Stratfield Brake - Questions

What, if anything, from the present stadium, will the club take with them?

Well it would be a shame to lose the big trophy plaques from the South Stand Upper.

Also some of the murals in the concourses. East stand of ex players.

These are though replaceable and probably getting a bit weather faded and perhaps difficult to remove in one piece.

But hopefully whatever does gets planned will have many things to remind us of our past and history.
 
In reality this is not the single most important question (the question of ownership of the stadium, peppercorn rents, protections against club and stadium being separated etc are clearly the single most important questions to answer), but the one thing I would like to ask at this stage would be about planned proximity of the stands to the pitch.

I know it might sound premature, or a small issue, but I feel very strongly that this single issue is critical to the stadium having the right 'feel' when it's built.

Also, if we don't get this right in the blueprints early, then there's the possibility that we lock ourselves into a design that we're not happy with. Five years may feel a long way off, but designs are likely to be underway as we speak.

I would like to see the front row of the stands as close to the pitch as is humanly possible. Not 'close' by the standards of other modern stadia (a good few meters behind the ad hoardings and the space for stewards), but close by proper British football standards i.e. In touching distance (metaphorically of course, unless we're talking about Matty Taylor, then it's literal!)

Let's be creative. We know that ad hoardings are now crucial for income, and that having space for stewards is presumably important for getting safety certificates etc signed off, but can Oxford United lead the way with a new design? I'm assuming that these are the usual problems with having the first row of seats on top of the touchline. Can we incorporate the hoardings themselves into the front of the stand itself? Can we find a creative way to find space for the stewards, without having to leave a massive gap for them to patrol?

Watching the Spurs vs Chelsea match at the moment, and as nice as the new Spurs stadium looks, I can't help notice how far away all the fans are from the pitch. If we're building something from scratch, let's not repeat the mistakes of other new football stadia in this country. Will the club support the fans with this?
 
Can we have some clarity between where Oxvox and the Supporters panel sit with this so there is no duplication? I’m an Oxvox member and they seem to be on the ball and well qualified to represent supporters views. Should I be sending my views to you or Oxvox?
As the OUSP has a scheduled meeting this week with Niall, we felt we should take the opportunity to ask a few questions on the project, and invite fans to contribute.
OxVox are certainly on the ball with the project and have been involved for a very long time. They are best placed to deal with questions on the background to the proposal, and with strategic questions including in this instance some of the above questions on rent and lease arrangements. At this point send your views to them.
The OUSP will become much more involved as the project progresses and the focus turns to issues around matchday experience.
 
In reality this is not the single most important question (the question of ownership of the stadium, peppercorn rents, protections against club and stadium being separated etc are clearly the single most important questions to answer), but the one thing I would like to ask at this stage would be about planned proximity of the stands to the pitch.

I know it might sound premature, or a small issue, but I feel very strongly that this single issue is critical to the stadium having the right 'feel' when it's built.

Also, if we don't get this right in the blueprints early, then there's the possibility that we lock ourselves into a design that we're not happy with. Five years may feel a long way off, but designs are likely to be underway as we speak.

I would like to see the front row of the stands as close to the pitch as is humanly possible. Not 'close' by the standards of other modern stadia (a good few meters behind the ad hoardings and the space for stewards), but close by proper British football standards i.e. In touching distance (metaphorically of course, unless we're talking about Matty Taylor, then it's literal!)

Let's be creative. We know that ad hoardings are now crucial for income, and that having space for stewards is presumably important for getting safety certificates etc signed off, but can Oxford United lead the way with a new design? I'm assuming that these are the usual problems with having the first row of seats on top of the touchline. Can we incorporate the hoardings themselves into the front of the stand itself? Can we find a creative way to find space for the stewards, without having to leave a massive gap for them to patrol?

Watching the Spurs vs Chelsea match at the moment, and as nice as the new Spurs stadium looks, I can't help notice how far away all the fans are from the pitch. If we're building something from scratch, let's not repeat the mistakes of other new football stadia in this country. Will the club support the fans with this?

Touching on the subject with stewards between the pitch and the stands can we make sure where the stewards sit sideways at the barrier at the bottom of the stands is not directly in front of a paying customer seat blocking their view. Its a joke that and I've been caught out before when my son wanted to sit front row to see the players and i had some steward sitting right in front of my boy blocking his view and the stewards wouldn't move! Now I make sure I go no where near the first 3 rows of any stand at the kassam.
 
In reality this is not the single most important question (the question of ownership of the stadium, peppercorn rents, protections against club and stadium being separated etc are clearly the single most important questions to answer), but the one thing I would like to ask at this stage would be about planned proximity of the stands to the pitch.

I know it might sound premature, or a small issue, but I feel very strongly that this single issue is critical to the stadium having the right 'feel' when it's built.

Also, if we don't get this right in the blueprints early, then there's the possibility that we lock ourselves into a design that we're not happy with. Five years may feel a long way off, but designs are likely to be underway as we speak.

I would like to see the front row of the stands as close to the pitch as is humanly possible. Not 'close' by the standards of other modern stadia (a good few meters behind the ad hoardings and the space for stewards), but close by proper British football standards i.e. In touching distance (metaphorically of course, unless we're talking about Matty Taylor, then it's literal!)

Let's be creative. We know that ad hoardings are now crucial for income, and that having space for stewards is presumably important for getting safety certificates etc signed off, but can Oxford United lead the way with a new design? I'm assuming that these are the usual problems with having the first row of seats on top of the touchline. Can we incorporate the hoardings themselves into the front of the stand itself? Can we find a creative way to find space for the stewards, without having to leave a massive gap for them to patrol?

