An early Christmas present from all at Everton

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Optimistichornet, Dec 23, 2018.

  1. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Deputy Chairman Keith Harris doesn’t sound quite as gung ho as the rest.

    Maybe he realises what a ship of fools it is.

    Maybe a lifetime with his arm up Orville’s fundament has brought a more balanced outlook.
     
    Cthulhu likes this.
  2. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Talking of stadiums, I'd love it if Watford built a new state-of-the-art stadium like Tottenham's. Obviously scaled down to around 35,000, but built on the same design principle.

    Clearly it would have to be built somewhere else, other than Vicarage Road, as that footprint is not big enough, with little hope of purchasing surrounding land, unless the hospital relocated of course.

    Unlikely that will ever be done on the Pozzo's watch, as they've already spent a lot on the current stadium. But if we were really looking to progress as a club off the pitch then to look the part of a top ten Premier League club, we'd have to move.

    The Pozzo's have built a wonderful stadium for Udinese, so they do know how to do it, and they have impeccable taste when it comes to this sort of thing.
     
  3. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    That's good. Put us down for a Prem win in a few years, then. Hopefully before Luton
     
  4. Markoa$

    Markoa$ Squad Player

    We don’t need a 35,000 seater stadium, unless we are planning on allocating 5,000-10,000 seats to the away fans every home game. I would take a state of the art 27,500-30,000 stadium though. We won’t win the league with it, but we might qualify for the CL.
     
  5. I thought there were a couple of proposals for developing the Vic, from buying out the houses on the road behind the SEJ and sticking a second tier on it, to building the Vic road end over the road. Plus there must be scope to develop the rookery with a second tier unless the land isn't strong enough, and we could possibly buy land from the hospital to grow the GT.

    We must be able to add 10k to the ground as it is. I do like it's current location, though that's maybe too short sighted and nostalgic.

    If we did move it, about 120 miles north would be handy for me, but failing that I'd prefer we develop the vic if possible.
     
  6. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    No need to move. We’ve really got a great stadium and it’s one of the classic ones where the fans feel close to the pitch and almost part of the team.

    We’re a family club, as rightly stated times over by GT. We have a steel hornet in the town centre and a great history. We’re not Wet Spam, who. made a disappointing decision to leave Upton Park.

    Nothing is wrong with Vic, we have an award for Pitch of the Season. If anything, keep expanding on what we have but keep it sensible. The fans love it, and it might be too much for some to take if we ever moved.

    #keepthevic
     
  7. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Everton winning the premier league.

    The greatest joke I’ve heard this year.
    Liverpool is too small to support two decent teams.
    Currently our second city Birmingham hasn’t even got one in the top league.
    Liverpool are the Liverpool team and are good.

    Everton’s board all sound like complete corporate ******** I hope they bankrupt them and lose Moshiri loads of money in the process. Anyone in the city wanting to give them hundreds of millions is a dullard
     
    Happy bunny likes this.
  8. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Yes....I am in two minds myself, so wouldn't go against anyone wanting to remain where we are. It's one of my spiritual homes after all. But the site is so boxed in, that any major redevelopment/build is out of the question even if we had a billionaire owner itching to build a modern stadium.

    It's more of a pipedream really, rather than anything else. On the pitch we are fantastic to be where we are, but off it we do not look like a top 10 EPL club. If this is what we seriously want to be, and I think that's a realistic ceiling for a club like ours, then you have to have the infrastructure to match.

    The stadium we have now is nice, although a little small, but does the job. However, I feel we maybe left behind in terms of appeal and I believe is one of the major reasons why we're considered an insignificant club by virtually everyone outside of Hertfordshire.

    Our stadium yells out mid-table Championship. It doesn't say Premier League. This is not a criticism in anyway towards what the owners have done. They've done a fantastic job in tarting up the place with all the fa*ade, the new SEJ stand is much better than what was there before. The Hornet Shop, SW Corner etc have all been major improvements on what was there before. But you've only got to go to places like Brighton or Huddersfield to see we're light years behind even them. Probably, only Bournemouth, Burnley and Palace are behind us in terms of stadium appeal in the Premier League.

    We currently sit 43rd in England when it comes to capacity. Even if we bump that up to 30,000, as quoted by SD, that would only put us 29th in England. Admittedly there are a whole cluster of grounds at around the 32,000 mark, so if we increased to 33,600 (for example) we would jump to 15th.

    I firmly believe if we want to be a top 10 club, we have to look the part off the field. Of course it doesn't automatically make you a top 10 club, as Sunderland can testify, but it is certainly not a hinderance. It creates an expectation of greatness and something that could inspire players to play better and attract them to the club in the first place.

    As I say, just a pipedream, but something we'd have to consider doing in the future if we want to seriously be considered a top 10 Premier League club.
     
  9. Forzainglese

    Forzainglese Reservist

    What saddens me is when a club can't get anywhere near filling the stadium. You can see it in the Championship - the camera pans from side to side, following the match, and all you can see is whole stands unoccupied, with just a cluster of people adjacent to the centre circle. You could be forgiven for thinking that the crowd noise is dubbed on. Big famous clubs, too.
    In their most successful season ever Watford averaged 19,500 home gates.
    Build-up of further support takes time, measured in years, if not decades.
    I would suggest a capacity of around 25000 would be currently sustainable. Relegation and 10000 seats would be empty, stay around eighth for a year or two and we could get approaching 25000 pretty much immediately.
     
