New Stadium Plans - The Triangle - Planning

[Manorlounger]

Looking further, the licensing body (Sports Grounds Safety Authority) has said (amongst other things - see linked doc):

• Any infrastructure must comply with the appropriate SGSA guidance.
• Licensed standing areas must be made available to both home and visiting supporters
• Each seat/space must be allocated to only one spectator
• Each seat and seat row must be clearly identifiable
• All clubs should develop a ticket sales strategy that accommodates home and visiting spectators who do not wish to or cannot, stand, including ambulant disabled people and families with small children. Close co-operation with the visiting club will be required when selling the visiting clubs ticket allocation.

https://sgsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Licensed-standing-criteria-October-2022.pdf

This will never work until it is possible to choose, in advance, where one would like to sit/stand. At present, I know of only one other club that has tried to work in cooperation with our ticket office and that is Lincoln. They use the same ticket system, Ticketmaster, as does OUFC. (unfortunately on arrival at Lincoln, the stewards then direct you to sit where you like!)
Personally, I would welcome with open arms any system that facilitated the choice of seat. It would avoid all the nonsense of those who wish to congregate in one area and allow those who cannot or prefer not to stand, to be able to sit and watch the game without all the arguments that ensue between stewards, fans and other fans. (and, of course, those that inevitably arrive with a minute to kick off, direct from some drinking establishment who insist on joining their brothers and sisters in the singing section regardless of available seats/standing room)
If we can arrange safe standing/rail standing/licensed standing areas then it has to be an improvement. As to the question of allocated or not, sadly, the safety of all comes first. There is no chance that we will ever see again the likes of The London Road and it's open terrace with a few railings scattered around but, we could see a return to legally standing and watching the game and that has to be a good start.

 

[bashamwonderland]

hahaha I did , wasn't anywhere in that ground I' haven't sat or stood.
The most miserable was Beech rd seats, & the Manor Club Seats above the old changing rooms.
The thing is though ,when we were top of the league or big cup games,every part of the ground got involved,.

The problem is those people are now old and don't sing as much. They need to be replaced, but at £30 a ticket (and largely unaffordable for the last 15 years or so) you're going to struggle to get in a good bunch of working class lads who fancy a P**s up and a sing song.

This is just what happens when you are based in Oxfordshire, and are going for the "family friendly" approach. Family friendly =\= intimidating matchday atmosphere.

 

[Marked Ox]

Yes your right, I observed that on Saturday
most of the singing from the right & left of the East stand & hardly any from the middle .Strange??
Traditionally it is smack bang behind the goal in the middle that the vocalist fans congregated , up & down every ground in the land..

Myself and those around me were singing but then we were towards the back.

 

[Marked Ox]

hahaha I did , wasn't anywhere in that ground I' haven't sat or stood.
The most miserable was Beech rd seats, & the Manor Club Seats above the old changing rooms.
The thing is though ,when we were top of the league or big cup games,every part of the ground got involved,.

Tbf for big games it has happened at the Kasstad but Blackpool isn't one of the games. It does need to happen more though.

 

[Manorlounger]

Trying to grow the Ultras group and improving home atmospheres is something I have done to death with the football club over many many years. I could write an entire essay on what works and what's a complete waste of time etc.

I don't have time today to go in depth on here about it but the easiest and best thing you can do for atmosphere is create an unallocated seating section at 10% lower capacity.

The singers can group together, you can naturally grow the singing group as years go on.

If I said we're bringing the Ultras back and need 100 people to "sit" together, we aren't buying 100 tickets in a row or across multiple rows game after game.

If the area behind the goal had this I would be tempted to buy a season ticket in there, however looking at plans and locations for away fans I would be encouraging singers to congregate behind the opposite goal alongside the away fans, identical to Derby. The proximity to away fans will ramp up the atmosphere and would be far more enjoyable than sitting at the opposite end in front of a hotel miles away from the roof.

Having both "ends" dedicated to home fans is, as far as I know, the plan that has been adopted by the design team. Hence the placement of away support in one corner. Easy to police and simple entry/exit control.
As to the emergence of another Ultras group, I don't see it happening overnight. It takes a lot of work and effort to get anything going. (those banners and flags are not cheap either!) My own induction to the London Road some 50 years ago was quite simple, I arrived with a couple of mates from Woodstock and got stuck in - learnt the songs, knocked a coppers helmet off, got chucked out, walked around to another entrance, came back in and carried on! Life was simpler then! Now we have "elf & safety".
I would like to think that with the new stadium and better standing areas that a singing group would emerge through a natural desire to be part of something rather than be organised. There is a desire on the part of the club for it to work but it's not something that can have an agenda or a plan, it has to be spontaneous. And, if there is a core number that are willing to create banners, flags etc. and need finance, put out a shout, I'll certainly be happy to donate whatever I can.

