Stadium Expansion - Bushey Hall

Cool if they had the Geordie Big Brother guy for the voice over.

 

Won’t improve the view from the back of the LGT, especially if we start favouring a long ball game.

 

Will we get to Row ZZZ?

Is Zamora still playing?

 

It works well at Camp Nou, but then we don’t play the long ball game very often.

 

Lets hope it's not as bad as the letterbox view Highbury used to be

 

3/4 rows i think (a couple of rows above seem to have been removed) I make it around 230 seats across the stand.. minus 30 odd where the tv gantry is.
So potentially 800 ish seats, plus a couple of hundred in each corner maybe.
Surprised the club haven't announced the increase as they did before when the SEJ stand was enlarged by about half of that.

PS i'm starting to wonder if the first game being played away rumour has some legs looking at progress there!

 

I was at the stadium today and there were hundreds of workmen who seemed very busy. Does anybody know what new capacity will be?

 

Probably still less than it was just after promotion.

 

Having looked at the photos my guess is as follows:

Upper Graham Taylor - 232 (it’s hard to make out but I am only spotting two extra possible rows, 58 per row, per side)
North west corner - 200
South east corner - 250

So less than 700 overall, but the facilities will be much better with the grill and new supporters bar serving the family stand.

 

We don't plsy at the Camp Nou very often either

 

After the Real Sociedad match we spoke to a stadium worker. They said it is still touch and go to be ready for next week. There are so many workers they are getting in the way of each other. The two steel bolt on areas to the Upper GT has not gone well. An initial installation revealed that the stand could not support the new additions, and the concrete had to be hacked back to create a larger supporting area. Apparently 80 tonnes of concrete removed. Any way whatever the facts it looks a long way off completion, as do the two corner areas. The screens will not be viewable if you are beyond row S in the Rookery - certainly not standing up. The more central you are the more obscured the screen is in those top half a dozen rows.

 

Tinpot

 

I think the overall stadium modifications will make the stadium look a lot better once finished. The SE corner especially will make a big difference aesthetically. Not sure now many extra seats will be provided by all this.

I think the extension of the GT upper tier is very clever, but I estimate that's only going to provide an extra 100 seats. Seems to be a lot of effort just to provide an extra 100 seats.

I noticed the wall had been removed as well along the side of the pitch where the GT stand is.

NW corner will look smart with seats above the restaurant.

Not sure the TV screens really work out though. We're used to bigger screens, so to go from that to something a lot smaller is annoying, although they look smart.

I'm guessing once it's all complete, these modifications will add another 1,000 seats. I suspect that's as much as we can do without actually knocking down stands. The only other viable expansion area would be the SEJ stand. I'm expecting we can increase that by around 4,000.

Levelling the pitch is the only other way I can see where the club could gain extra seats. Those few seats in the NW corner could be used and maybe you can add a few rows in front of the VR end once the pitch has been levelled.

If all that gets done...….I think we could actually get to 30,000.

 

Really? Maybe they will have to remove the screens and use them as supports for the Upper GT extension!

Seriously though.. 'load bearing' surely that's day one at construction engineering school? and how difficult is it to work out views from seats? (though i feel they knew this all along)
Ive been really impressed so far by how well the space inside Vic Road has been used in modern times. Now i'm starting to wonder if they are stretching things a bit too far. Is this amount of work and hassle really worth the relatively low extra capacity?

 

Wasn’t the Rous Stand, as was, originally designed so the Upper Tier was actually one tier right down to pitch level? I agree this seems like a lot of work and cost just to add a relatively insignificant amount to the stadium capacity. So I wonder if it’s a pre-cursor and later on they’ll close the Lower GT and build a new tier over it to join up?

 

When the club have to email the fan base threatening season ticket holders if they continue not turning up, it does make you wonder.

 

Never heard that. Interesting theory though.

Wouldn't a building continuation bring the seats a lot closer to the pitch? I suppose they could design it, like they did with the SEJ stand, so all seats can be utilised and not half hidden as is currently the case in the NW corner. Having said that, would this actually increase seating capacity or provide the exact same amount of seats?

