Stadium Expansion - Bushey Hall

Now it's in the public domain, I think it's ok to publish these again. Dom, feel free to remove again if it's going to cause the forum issues.

 

Looks a very positive step for the growth of the club, but have to stay up first...

Any idea on estimated capacity?

 

Have to disagree. The thing with all the clubs that built stadiums and subsequently got relegated, is that their stadiums are all much the same. Madejski, Bolton, Derby, Coventry...could all be mistaken for each other.

If we manage to get something bespoke and designed for us alone, it could be magnificent. The Amex in Brighton is a good example of this.

 

Looks and sounds ****

 

'appears to'. Think there's more in depth analysis on the other thread.

 

Agreed, as is the John Smith's stadium (Huddersfield)

 

Totally agree. The only reason to not want to move to a new stadium is nostalgia. I'd be sad, probably very sad at our very last game at Vicarage Road, as it's served me man and boy for 40 years, but time moves on.

There is nothing but positivity around moving to a new 35k stadium which is still within location of the town Watford Football Club represents and will be fit for purpose for the next 100 years. The Pozzo's have done a very good job in tidying up VR, but it really has reached it's limit. You can increase the SEJ side and add a few more seats in corners here and there, but to get near to 30k, you'd have to demolish the GT stand completely and rebuild.

These costs are prohibitive if you trade off what a bespoke new stadium would give us in terms of commercial revenue and perceived status. There are so many problems with VR. No parking, the route to and from games, boxed in on all sides, the Origin housing. This list is extensive. Plus, the land has value especially in the current climate of investment in hospitals. I'm sure there would be a government interest, not only a local council one, in Watford relocating and making current stadium land available for hospital extension and affordable/key worker housing.

Watford have clearly been working on this project for at least 6 months, and the idea of doing this even longer.

To me it makes perfect sense to design something with a blank canvass on a much larger plot and still in the vicinity of Watford. With the owners we have now, I'd totally trust the Pozzo's to do a great job with a new stadium. The one they built for Udinese is spectacular, although the seat colouring would not be my choice. They are stylish and the stadium would represent that.

As long as we stay up, this is not going to be just a pipedream. It has real teeth and is something that should excite every Watford fan.

 

A big out of town, soulless bowl with a far higher capacity than the Vic is an absolute necessity if we want to grow to the next level. That's what football is about for all but a few clubs - dreaming of making it to the next level. A big stadium shows the ambition I want to see.

Of course there'll be the usual whiners who'll insist we don't need anything bigger than 25,000. It's not long ago they were saying that a 20,000 was too big for little Watford.

You know what they're waiting to say. "It'll look great when we're playing Mansfield at home in front of two thousand..." F**k off you miserable turds. Go and support Luton if that's your sort of aspiration.

 

nah....it's all horse*****.

 

There are no pubs for miles so I guess it'll have to be pre match drinks at the Forties Experience.

 

I still say we should build it on the outskirts of L**** and just leave it there, empty, for their fans to drive past every match day.

 

Why are none of the fans wearing wfc shirts or scarves ?

 

Here are some more of the pics for you:

https://imgur.com/a/cvicwD2

 

Need to combine these 2 threads on the same subject.....

 

As West Ham, Spurs and Arsenal have discovered - putting the stadium ahead of the fans and the football doesn't work.

Wolves did it the other way around and are better than all three.

 

I’d done, I really hope it could be done like Brighton/Spurs in terms of structure - decent enclosed space that still resembles 4 separate stands on the inside. The Spurs stadium has seating all the way around but still feels like 4 different areas of seating.

 

I broke this news on here like a year ago.

 

The divide it is and will cause is palatable to alot of us forum lurkers, who like to read and stay out of it more than have a say. I see #vrexit with vremainers and vrexiteers being a good one to follow.

 

They believe our fans have too much self respect.

 

I posted this in another thread the other day, so it may have gone under the radar. A few more details on the Watford Stadium for you.



(this may or may not be true)

 

Please no.

 

Doesn't make sense to me. The proposed new stadium (if there is any truth to the rumours) looks impressive from the pictures I have seen, but from a financial point of view, I just don't get it. How often would it be full? Will this restrict our ability to buy and pay top class players? How long would it take to get payback on the building costs? Is there a contingency plan in place if we drop down a division or two? If the Pozzos get fed up with British weather and football, the club could owe them a shed load of money. Part of me is a little excited by the prospect, but the main feeling is one of deep trepidation. This might all be an early April fool gag.

Perhaps it is just an internal investigation looking into the prospect and the full cost benefit analysis has not yet been completed.

 

Awful. Its the old bushey hall golf club, with hardly any road access, no train station, and no car parking.

i very much doubt they would even get planning permission there....

 

People may or may not like Gino Pozzo but whatever people think of him, he is a very clever individual, very successful in business and not done bad on a football level either. From a financial aspect I'm sure there is huge amounts of prep before this goes ahead but a new stadium has many financial benefits. Naming rights, general advertising, use by other sports, pop stars, attraction to players. We can't really extend currently apart from a few seats here and there and if we want to move forward as a club then I think this would be a good idea and necessary to do this
I'm sure that all of this would have been considered along with many other things before even considering moving forward.
I like The Vic and have been going there for 40 years but I really wouldn't be too bothered to leave

 

I wonder if Gino and Duxbury have thought about that?

 

40,000 will do very nicely. That'll tell the world we mean business beyond just retaining Prem status or yoyoing to and from the Championship. It'll show Watford FC are ready to ascend to the next level.

 

super saiyan?

 

I also spot a depressing lack of flags.

 

No half and half scarves?

 

My main concern about a new stadium is that we'd get slapped with one of those stupid sponsor names most of them seem to. I don't want to watch Watford at home in the Cadbury's Creme Egg Stadium or the Bassett's Licorice Allsorts Stadium.

A new stadium which doesn't have a name honouring the club's history is a fail at the first jump for me. Conversely if it was something like the John Taylor stadium, that would be a great start.

On matters practical, close proximity to Watford, excellent transport links and ample parking (especially disabled parking) need to be a bare minimum standard. On top of that, a new stadium should be designed for atmosphere and fan experience first, not aesthetics and marketing.

 

Karnesis has signed for £12.5m on a 4 year deal.

 

We could sell them VR and they could take it up the M1 in pieces as their new ground, let them have a bit of footballing history.

 

If we were to get a new stadium, I think the most important aspect is to have good acoustics and as enclosed as possible, as we aren't the loudest of fans.