 

[SteMerritt]

The problem with this is that you'll get people wanting to be 'in the atmosphere' without any intention of creating or helping it.

An unallocated section allows for a little more flexibility in terms of exactly where singers can congregate (within certain blocks), it means that if a few more mates want to go to certain games they can (and still be in that area), and ultimately it should be (as evidenced by this thread, and the Maidenhead one) enough to put off those who want their allocated seat from sitting in this area (and who I'd wager won't be those creating the atmosphere anyway).

For the record, I'll be choosing an allocated seat in whatever will be the equivalent of the SSU, but I certianly won't begrudge an unrestricted area for 'the atmosphere'. That seems entirely sensible.

The issue I see is (even if we ignore the reduction in capacity that unallocated would bring) is safe standing just isn't like a terrace, which is a lot more fluid with standing places. If you go with a few mates who don't normally go to a match, and want to stay and have a drink in the pub before heading in, there is still no guarantee you can stand together as you'll need to find 5 (for example) empty places together. Turning up at five to three means that you may not get that. Unless I'm mistaken about every stander having to be in a proper space?

Having no season tickets allocated to the section seems like a good idea, although I don't know what you do if someone who would like to be in that section also wants to have a season ticket. Season Ticket with unallocated seat number? What happens when we have a big game and want the whole capacity, do we take the 10% drop or enforce seats for that game so we can use all of our capacity?

I think this is going to take some serious thinking to get right, and then will take a while for everyone to settle into the new routine. And I hope the club reach out to people like @WuTang and listen to points from people who have actively worked in getting an atmosphere into an all-seater environment.

 

[Sarge]

The issue I see is (even if we ignore the reduction in capacity that unallocated would bring) is safe standing just isn't like a terrace, which is a lot more fluid with standing places. If you go with a few mates who don't normally go to a match, and want to stay and have a drink in the pub before heading in, there is still no guarantee you can stand together as you'll need to find 5 (for example) empty places together. Turning up at five to three means that you may not get that. Unless I'm mistaken about every stander having to be in a proper space?

Having no season tickets allocated to the section seems like a good idea, although I don't know what you do if someone who would like to be in that section also wants to have a season ticket. Season Ticket with unallocated seat number? What happens when we have a big game and want the whole capacity, do we take the 10% drop or enforce seats for that game so we can use all of our capacity?

I think this is going to take some serious thinking to get right, and then will take a while for everyone to settle into the new routine. And I hope the club reach out to people like @WuTang and listen to points from people who have actively worked in getting an atmosphere into an all-seater environment.

IF the rail seat/ standing area sells unallocated STs is there really an issue? If that area sells out, then its sold out- there will obviously be a set capacity. Get there earlier than 1 min to kick off to have a better choice of where to stand.... Hopefully IF (big IF ) the planners/ designers actually take on board Fans input and encompass those ideas, suggestions and requests into the Stadium build, (most) people will be on site well before kick off

 

[SteMerritt]

IF the rail seat/ standing area sells unallocated STs is there really an issue? If that area sells out, then its sold out- there will obviously be a set capacity. Get there earlier than 1 min to kick off to have a better choice of where to stand.... Hopefully IF (big IF ) the planners/ designers actually take on board Fans input and encompass those ideas, suggestions and requests into the Stadium build, (most) people will be on site well before kick off

It won't be an issue to me, but then I'll be going down the side It's only an issue if the club don't want to lose capacity. Not sure how many seats in a block etc, but guess it would be a maximum of 300 seats that were safe standing? Then we are losing 30 seats a game, and if we get to The Championship and selling out every week that would be £17K over a season (based on £25 a ticket) so not a massive amount in the grand scheme of things.

And you are right, if you want to get your place, don't stay in the pub until nearly kickoff, although we used to do exactly that on the LRT, and walk in to our normal place every week.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

hahaha , serious though i was sat in the South stand Saturday
there was no encouragement, no singing , no cheering, it was like a morgue.
you wouldn't of thought we were top of the league, far from it.
if that was the old manor the place would of been rocking...

Our atmosphere at home should mitigate the fears of locals about noise, we like to watch the game quietly. with only sporadic outbreak of Lords style polite applause.