    WillisWasTheWorst likes this.
  10. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    With careful planning you could get a 35,000 stadium looking full even with only 15,000 in it. With twin tiering (like the GT stand), the top half could have shutters that close for the games with lower crowds. So the stadium would still look ascetically pleasing and would also reverberate sound well. Once you have the stadium, you can tailor it to your needs.

    Relegation would probably mean the shutters would be down all season. In the EPL you could raise the capacity to 25,000 easily, and for really big games, where the demand in high, then all shutters would be up providing a 35k stadium. It's futuristic but will always give you the feeling of a full, noisy stadium, no matter what the attendance is.
     
  11. vic-rijrode

    vic-rijrode First Year Pro

    Absolutely correct.
     
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  12. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    For me the magic number is 28,000 cos that was our capacity in the 80s and the official attendance for the cup ties against Brighton and Liverpool. Realistically though 25k is all we need. We are the 2nd smallest town ever to play in the EPL and have a fanbase to match. We have a big catchment area and thats why we can get crowds of 20k. 20k is more than 20% of the population of Watford. Although small, we have one of the best stadiums in the EPL. Its a proper football stadium not an 'arena', it has a lot of personality and looks very attractive. It can relatively essily be extended to 25-30k by putting extra tiers on the SEJ and GT. If we built a 35,000 out of town bowl who else would go to the games? Id hate it to become more of a leisure option for neutral fans? For us TV money is more important than capacity anyway and we wont have much trouble attracting players now we are playing decent football and hovering around the top 10 in the EPL. As far as I'm concerned the vic isn't for life, it's forever!
     
  13. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I hate it when someone quotes the '2nd' in a list but doesn't tell you what was 1st. I'll guess at Swindon but I suspect that might even be bigger than Watford.
     
    wfcmoog likes this.
  14. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Im deeply hurt by your hatred =) Pretty sure Burnley is the smallest. Im wondering what else is smallest in Burnley?
     
  15. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Swindon is pretty big. I reckon Watford is bigger than burnley. There must be others. What about blackburn? that's a small ******** too.
     
  16. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Burnley and Barnsley are smaller according to this:
    http://www.footyfair.com/2015/04/5-smallest-premier-league-sides-ever.html

    Not sure why we are not in that list. Probably thought we are a London club. Population in 2011 census was 90,300.
     
  17. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    I thought Wigan was the smallest, and certainly Wigan's fanbase would have been limited by the fact that it's very much a rugby league town
     
  18. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    The link I posted has Wigan at 97,000, which is slightly higher.
     
  19. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

    I want us to move to Watford so we can finally be the London club we all dream of being.
     
    Watford Gav likes this.
  20. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    If we had to move, Luton would be my first choice. Itd b mayhem. Bussing WFC fans into town in giant armour plated riot vans, accompanied by special forces mercenaries. Build it right next to K Road and have the drains from our toilets showering their 'pitch'. A beautiful vision indeed.
     
    Watford Gav, RookeryDad and wfcmoog like this.
  21. Siohmy

    Siohmy Reservist

    You just need to take one look at the Madjeski stadium to see how even a modest 25,000 seater can be a atmosphere vacuum when it’s an identikit out of town soulless pit. All very good when the good times roll but they are averaging 14,000 through the door these days and that thing sure does echo.
     
  22. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Exactly, one day this will all b over and if we're very lucky we'll still own the vic and not be in administration
     
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  23. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    Who needs an out of town stadium with no atmosphere when we’ve already got on in town.
     
  24. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    A very cromulent example, it was quite an odd experience there in the Caribou earlier in the season.
     
    Cthulhu likes this.
  25. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Amazing gradients in that stadium. You feel you could lean forward too far and fall 15 rows down.
     
  26. vic-rijrode

    vic-rijrode First Year Pro

    ...and in 68/69 & 69/70 I was in Vicarage Road with over 34,000 others. Frightening!

    Build it and they will come - where from I don't know though.
     
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  27. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    It like when you get a new house, everybody wants to come in and have a poke about
     
  28. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    35k would be good if done correctly.

    We might not sell out Burnley or Huddersfield at home but the bigger teams we will get there or close. Its naff only having the option of the pisspoor view from the bottom left of the GT stand or the rainy corner of rookery/EJ to choose from if you're a casual part time attendee.
     
  29. Rontaylor

    Rontaylor Reservist

    This shuttering is done successfully in BC PLace Stadium in Vancouver. It has a capacity of 54,000 but for football (soccer) the upper tiers are covered giving a capacity of 22,000. It has quite a "cosy" feel and the atmosphere is good.
     
    hornetboy1 likes this.
  30. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Well said.
     
  31. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Is money changing hands because of this?
     
  32. Forzainglese

    Forzainglese Reservist

    When it was originally built I understood WFC to say they would raise the lower tier to improve visibility. But it has never happened. Have I misremembered?
     
  33. Forzainglese

    Forzainglese Reservist

    Yes - it actually was frightening, esp when it was time to leave.
     
  34. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Can't we just rip out the seats & get back to 34k?

    Maybe keep the Upper Rous as is.

    Wouldn't want to upset the library staff up there.
     
    Watford Gav and Moosegasm like this.
  35. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    And Luton has got an airport in London. Candidates for the Hatters job will be thrilled at having a chance to manage a London club
     

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