Watching the Spurs vs Chelsea match at the moment, and as nice as the new Spurs stadium looks, I can't help notice how far away all the fans are from the pitch. If we're building something from scratch, let's not repeat the mistakes of other new football stadia in this country. Will the club support the fans with this?

Spot on. Steep stands close to the pitch.
 
Was there any actual intention at any point of building a 4th stand? Sorry for side-tracking.
The foundations for all four stands were put in during Robin Herd’s chairmanship, but he ran out of money with only the framework of the South and East stands built. But he certainly intended to build 4 stands.
As soon as Kassam brought the club, he didn’t have any intention of spending a penny more than he needed too on OUFC or the stadium. He only brought it for the land that came with it. So inside and out, it was never finished and only ¾ built.

If you want to know what the Grenoble Road site would have looked like, had it been finished, look at the Madejski Stadium without the corners.
It was designed by the same architects at around the same time. You will notice the boxes along one of the main stands and opposite a stand that looks almost identical to the north stand, including the wheelchair concourses.

 
Would this be funded as debt against the football club or by the owners and other funding sources?
Should construction be approved and completed do the owners plan to stay involved with the football club or divest it?
Assuming a lease or rental agreement what would be the duration and terms of that agreement for the football club?
What is plan B if permission is not granted?
 
Early days but my questions relate to design too. Bearing in mind how flawed the design of the KasStad ended up, getting this one right is imperative.

What is the proposed footprint of the stadium itself?
Concourse design (if applicable) - are there any plans and visuals for what the concourses will look like? Bearing in mind most fans will spend at least their half time in these, ensuring they are welcoming and desirable places to chat with friends, grab food etc will make for a better experience.
How steep are the stands set to be?
 
When the designs for the new stadium are revealed, will the club have an open forum for the fans to come and have a look at the potential designs for the new stadium, maybe a Q&A so we can ask questions about the design (s)
 
I would be interested to know if there are any plans/concepts for supporters to become financially involved with the stadium? Along similar lines to holding shares in the club, this could present an option for ongoing supporter ownership and tie in with the FSA's desire for fans to be fully represented on the boards of football clubs.
I would also be interested to know to what standards the seating/safe standing furniture would be set? Can we expect seating (and for that matter, leg room) to be along similar lines to the MK Stadium or even Wembley?
 
Padded seats, safe standing area, supporters club, quick turnaround at food concessions, quick access into the ground, yellow and blue everywhere.
I hope they visit Spurs, Brentford and any other new ground and speak to these clubs to find out what works and what doesn’t.
 
Watching the Spurs vs Chelsea match at the moment, and as nice as the new Spurs stadium looks, I can't help notice how far away all the fans are from the pitch.
The new Spurs ground holds over 60,000 so comparisons are not really appropriate. The front rows are actually closer to the pitch than at Grenoble Road, and in fact there is so little room behind the goals (due to a Sainsbury's having been built behind the north end - this had been added to the plans at a relatively late stage) that the stadium is unlikely to ever stage internationals.
 
Last edited:
Have the architects considered placing the turnstiles at the outer perimeter, with a fence surrounding the stadium? You can then rent out the empty space surrounding the ground the luxury food vendors and drink sellers, providing the club with more income and fans with more choices for beer, food etc. This also reduces queues into the stadium and queues for food/drink.
This is very successful at the majority of German grounds and makes for a better matchday experience.
 
I would be interested to know if there are any plans/concepts for supporters to become financially involved with the stadium? Along similar lines to holding shares in the club, this could present an option for ongoing supporter ownership and tie in with the FSA's desire for fans to be fully represented on the boards of football clubs.
I would also be interested to know to what standards the seating/safe standing furniture would be set? Can we expect seating (and for that matter, leg room) to be along similar lines to the MK Stadium or even Wembley?
Fans on the board Oxvox have said that is their aim for quite some time now
 
The new Spurs ground holds over 60,000 so comparisons are not really appropriate. The front rows are actually closer to the pitch than at Grenoble Road, and in fact there is so little room behind the goals (due to a Sainsbury's having been built behind the north end - this had been added to the plans at a relatively late stage) that the stadium is unlikely to ever stage internationals.
Agree we’re not going to be attracting 60,000, but I bet there are somethings that Spurs might be thinking, we should have done that instead.
We need to look at all new grounds and cherry pick the good bits.
 
Thanks for your comments, questions and suggestions. We will share the questions we have gathered here and from our other fan communications with both the club and with OxVox.
 
The new Spurs ground holds over 60,000 so comparisons are not really appropriate. The front rows are actually closer to the pitch than at Grenoble Road, and in fact there is so little room behind the goals (due to a Sainsbury's having been built behind the north end - this had been added to the plans at a relatively late stage) that the stadium is unlikely to ever stage internationals.

I think this is the risk with this discussion though. We could say "the new stadium will be closer to the pitch than the Kassam", but that's starting from a low bar. We could say that Tottenham's stadium is as close as they could get it to the pitch, but it doesn't look close enough for my liking. I don't want the club or fans to settle for something that's just OK, we need to aim to be the best and one area I'd like to see us focus on is whether we can break the myth that new stadia have to be built away from the touchline, and that you can only get that intense atmosphere from a century old stadium like the Manor or Kenilworth Road.
 
Back
Top Bottom