 

[WuTang]

It's also worth pointing out that what the Ultras needed, and unfortunately didn't get, is not necessarily what's needed at the new ground. I don't think the fanatics are ever going to try and improve the atmosphere and have had no interest so far, it appears they are here to add some colour and flags to the matchdays, which is still great and commendable. However with that in mind the unallocated seating simply will not happen, there's not enough incentive for the club to lower capacity without a group really needing it. The singers can simply be encouraged to buy tickets in an area/stand.

If you had a layout similar to Derby, encouraged singers to simply "go behind the goal" and rail seating was at both ends that would be enough for me. I genuinely believe that proximity to opposition fans is one of the biggest factors in atmosphere and that would be enough to make every match day electric.

 

[souporsumfin]

It's also costing £100m and needs to create revenue all year round to be viable.

Playing devil's advocate here - could the hotel and other attached commercial areas (such as the gym etc) be separated from the stadium if the owners decided to sell in the future? Do we need safeguards in place (in addition to any covenant) that prevents any income stream derived from the stadium complex being lost. I.e. we ensure these streams are always tied to the stadium/current club owners themselves and thereby protect the club.

The reason I say this is that I spoke to the architect last Thursday at the Holiday Inn and I was a little concerned that much of the focus seemed to be on the "Sky boxes" and hotel areas and less so on the fan areas.

For example, one point I raised (which I also raised on here) was around segregation and how they planned to separate away fans. The architect seemed quite relaxed that there would just be a fence and a line of stewards separating fans. I said this sounded good but seemed unlikely since at the current stadium we have lost circa 1000 seats as deemed necessary by the Safety Advisory Group and could there be a chance that the same would happen at the new stadium, infact the effect would be doubled considering we have to segregate fans on two sides? He didn't seem concerned.

On that note, would it be possible for OUSP and Oxvox to liaise with the architects to ensure that whatever segregation solution is decided upon is at least agreed beforehand with the SAG to minimise loss of seats?

Another point I raised was with the away fans being in the SE corner closest to the station would it mean that home fans would be kept behind after high profile games (such as Swindon) while the away fans disperse? Or would there be a temporary wall behind that end so that all fans would have to walk the long way round as fans currently do in the North Stand. He admitted that wasn't something that had been considered but would come up at the logistics stage.

Other points I learned (in no particular order):

The new East Stand (opposite the main stand) would be 22 rows high and steeper than the Kassam seating and would be seating from top to bottom similar to the Kassam's North Stand. The concessions and toilets would be modular so that the away allocation could be extended along the side of the pitch as required. I asked could this possibly go to the halfway line and he said no as season ticket holders would be sat there.

I asked would it be possible to have drawings of a ghosted image of the Kassam superimposed over the new stadium so we can compare the two, he said he would see what they could do.

I asked where fans would be able to eat and drink and that we planned to stay on for an hour after the game (something we don't do currently at The Kassam). He said the the sports bar would likely be OUFC themed and seat up to 150. I commented this didnt seem like a lot but he said fans could use various stalls and bars laid on outside and if the weather was bad could go in the bars inside the GA area around the stadium. He did say however that there wouldn't be seating here due to space issues. I asked if these would be open after the game and he replied no but the two "Premium GA" bars in the main stand would be open, he said it would be up to the club if these areas would be open to all fans.

I asked about the proposed health centre space, he said this could be anything from a GP surgery, dentists to specialist healthcare depending on the franchise that took it on. I did suggest we swap that space with the bar area to allow more fans.

I asked about the possibility of an underpass or bridge, he said he didn't think they would be required with the proposed road closures.

Regarding the lack of yellow and OUFC insignia outside the stadium, they didnt plan to add any to what was seen on the visuals but extra colour could be added using lighting effects, I said this could be difficult to be seen during a day match and urged we should do everything we can to make this feel like OUFC's home considering the Kassam doesn't feel like home at all at the moment eg yellow banners, yellow signage, yellow shrubs and plants, and a big "Welcome to OUFC stadium" on the main stand. He didn't reply to that comment but he said a lot would come down to the budget on what could be done.

Regarding atmosphere he said that it could be possible to do acoustic measurements on the North Stand design to enhance the noise at the proposed home end.

Family area - it hadn't been decided where this would be located as yet.

Disabled area - he said there would be a central platform the full length of the main stand and also smaller areas in the corners of the other stands. I asked if there would be disabled parking spaces near the other stands and he said there would not be. My mum who is disabled said she would have to go in the main stand in that case.

