Stadium Expansion - Bushey Hall

To counteract this, there is no parking at Vicarage Road, but we all seem to find our little routines and parking spaces. The same will apply if we relocate to Bushey Hall.

 

Last few times i’ve parked i’ve ended up just in one of the HARLEQUIN (not Intu or any such bobbins). But otherwise have taken cabs/uber from Leavesden so i can spend time dispensing wisdom from the pub. I’m not sure how long a walk into town from Bushey stadium, guessing 20-25 mins?

 

Just done a walk on Google maps from McDonalds, Watford High Street to Bushey Hall Golf Club and it's 22 minutes.

 

Do i win a prize for accuracy of my guess? I would like a day pass for the Watford Sprijgs slides please, or a meal for two at Ponderosa.

 

Probably true, but there would potentially be an extra 10k people looking for parking and isn’t the area more residential, so fewer ‘industrial’ parking sites?

 

But isn't the alternative to stay at VR and increase capacity, so the extra 10k people is a moot point?

The road behind the potential site seems to be made up of schools and leisure facilities (and a field for a car boot), I'm sure they'll all be happy to make money from parking. Except David Lloyd, they wouldn't let the riff-raff to park there unless they paid £90 a month. Combined with the multi-storeys, a park and ride, and the general train traffic I think it won't be much different - with the main factor being the queues disperse quicker as the M1 is much closer.

 

This is where a 33,000 seater stadium would place Watford in the grand scheme of things.

1. Old Trafford 75,731 Man Utd
2. London Stadium 66,000 West Ham
3. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 62,850
4. Emirates 60,260 Arsenal
5. Etihad 55,097 Man City
6. Anfield 54,074 Liverpool
7. St James' Park 52,404 Newcastle
8. Stadium of Light 49,000 Sunderland
9. Villa Park 42,573 Aston Villa
10. Stamford Bridge 41,841 Chelsea
11. Goodison Park 40,394 Everton
12. Hillsborough 39,732 Sheffield Weds
13. Elland Road 37,890 Leeds Utd
14. Riverside Stadium 34,742 Middlesbrough
15. Pride Park 33,597 Derby County
16. Cardiff City Stadium 33,280
17. Bushey Hall Stadium 33,000 Watford

We'd be bigger than Leicester, Sheff Utd, Nott'm Forest, Southampton, Wolves etc.

It would really catapult Watford into the top tier in regards to how the club would be perceived. Cardiff's stadium doubles as the Welsh national stadium also, so explains why theirs is that size.

We'd be Premier League in terms of infrastructure and that's so important. Everything would shout Premier League off the pitch and that's half the battle. In recent years we've been Premier League on the pitch only, which gives the status a fragility. If we're going to progress as a club we need to be Premier League on and off the pitch or else it doesn't have the feel of something sustainable.

 

I firmly believe that the reason the club went into decline after the rapid rise from 1978 was due to the fact that the club couldn’t keep up with ground improvements. The clubs success wasn’t sustainable without major investment in the ground and it never happened. This underinvestment in the ground continued for a very long time right up until recently. I think is it vital now we go up and then a new investor can be found for a stadium which will give us a fighting chance of competing in the PL.

 

It all makes perfect sense, but the slight problem I have is that I quite like my team playing in a football ground, rather than a spaceship.

 

Given how much space Hughes always seems to have around him I think that he is already playing in a spaceship.

 

A “sea change” is coming. Norwich will be under the sea in 25 years.

 

33,000 isn't the most interesting capacity.

I vote for 33,333 - would really put us up there where we belong.

 

We'd never ever be able to fill 33k IMO. It'd take years of us being a PL club to build up a fanbase that big.

 

I'd go for 33,600. Who'd have thought, little old Watford having the 15th biggest stadium in England.

 

Neutrals might flock to watch Man City score hatfuls against us...

