General Wolves News

[Kenny]

People would be more inclined to get to the ground earlier if it wasn't nearly £5 for a bottle of warm Carling.

The range of drinks has massively changed in the ground. Got in early for one game a few weeks back and was surpised at the choice in the North Bank.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

The range of drinks has massively changed in the ground. Got in early for one game a few weeks back and was surpised at the choice in the North Bank.

Wasn't too bad was it? Not that much more expensive than the pub either.

Although I left the wrong person in charge of the order :icon_lol:

 

[Parkins left foot]

Maybe so, but there are at least two stairwells in the BW, no? So you'd have fewer people on either stairwell, in the SB once on the concourse everybody has to move in the same direction to the fire exits at the far right by the South Bank. Anyway, it's a hypothetical I'd rather not find out.

Yes the BW upper has an exit at either end so the problem is probably halved - though in a 'panic' situation would still cause issues.

 

[Del Woppio]

Let's be honest, a brand new, out of town stadium would be the best option for the club, commercially. There'd be fewer restrictions on the style and size of the rebuild, cheaper land and no loss of attendance revenue while it was being built, and not having to stagger the build to fit around an existing stadium would result in a much cheaper build cost. I'd have been 'for' it even in my season ticket days; I rarely went into the city, I'd just park on the shithole industrial estate and walk in that way, and I'm that's a matchday experience that is similar for many, if not the majority.

TBH I really don't get the objection to out of town, if it's made with the guarantee that it'll result in extra spending becoming available to the first team, no reduction in capacity during rebuild and a spanking new, massive stadium that's circa half an hour away from the existing site. If it's better for the club in the long run, surely that's what everybody want? Or do we value tradition over the future?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

A city centre ground is massive for us as they're relatively rare today. Plus it would absolutely kill the centre if we moved.

It really isn't the experience for most that you come in from some wank car park miles away and go straight home :icon_lol:

Plus where are you building it, it's easy to say out of town. Where? There aren't many/any viable sites. And transport anywhere outside the city centre is rubbish.

See Reading, Coventry or MK for details if you want a terrible experience from that point of view. Nothing to do, stupidly hard to get to if you don't drive.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Anything way out of town would be a no from me - takes me 3 1/2 to 4 hrs to get there as it is.

At least now I can meet up with others easily & quick access back to the station (if going back the same day) or the hotel close to to the centre if staying over.

 

[Del Woppio]

I'd have a beer in the goalpost or the northbank bar before and after, natch. Is Wolverhampton City Centre really so enticing as to be a key consideration in a massively important decision?

I get the emotional appeal of staying where we are, I really do. Few bevvies in town, walking across and seeing the stadium come into view and all that, it's great. But is it so important as it's a viable reason to stunt the growth of the club as a whole? With FFP in play we need every improvement possible to increase our revenues at home and abroad. Would a compromise on the social aspect be acceptable if it gave us the chance to be consistently competitive at the top end of the league and in Europe? And tbf a bunch of lads sat round a table in a city centre pub as opposed to a newly built harvester or some such pre game can't be wildly different, no?

I get the transport thing and I haven't really got an answer to that, but that's not really my field. Bus wanker.

And yeah it would kill the city centre, and many businesses around Molineux, but surely we're all more concerned about our success on the pitch than crumpets cafe and the hog's head?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Comes back to "where" then if I accept all that. (I don't, but let's just say I do)

i54 is not an option.

Goodyear is not an option.

They're the only two even vaguely sensible ideas I've seen floated and we've long since missed the boat on both.

 

[Parkins left foot]

The travel issue is a big part of it for me, though I accept that I'm not the average fan location wise but not alone on that issue.

Most of us will view this issue from a personal point of view. Don't know the area as well as Deutsch does, but sounds as if there is no obvious alternative site really.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

If I were being a selfish bastard then the site where Moog is now on the i54 would have been ideal. I can walk there in 20-odd minutes.

But it's all been built on now with that and JLR. There is land (much) further back but linking it would be an absolute nightmare. Plus I would say the chances of us moving into Staffs/Shrops territory are fairly remote.

Again, maybe 10-15 years ago there were brownfield sites we could have built on. Not now though unless I'm missing something. The nearest thing you'd possibly have is the Carillion site, build over that and the Fold St car park but I'm not sure the footprint is big enough, you're right by the ring road and the brewery, neither of which are going anywhere.

 

[Kenny]

Only place in the City Centre where you could fit a hooooooge Football Stadium would be where the Retail Village was going to get built but the company behind it went bust. Essentially that stretched from the Way right down to where Wilko's was and across from the Ring Road to the Manders. It would probably cost more than Spurs Stadium to do it though.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'm sceptical that we need to go much bigger than 40k anyway. I've struggled to get rid of tickets this season. Daytrippers are exactly that, they don't want to come every week.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

You move from central you piss off a chunk of the support. Build by i54 (which is now impossible as Dan says) and it becomes a travel horror for everyone coming from Dudley way for instance. And there will be fuck all to do. While at the same time every pub in the centre dies. Fucking awful idea and thankfully binned ages ago. Shame that people still twatting on about it means they have to restate the position. No doubt rinse and repeat again in another year.