He said one of their biggest focuses was on how to reach Net Zero for the stadium, he thought clever use of wood instead of concrete in certain areas would make a big difference but they needed to be careful due to obtaining a fire certificate, an issue FGR were stuggling with. He also said there would be no gas supply to the stadium, relying instead on renewable energy. One issue which I didn't quite understand was that they couldn't use recycled water from the stadium roof for the pitch for some reason, maybe I misheard.

I ended by wishing him luck and said apart from a few tweaks my family and I were very excited about the plans and couldn't wait for the first match and also that we would add our suggestions to the online feedback section for the new stadium.

Sorry this post has turned into War and Peace folks but thought I'd share what was said last Thursday. If i think of anything else I've forgotten I'll add it later.

 

[souporsumfin]

It's also worth pointing out that what the Ultras needed, and unfortunately didn't get, is not necessarily what's needed at the new ground. I don't think the fanatics are ever going to try and improve the atmosphere and have had no interest so far, it appears they are here to add some colour and flags to the matchdays, which is still great and commendable. However with that in mind the unallocated seating simply will not happen, there's not enough incentive for the club to lower capacity without a group really needing it. The singers can simply be encouraged to buy tickets in an area/stand.

If you had a layout similar to Derby, encouraged singers to simply "go behind the goal" and rail seating was at both ends that would be enough for me. I genuinely believe that proximity to opposition fans is one of the biggest factors in atmosphere and that would be enough to make every match day electric.

I think a Derby like setup where the vocal home fans are next to the away fans would be the best solution for atmosphere in the new stadium, whether TVP and the SAG would allow it as another matter. This is one thing that bugs me about the current setup at the Kassam, when you watch MOTD and you can see that the away fans at say the Emirates and Tottenham are literally next to each other. I assume our setup is due to available facilities underneath the north stand and not due to overly cautious segregation.

 

[LeftSideLarry]

I think a Derby like setup where the vocal home fans are next to the away fans would be the best solution for atmosphere in the new stadium, whether TVP and the SAG would allow it as another matter. This is one thing that bugs me about the current setup at the Kassam, when you watch MOTD and you can see that the away fans at say the Emirates and Tottenham are literally next to each other. I assume our setup is due to available facilities underneath the north stand and not due to overly cautious segregation.

It is.

 

[souporsumfin]

It is.

Thanks, that's good to know and eases my worries somewhat on loss of seats at the new stadium.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

Rail seating behind both goals seems a no brainer, let the fans decide which end will be the "home end"

 

[Sarge]

Rail seating behind both goals seems a no brainer, let the fans decide which end will be the "home end"

there does have to be a proportion of rail seating offered to away fans.... dunno if Id be too happy with them behind one of the goals

 

[WuTang]

I think a Derby like setup where the vocal home fans are next to the away fans would be the best solution for atmosphere in the new stadium, whether TVP and the SAG would allow it as another matter. This is one thing that bugs me about the current setup at the Kassam, when you watch MOTD and you can see that the away fans at say the Emirates and Tottenham are literally next to each other. I assume our setup is due to available facilities underneath the north stand and not due to overly cautious segregation.

Thankfully TVP and SAG can't stop fans buying tickets wherever we like. I think the easiest solution to future proof atmospheres is push the agenda that singers next to away fans.

It's something that has made the K*ssam so miserable for years, not only are our singing fans miles away from the opposition fans, the acoustics and open end mean neither can hear each other unless it's f*cking loud, which most songs aren't. On iFollow you could hear both Blackpool and Oxford fans singing plenty enough on Saturday, yet social media post match had both sets of fans calling each other sh*t and silent. It's the acoustics, the stadium build and location of supporters.

After we left the Manor it was obvious our singing fans would congregate behind the goal to emulate the London Road end, unfortunately it went unfinished and we now have our fans in, acoustically, the worst stand of the three. The top row is miles from the roof and it usually takes the whole stand singing to actually project the noise forwards and even then it rarely reaches the far end. We then put away fans in the North Stand with a low roof that projects across at the south stand, across the whole north stand, to the players at both ends but barely reaches the East Stand which sits far back from the pitch.

Roll on 2026.

 

[Scotchegg]

Playing devil's advocate here - could the hotel and other attached commercial areas (such as the gym etc) be separated from the stadium if the owners decided to sell in the future? Do we need safeguards in place (in addition to any covenant) that prevents any income stream derived from the stadium complex being lost. I.e. we ensure these streams are always tied to the stadium/current club owners themselves and thereby protect the club.