 

Creative marketing would be the way to do it. There are a surprisingly large number of ‘floating’ fans who will switch to watch football where they can get better value and/or a more comfortable experience, particularly families. I personally know some who switched from QPR to West Ham when the latter moved and offered cheap tickets. It might seem unthinkable to many of us but it happens.

 

I'd rather have a smaller stadium and it not be filled with tourists/neutrals. I guess that doesn't make the club any money though...

 

Yes good motorway access would mean footy fans living near Junction 10 could get down to our stadium in about 20 minutes.

 

Maybe so, but look at a couple of cases in the recent past. When Coventry left Highfield Road they had 'outgrown' it a little, fast forward a few years and the space in the Ricoh showed it was a disastrous move. Southampton on relegation from the Premier League in 2005, they closed sections of their ground for a few years because they knew they wouldn't fill it; having said that St Marys is probably right for a club their size.

Now look at Swansea, their capacity is roughly the same as ours, they have a massive catchment area albeit not as heavily populated as we have. Their capacity is probably just right for them, although I don't know, it's possible it was build in a way that an extra tier could be relatively cheaply bolted on to one side giving them an easy way to expand the capacity.

 

Agreed. Families are preferable to tourists though because children can grow into obsessed one club fans like we did.

 

I'll never forget the day we were playing United at home in the PL many seasons ago.

I arrived in the GT stand to find a couple of Asian tourists sitting infront of me, wearing United shirts.

There were a few things I took from this:

1. They had some serious gall to wear the shirts of the opposing team in the home section
2. These day-trippers must have paid an hefty sum to go and watch their beloved United play
3. Clearly, the touts couldn't get them a ticket for the away stand so fobbed them off with a ticket in the home stand

I've said it before on here: Anyone sitting in the home stands who is shown to be wearing the shirt of the opposing team should be given a choice:

a) cover up
b) change their top

If neither of these are to their liking, the stewards ought to eject them. I don't really care if they are a tourist or not. It's disrespectful IMO.

 

I think that the idea is to gain more fans.

 

doesnt that touch on one of the potential increases? More ‘executive’ seating which is neutral for tourists , and also more away fans. In the prem i imagine most clubs visiting would sell out the vic rd now if given it all. So you could easily do 23-25k a match if space allowed without even increasing the core fan base that much.

 

No, they should be obliged to buy an overpriced home shirt to get in.

 

It always annoys me when the camera pans onto fans in the home crowds at Prem matches, always at the front of the stands where the regulars wouldn't sit in a million years, showing the full kit wa**ers who have come along for their "once a season" match. They don't represent the rest of us.

 

If we build it, they will come.

 

Is that the Barnet formula?

 

Not as easy as it sounds. Have been a part of conversations with agencies who do this and you're looking at 6/7+ years of clever (and expensive) marketing to have any real effect on long-term supporter base.

 

Anyone know of a stadium where capacity can be can be adjusted depending on the importance of a match?
It must be difficult for clubs to know what size to build without it becoming a white elephant in the future if you’re not in the PL. like MK and Coventry have ended up. At some point you have to say do we have ambitions or not. I think 33,000 is about right for us. It could be interesting to see if people still want to go to matches after Covid.

 

Yes, and I would expect Watford to design a stadium with this mind. It can be achieved by closing off upper tiers and selective lighting, so it doesn’t look too odd.

 

None spring to mind but plenty of new stadia have been designed for a simple addition of an extra tier, but I assume once that's done it remains in place.

 

Got my covid jab at The Hive. Nice little stadium.

 

I was thinking more high tech, like moving stands. Lets face it they can move pitches in and out.

 

Yes agree with this.

But it'd be a long term plan.

Might get a few people just wanting to try it because it's new.

Or a few like me who go to selected home games upgrading to a season ticket.

The other way is a West Ham type strategy of making kids basically free to use the excess capacity and build support longer term if they get behind the team.

 

I'd be a bit surprised if the plan was to build a 33k stadium outright. If I was putting money on it I reckon they'd aim for 27k initially and leave footings etc for an easy extension.