 

[Kenny]

I'm sceptical that we need to go much bigger than 40k anyway. I've struggled to get rid of tickets this season. Daytrippers are exactly that, they don't want to come every week.

Jeff wants big though. I think they are testing how how long the demand goes on for. 31k with 10k wanting in for 1 year is good but if they get that again ,I think we will look at 45k capacity with the ability to easily increase just in case we finally get to the point where singing by far the greatest team the world has ever seen is actually the truth

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Waiting lists are a bit weird though, it costs you nowt to get on there and any old bugger can register. It doesn't literally mean that if 10k extra seats opened up we'd automatically sell another 10k STs.

United have a stupid waiting list right now but they don't even sell out any more. Almost certain I could get a ticket in the home areas for a week on Saturday if I wanted one (I don't)

 

[Kenny]

Waiting lists are a bit weird though, it costs you nowt to get on there and any old bugger can register. It doesn't literally mean that if 10k extra seats opened up we'd automatically sell another 10k STs.

United have a stupid waiting list right now but they don't even sell out any more. Almost certain I could get a ticket in the home areas for a week on Saturday if I wanted one (I don't)

Im sure the club know shizzle like this. If we have a 45k capacity, the club will want to be looking at trying to shift 90% of around 41 or 42k and the away fans will keep 3k (and demand 48k if they arre Bristol City)

 

[Del Woppio]

I'm sceptical that we need to go much bigger than 40k anyway. I've struggled to get rid of tickets this season. Daytrippers are exactly that, they don't want to come every week.

I dunno, ticket availability helps habit I reckon. Right now unless you're a season ticket holder you've got no chance of going, and so you build your life around that. I'm sure there's thousands of lapsed STHs that would still be occasional match-goers if there was frequent availability for them to sit together etc. Similarly for those that have never had a season ticket previously, quality premier league football would certainly drive occasional match goers. If we had a 50k stadium we'd fill it 4 or 5 times a year, and would average over 40k. Having 10-15 thousand tickets available to match-by-match fans to would in someways be an easier sell than your example of struggling to give your ticket away. You could offer me a ticket for Liverpool tomorrow and I'd turn it down because life, but if me and two mates could buy a ticket for Burnley or whatever in 3 saturdays' time, I'd be able to factor that in 4-5 times a year, and doubtless similar situations for thousands of others

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Problem we have is this.

1) Football is tribal round here. You simply aren't going to get us advancing into Albion/Villa areas, it won't happen. No matter how well we do. City have been brilliant for a decade but the divide is still there in Manchester. United areas, City areas. You just get more from the latter who want to go although they've always been well supported and the attendances haven't jumped by *that* much. Granted, we might be able to expand west as there's bugger all there, but you're getting into areas where the population is more sparse.

2) The city is shit economically and it's pretty damn expensive to watch us. A lot of people can't afford it.

3) We're a brilliant team but we aren't especially close to winning anything. And like it or not, a lot of "fans" get bored by *just* finishing highish up in the table and drift away. The novelty of playing United, Arsenal, Chelsea etc drops off and they aren't bothered anymore.

I reckon 40k averages would be our absolute peak no matter what we do. The 50s and 70s crowds are bloody weird if you look at them. We'd massively swing from like 50k to 20k game to game, all the time. Now it's different now as you don't really have pay on the gate and what have you (plus the cost) but I don't see us having that kind of fanbase.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I dunno, ticket availability helps habit I reckon. Right now unless you're a season ticket holder you've got no chance of going, and so you build your life around that. I'm sure there's thousands of lapsed STHs that would still be occasional match-goers if there was frequent availability for them to sit together etc. Similarly for those that have never had a season ticket previously, quality premier league football would certainly drive occasional match goers. If we had a 50k stadium we'd fill it 4 or 5 times a year, and would average over 40k. Having 10-15 thousand tickets available to match-by-match fans to would in someways be an easier sell than your example of struggling to give your ticket away. You could offer me a ticket for Liverpool tomorrow and I'd turn it down because life, but if me and two mates could buy a ticket for Burnley or whatever in 3 saturdays' time, I'd be able to factor that in 4-5 times a year, and doubtless similar situations for thousands of others

Sorry mate, cross posting here.

It's not my ticket I'm giving away that's not happening. But I'm offering stuff out for literally free (bar the price of a pint) and struggling to get a nibble.

Having us perpetually average over 30k is amazing to me, we're a relatively small city that's relatively poor economically, I think you walk before you can run.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

In terms of capital outlay, remaining where we are and redeveloping 3 stands along with reasonable contribution to infrastructure would be much less than looking at an out of town development.

We have no 'ground' to sell (not that theres much market for land in the centre of town) to off set the cost to move, as its council owned and combined with a covenant that it must be used for sports.

Any out of town development would require the cost of land to be factored in, not just for the stadium but parking facilities along with any section 278 requirements, etc, etc

Outside of questionable gain at this stage of our progression then, I would see the current discussions with the council being the primary blocker for redevelopment, in terms of hopeful contributions to a weird obsession for bridges by local councillors.