So Steve Parish has revealed there will be a 'major announcement' regarding the future of our stadium within the next month. Several media outlets instantly jumped on it and assumed we were building a new ground, now the majority seem to think we're staying at Selhurst and redeveloping it into a 40,000-all seater. I've always maintained on here that I prefer the old school grounds and would hate to move to a plastic bowl in the middle of nowhere, so I stand by that. As crap as Selhurst is (it's barely changed since I got my season ticket 25 years ago) going to matches just wouldn't be the same. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks, but if we're genuinely going to redevelop Selhurst and increase the capacity to around 40,000 then it's an exciting time for the club. We've been at this level for five years now, so it's about time some of the revenue generated (and the American investment) was put to good use. Let's just hope we're in the Premier League when it's built!
Yeah hence... Wake up Richie To be honest I doubt it'd be 40,000. Somewhere between 30-35,000 would be more realistic, especially with the uncertainty over our league status. We sell out every home game at the moment so if we manage to stay up I don't think we'd have any problem filling it, especially with our huge catchment area. If we were relegated it'd be less than 2/3 full most weeks, but then that goes for most big grounds at that level.
Have to agree that I prefer the old grounds over soulless bowls. We have a similar predicament. We had drawn up plans for redevelopment but shelved them. I personally would prefer to redevelop our current ground but buy out the neighbouring cricket club and buy the road in front of our Bob Lord stand. Both stands need improving. Could potentially keep the road open and build over it. I've seen a few design examples in existence. Not advocating a massive increase, but 30,000 - 35,000 seems doable while maintaining the historical home. There have been rumours of building a new stadium off the motorway, but can't see that being popular. Namely for the reasons you mentioned but also because it wouldn't technically be in Burnley either. The downside is traffic is a ball ache on match day, which is the only sensible reason we should move.
genuine question could you sell out a 40,000 seat stadium? A lot of our fans talk about increasing the size of St Mary's but i personally think it's about the right size and palace are probably a similar sized club to us. From a personal perspective i'll be disappointed to see Selhurst go, always enjoyed it as a ground (both with Palace and Wimbledon) and much prefer old fashioned grounds to new bowls
I think the PL is at a point where it needs to either upgrade/rebuild/new build their stadiums. White Hart Lane is doing it, West Ham got the London Stadium (As god awful as it is), Brighton and Huddersfield have some lovely modern stadiums, Stoke have recently upgraded theirs by adding more seats, but yeah, I can see Selhurst needing a new stadium very soon. Surprised Bournemouth haven't upgraded theirs yet, 11,000 seats or something? even a 4000 increase would make the world of difference, surely? Anyway, Palace are at that point where a new stadium is plausible, but only if they stay up.
Would be a shame. Really like the away end at Selhurst. Yes the seats are crap (but who sits at away games anyway) and the view is terrible, but that's what makes it different than the rest of the garbage in the Prem.
I am quite sure an equally pleasant refreshment area could be provided. Albeit, it has a unique quality as it is.
Be a bit big for the Premier League! In all honesty we could shift 40k for most games probably but it would be mostly tourists and additional away fans. Ideally Parish could keep season tickets at a low level to entice any old school fan back or to get a new generation into the club but we know that won't happen. 33/35k would be ideal for me.
We won't increase the current place because we don't own most of the plot and there's physically no space on 3 sides. So a whole new >= 20k stadium is in the works, but with various moving parts to resolve yet realistically it's a few years away at least. It involves first building a new training ground and academy, so that we can vacate our current training ground to build the stadium on it. Still waiting on a council planning decision for the training ground at the mo. We're likely stuck with our tinpot 11k in the meantime!
Was about to post something similar. I reckon most, if not all Premier League Clubs could sell out. Namely because the number of tourists walking through the gates has increased massively. I was reading recently about the large increase in Norwegian, Dutch and German fans coming over for our games. Can only assume it's similar for other clubs. Not that ticket sales play a huge part in today's TV money dominated market. I'm not suggesting building a 60,000 stadium when your fan base is half that, but I think Palace etc could pick up extra fan base on the current one based on new marketing and promoting the club in other countries.
Aaaaah makes sense. Messing about with the landlord and the council, sounds about right haha. Its a lovely stadium, but for the team they have and the popularity of the club nowadays, it just makes sense to go that little bit bigger, even if they do drop down to the Champs.
Don't start complaining about our CFS. Otherwise we'll start charging you for the splinters you get for sitting in those wood seats!
I don't think i'd class it as extra fan base to be fair, I wouldn't expect many of the tourist brigade to be around when the inevitable happens and we're relegated, whether that be this season or whenever. But yeah it's certainly part and parcel of what the Premier League has become. I'd love it if Parish kept the prices low so we could get the next generation of Palace fans down there but my guess is it will be the main stand that's going to get done first and that will mean a shit load of corporate and very expensive seats. It is what it is these days, we know the ground has to be done, as much as I love the place it certainly needs updating. Hopefully we'll remember the type of club that we are, a 40k stadium being well under half full in the Championship will look completely daft.
Only for the 'bigger' games in the Premier League. Like I said in my second post I reckon somewhere between 30-35,000 would be more realistic.
Well! If you want to be particular. It's best not to sit in that stand! Acoustics are fabulous though.