The reason I say this is that I spoke to the architect last Thursday at the Holiday Inn and I was a little concerned that much of the focus seemed to be on the "Sky boxes" and hotel areas and less so on the fan areas.

For example, one point I raised (which I also raised on here) was around segregation and how they planned to separate away fans. The architect seemed quite relaxed that there would just be a fence and a line of stewards separating fans. I said this sounded good but seemed unlikely since at the current stadium we have lost circa 1000 seats as deemed necessary by the Safety Advisory Group and could there be a chance that the same would happen at the new stadium, infact the effect would be doubled considering we have to segregate fans on two sides? He didn't seem concerned.

On that note, would it be possible for OUSP and Oxvox to liaise with the architects to ensure that whatever segregation solution is decided upon is at least agreed beforehand with the SAG to minimise loss of seats?

Another point I raised was with the away fans being in the SE corner closest to the station would it mean that home fans would be kept behind after high profile games (such as Swindon) while the away fans disperse? Or would there be a temporary wall behind that end so that all fans would have to walk the long way round as fans currently do in the North Stand. He admitted that wasn't something that had been considered but would come up at the logistics stage.

Other points I learned (in no particular order):

The new East Stand (opposite the main stand) would be 22 rows high and steeper than the Kassam seating and would be seating from top to bottom similar to the Kassam's North Stand. The concessions and toilets would be modular so that the away allocation could be extended along the side of the pitch as required. I asked could this possibly go to the halfway line and he said no as season ticket holders would be sat there.

I asked would it be possible to have drawings of a ghosted image of the Kassam superimposed over the new stadium so we can compare the two, he said he would see what they could do.

I asked where fans would be able to eat and drink and that we planned to stay on for an hour after the game (something we don't do currently at The Kassam). He said the the sports bar would likely be OUFC themed and seat up to 150. I commented this didnt seem like a lot but he said fans could use various stalls and bars laid on outside and if the weather was bad could go in the bars inside the GA area around the stadium. He did say however that there wouldn't be seating here due to space issues. I asked if these would be open after the game and he replied no but the two "Premium GA" bars in the main stand would be open, he said it would be up to the club if these areas would be open to all fans.

I asked about the proposed health centre space, he said this could be anything from a GP surgery, dentists to specialist healthcare depending on the franchise that took it on. I did suggest we swap that space with the bar area to allow more fans.

I asked about the possibility of an underpass or bridge, he said he didn't think they would be required with the proposed road closures.

Regarding the lack of yellow and OUFC insignia outside the stadium, they didnt plan to add any to what was seen on the visuals but extra colour could be added using lighting effects, I said this could be difficult to be seen during a day match and urged we should do everything we can to make this feel like OUFC's home considering the Kassam doesn't feel like home at all at the moment eg yellow banners, yellow signage, yellow shrubs and plants, and a big "Welcome to OUFC stadium" on the main stand. He didn't reply to that comment but he said a lot would come down to the budget on what could be done.

Regarding atmosphere he said that it could be possible to do acoustic measurements on the North Stand design to enhance the noise at the proposed home end.

Family area - it hadn't been decided where this would be located as yet.

Disabled area - he said there would be a central platform the full length of the main stand and also smaller areas in the corners of the other stands. I asked if there would be disabled parking spaces near the other stands and he said there would not be. My mum who is disabled said she would have to go in the main stand in that case.

He said one of their biggest focuses was on how to reach Net Zero for the stadium, he thought clever use of wood instead of concrete in certain areas would make a big difference but they needed to be careful due to obtaining a fire certificate, an issue FGR were stuggling with. He also said there would be no gas supply to the stadium, relying instead on renewable energy. One issue which I didn't quite understand was that they couldn't use recycled water from the stadium roof for the pitch for some reason, maybe I misheard.

I ended by wishing him luck and said apart from a few tweaks my family and I were very excited about the plans and couldn't wait for the first match and also that we would add our suggestions to the online feedback section for the new stadium.

Sorry this post has turned into War and Peace folks but thought I'd share what was said last Thursday. If i think of anything else I've forgotten I'll add it later.

Lots to go through, but I'll do my best.

The income streams are less of an issues whilst the owners of stadium and club are the same. However, my understanding is that Oxford United FC will benefit from all matchday income. Tickets, sponsorship, merchandise, food and drink sales etc. Other income from the hotel, gym/health provisions etc will help cover the cost of the stadium. It's probably not as simple as this, but there will be legal contracts in place that protect the club and its ability to manage its own finances.