The only real advantage I can think of by bringing the lower tier forward (in effect) is gaining usable space behind (where the lower tier currently is). Also there would be no need to level the pitch, so that would be a significant cost saving.

The other benefit is it would make the SEJ and GT stands look symmetrical. Only the GT roof would look a bit out of place. However, brining the lower tier forward would probably mean they would need a roof of deeper depth. This would mean a roof replacement, which would make the entire stadium look a lot more unified.

The more I think of it, the more it makes sense.

 

I agree the screens look smart, and even though smaller they are a good compromise to improve the corners. Of course some grounds in the Premier League don't even have one screen - like Old Trafford.

The work pitch side of the LGT makes you wonder if they are going to try levelling the pitch next year. Or maybe it was just to facilitate the extension work. Levelling the pitch would be a massive job. Not sure how it would work at the Vicarage Road end, with the pitch six or so feet lower than today.

When your sitting in the Rookery and the other stands are empty, you realise the stadium is not very big but looks very smart.

 

Hopefully theyve worked out the stands wont collapse if everyone takes heed and turns up!

 

I either read it on here, probably from @Stevohorn , or made it up completely. Not sure which!

 

Yep it was. I think the pitch has been moved towards the GT stand since then, by about 2 meters, I think it was around when the Rookery was built.

It looked like they have taken the wall in front of the lower GT down as well, which should give more seating options at the VR end of the stand.

The new screens are pants

 

It's not a theory, the Rous was designed as a single tier stand..




Not sure why it was never built as such but might well be down to the pitch levels.

I did a (rudimentary) mock up to see if a single tier would still fit and it appears that it does. Not sure it would add much in the way of capacity though. A 1000 maybe? (or none!)



Your idea of lowering the pitch is a good one.. especially as it needs further leveling. Only thing is that i doubt we have the space at either end. Side to side we have but we dont have much run off at the ends. Bring the stands forward and we would have to shorten the pitch.. possibly beyond the required length.

 

If they could do 1000 by throwing up a cheapish structure anchored on most of the existing lower tier, maybe by the same company who did the SEJ, I suppose it might just make sense?

 

There was one thing missing today " the clock " I hope they find it by next week!

 

I like quirky football grounds with different stands. I much prefer them to the homogenous bowls that are usually built now.

 

I enjoy your useful insight into football stadia, Stevohorn. But your image of the GT stand brings a whole new (lower) level to the term "rudimentary mock-up".

 

The cost of completing the Rous was too much so they built the upper part first. The lower part remained undeveloped and looked like garages for a long period until temporary seats were put in a few years later. When funds finally became available they decided to make it two tier to fit more seats than a single tier. So in its present configuration the are more seats than if it was a single tier.

 

I wonder though if technology has moved on since then and more can now be fitted in? Even if not, a lot of LGT seats have disappeared in the last decade as they were below pitch level, unsellable or because hospitality venues were built at the back of the tier.

 

The temporary seats were in place for the second home game (vs Wimbledon) in early September. So it was only a month.. and one home game (vs Oxford) without them.

I shall have to do some research about the intended capacity of the West Stand compared with what it ended up as.. but i'm doubting it was less. There are a couple of rows under the overhang.. but i think that would have been compensated with more rows at the front. See what i can find.

 

Stevo, I think the garages were there for years. The temporary seats were insignificant so my failing memory only recalls the garages which were in full view even though the temporary seats were there. I remember there was a small firm of youf that used to sit on in the end block nearest the Vic Rd end. One guy was arrested every home game for what seemed like no reason to loads of boos.

 

Yes, I guess the rake of the lower part would need to be shallower like the lower GT.

 

Yes mate the garages were there until the permanent lower tier was completed in 1993. The very shallow temporary seats were also there nearly from the start though.

Here's a pic of the first game showing the yet to be completed stand..

 

Yes, I guess now there would be a similar amount of seats. but I guess you would lose the disabled areas and the view from the bar.

 

Look at the state of the perimeter for the opening game of the season - no wonder the pitch was a mud bath / sand pit by November in those days