Stadium Expansion

It really looks like a proper football stadium from the air. Which is hard to appreciate at street level because so much of it is below street level.

 

I hope they've checked to see if the cladding is fireproof.

 

It does look good, and modern.

If only it had incorporated a dog track to maximise revenue

A pity the private flats restrict any development of the rookery stand as that could have been the obvious expansion with another tier and no line of sight housing nearby... I'm sure this hasn't been mentioned before

 

Hindsight. At the time we had average crowds of 10 (is ) ,000 and a season ticket waiting list was a fantasy.

Next you'll be saying that we should have bought the red lion and tried to turn it into a home pub or hospitality - ridiculous.

 

Great aerial pics.. just a bit of a shame with the writing i feel.

The bottom shot shows just how much room there is behind the EJ stand. The new shop corner wraparound will line up nicely with an extended backward EJ stand.

 

Those flats really do upset me. Ffs

 

Looking at the last image, would it not be possible to build a second tier above the rookery? Barely any windows in the flats, to block, and no skyline to be concerned about?

 

For some reason or other I keep having the old Gregor Raziak song we used to sing come into my mind - I think the East Stand has turned out rather better than we anticipated- good job he didn't build it really! (And the song was non pc and racially stereotypical of course!)

 

Surely they'd need some space behind to enable that? The flats lie flush to the back of the stand I believe.

 

For anybody interested, here's a few aerial photos I've collected showing all the major developments over the years.

 

Normally that is the case yes.. but there have been exceptions where space has necessitate it.

One example i can think of is the old Northbank Stand at Highbury, which had one tier directly above the other.


http://www.stadiumguide.com/wp-content/gallery/highbury/highbury2.JPG

 

Fair enough. Big difference in the pitch of the Rookery and that stand though.

Whatever they do I hope they crack on with it soon. Been a bit stadium development deprived this last year!

 

And if only the Pozzos had the foresight to buy the Red Lion off Baz so we Orns could enjoy a quiet pint before and after the game ....

Happy now ?

 

Excellent summary of stadium development.

And the quality of the pitch has come on - chalk and cheese,
or more accurately, pudding and snooker baize, it really looks top class all season ...

 

Was it ever confirmed this picture was actually from an official source, or just a fan mock-up? At the time it appeared on Twitter, the north east corner had yet to be started and neither the wall + turnstiles along occupation road were fully completed, yet whoever did this got them pretty much spot on.

Would like to think it was official (although maybe tone down with the red slightly!) but when you consider that the north east corner roof is currently the highest in the stadium - it's unlikely the club would get permission to build something that towers above that point due to the houses behind.

 

Is that built of lego? If it is, I want a set.

What are the witches flying their broomsticks about?

 

Hope they crack on soon, the extra capacity is definitely needed having attained an attendance of 20,000 plus for every single league game for both seasons in the prem.

 

Unfortunately it could never be builtwith the flats in situ.

 

Continuing with this months up-to-date aerial shots for those that are interested - here's three more, which according to their source were taken by police helicopter in November 2016:

 

I won't be happy until it looks like this, and that includes the surrounding area too...



Notice how I've left the SEJ in situ so I don't have to move.

 

Seeing as Scott Duxbury has indicated that the next major development will be a second tier on the SEJ starting next close season (presuming the business plan continues to indicate its desirability) then I think we can take it that that is the plan. Apart from a bit of 'tinkering at the margins' as well maybe.

So that should give us another 4k+ and a total capacity at the Vic. of 26-28k which should be more than enough to be going on with at the moment.

No need to worry about the 'flats at the back of the Rookery' for the time being.

 

I dunno Mr.Booth. It's amazing what they can build around these days, just look at White Hart Lane for instance.. though tbf there wasnt any residents on site.

I would think even if it it was possible to rebuild the Rookery the expense of such a difficult build process would never pay off in terms of how many extra seats you could put in.. especially it being an end stand. The side stands have long been the only viable areas of expansion to the Vic.



Talking of the Rookery Stand. What ever happened to the goalpost roof support in the South West corner? I'm gonna guess it's now buried in the corner section? The only other option being to suspend the roof by grafting it onto the corner section roof but i dont recall that ever being done. Anyone know for sure?

 

Fabulous!

I believe these pics show the sites of at least 3 of our former grounds.
Anyone care to name them?

 

Agreed. The main reason for my comment is that we wouldn't be cable to build a safe entrance or more to the point , exit, from an upper tier.

 

The SW corner floor slabs were cut around the goalpost columns, as you can just about make out below (2nd column from left):


And has now been cladded around so that it's hidden within the structure (Note the two columns close together):


I happened to be looking at these the other day to try and work out if they could be used to support a second tier. Even if they could I think the distance they are from the back would make the amount 'overhang' look awful for anybody in back of the lower tier, whilst a more common cantilever stand would be a struggle because of the lack of space behind the stand (plus I believe the 'wraparound' actually goes beneath the stand, probably preventing any access to the existing columns.

Apologies for the giant images, I can't work out how to reduce them on this version!

 

Yes that is a good point. The stand at Highbury for instance needed a separate block built behind it so people could access the upper tier.
Added to which getting to and from an expanded Rookery would cause major problems.. we all know how crowded it is getting down that side of the ground as it is now, let alone several thousands more on top. Actually that's gonna pose problems with any extension of the EJ stand as well.

 

Cheers for that.. the definitive answer! and a nifty piece of engineering that.

Ive also noticed something in the bottom pic i hadnt noticed before. In the lower right hand side i can see a storage place for the pitch light rigs.. i was wondering where they put them when not in use.

 

Scummybear beat me to it and prob demonstrated it better, but yeah they hid the support within the new building work!


Regarding the light rigs - as well as under there - if you look closely on a couple of the aerial pics I've uploaded recently, you'll see them in the car park down Occupation Road and by the steps leading in to the back of the Rookery:

 

Good spot! I was wondering if they could get the larger size rigs inside that storage area as the pic just shows one of the baby goalmouth ones.

PS This is of some interest to me as a while back i worked for a Norwegian company delivering light rigs to various stadiums around the UK. We missed out on the contract at Watford sadly and a Dutch company called SGL supplied them instead.

 

I will not be happy if it looks like this. Bet where ever this is they don't get as much rain as we do.

 

National stadium of Chile.. the one where people were interned during the military coup of 73.

 

The flats really screwed over the expansion possibilities but I suppose it was needed at the time.

I can really only see a rebuild of the GT and extension of GT being feasible now.

 

We could build an undergroud carpark on the vic with allotments on the roof then we have all of this area to play with.

 

I reckon the Vic Rd End could be knocked down and re-done with greater capacity. Particularly as a two tier job.

 

Hang on, scrap that the new road goes straight through the middle.