The project team that I spoke with in depth were very aware of the need to keep the integrity on the football stadium and ensure that the fan experience was exceptional at all times. However, they also wanted to ensure that the stadium was viable on non-matchdays too. It shouldn't be seen as a football stadium with a hotel bolted on, or a hotel with football games 30 times a year. Both need to be excellent in their own right.

Segregation and high profile games is something that we raised. It's important to recognise that many high profile PL games will still be managed with a small gap and single line of stewards, and often have shared fan zones around the ground. It is hoped that with the exception of a fairly small number of games that we will do exactly the same. We are not able to do this currently do to issues with the concourses and access rather than seating. The Swindon/Reading type games will see some restrictions as we currently have at the Kassam, and moving 1600 people into and away from the game quickly is the safest way to manage them. SAG will be involved in making sure there is as little disruption to home fans as possible, but this is likely to be managed on a game by game basis.

My understanding is that there would be seating available around the concourse, or at least spaces for people to stand to eat and drink. The hope is to keep people around the stadium before and after games, so I think that greater flexibility in using these spaces will be needed. The premium GA bars will hold several hundred fans, and the conference room that will be part of the hotel will be huge. There should be no reason why we couldn't safely and comfortably accommodate all those looking to stay after games.

The space allocated to a health facility of some description provides one of the highest rental thresholds of any of the commercial operations within the stadium. This helps make the whole project viable and meets community needs. I can't see this space changing, and it hopefully shouldn't be needed.

You're right about the road bridge/ underpass and its unlikely to be viable within the current plans as road closures are expected to be more effective.

I'm not sure that any signage will come down to budgets - nothing is being done on the cheap! I suspect that it will be more about using lighting that projects changeable images rather than static signs. This could be to provide moving images, promoting upcoming games or events and kit launches etc.

Family areas, disabled spaces, sensory room etc. All to be finalised, but everything will be done to give a first class experience to everyone. There will be lift access to all levels, as well as consideration for ambulant disabled fans who may have limited access. Disabled parking will be available, but there will also be access for drop off points, and potentially golf buggy type vehicles which could safely escort people around the stadium. I would hope that no one would be limited to any one area.

The requirements needed to meet biodiversity standards is constantly changing, as is what counts towards net zero calculations so I was asked not to share too much of what we were told. However, those working on the project are extremely confident that improvements to biodiversity will hit the target of 10% easily with a local target being much higher. This will be through onsite usage alone, but there will always be the opportunity to offset this offsite too if needed. Equally, achieving net zero is something that they are absolutely working towards. This is one of the reasons why a bridge wasn't pursued as it would create a huge carbon footprint for minimal gain, and this would need to be offset elsewhere. I was slightly sceptical but not cautiously neutral regarding the environmental impact of the stadium, but was really impressed with what we are hoping to achieve as a minimum.

Sorry for the follow up to War and Peace, but thanks once again for engaging in this process. It is really important and helps shape the stadium that we all want.

 

[Sarge]

Thankfully TVP and SAG can't stop fans buying tickets wherever we like. I think the easiest solution to future proof atmospheres is push the agenda that singers next to away fans.

It's something that has made the K*ssam so miserable for years, not only are our singing fans miles away from the opposition fans, the acoustics and open end mean neither can hear each other unless it's f*cking loud, which most songs aren't. On iFollow you could hear both Blackpool and Oxford fans singing plenty enough on Saturday, yet social media post match had both sets of fans calling each other sh*t and silent. It's the acoustics, the stadium build and location of supporters.

After we left the Manor it was obvious our singing fans would congregate behind the goal to emulate the London Road end, unfortunately it went unfinished and we now have our fans in, acoustically, the worst stand of the three. The top row is miles from the roof and it usually takes the whole stand singing to actually project the noise forwards and even then it rarely reaches the far end. We then put away fans in the North Stand with a low roof that projects across at the south stand, across the whole north stand, to the players at both ends but barely reaches the East Stand which sits far back from the pitch.

Roll on 2026.

agree 100%

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Rail seating behind both goals seems a no brainer, let the fans decide which end will be the "home end"

Oh if only it could be like the old days at the Manor when the away fans were segregated by a line of Police.
Great atmosphere plus you could walk down to the Cuckoo Lane end when we attacked that way.
Would be fantastic if there were 200/300 rail/seats either end and for an extra £5 a ticket you could change at half time.
Only if we haven’t sold out of course