the site.

 

I don’t think anyone wants a stadium on the outskirts of the city.  But I stand by SJP being a lopsided eyesore, the layout of which actively harms the atmosphere inside the ground (SJP was never particularly loud post-Taylor all-seating, but the atmosphere took an obvious nosedive after the expansion in 2000).

 

There would be the option to remain at SJP with a rebuild - which would mean a reduced capacity during construction - you could achieve this by moving the pitch to where the current west stand is; it would also be achievable by rotating the pitch 90deg. With the option of rotating the pitch, you could leave the Leazes and East Stands in place, and the Gallowgate while construction occurs (it would remain a fair distance from the field of play).  Demolish the West Stand, extend the Leazes (which would become a new stand rather than end), and then sequentially you could rebuild both the current East Stand (which could be moved further forward), before rebuilding a new Gallowgate stand of the same size as the Leazes, as well as a new West End.  A costly rebuild, which would likely take two years - but the club would still be at SJP, you’d still have punters in the stands (albeit reduced capacity), and you’d end up with a shiny, modern stadium as a result.

 

Or you could see if you can buy a site close to the city centre (expensive), though ultimately you’d have an expensive site available once a move is complete.  And given that stadium investments don’t impact FFP, it would be an obvious means of increasing income.  

Best post on the subject I’ve read and lays out exactly why a new stadium is the only option down the line whether most like it or not. History is great but our new owners want to be the best and if they feel it’s necessary to move we should support them all the way. 
 

Clubs like West Ham now attract 60k we can’t  be restricted by SJP if we want to truly be a top club.

 

The only thing I disagree about is SJP not being particularly loud post Taylor, the atmosphere under Keegan came from all 4 stands and exceeded anything I ever heard post old  Leazes terrace roof coming off. The place used to be rocking, I’ll never forget the Cantona 1 nil game the place was deafening a full 20 Mins before kick off and I can genuinely say I’ve never heard the place as loud as that night ( though admittedly we did run out of steam in 2nd half).

 

These owners have the money to secure a city centre stadium, let them get on with it when that time comes.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Whitley mag

[Robster]

15 hours ago, midds said:

Fucking wonderful photo.