Arsenal's new stadium

[MattyNeth]

Coming along. Didn't realise how close it was to Highbury

[Punto83]

Christ, it looks huge.... so is the overspend on the budget

[AK1979]

Makes Highbury look a bit small doesnt it! Pleased to see it looking good, im still not sure what we are going to call it - officially its the Emirates Stadium but i cant see that catching on with the fans. I'll probably still call it Highbury to be honest.

[Carl]

Looks awesome.

great pic matty.

guess they will use highbury as a training ground now

[Rumlesen]

Impressive pic. BUT i cant help to think that these old clubs, loose some of the spirit when the build these new grounds. Will Arsenal be same without Highbury? is Man. City the same without Maine Road. I know that in time the new fans will forget about Highbury. But as an Arsenal fan, i do not think it will be the same. Any views on this?

[Carl]

yeah but its just another reminder that time moves on.

its like fulham with craven cottage etc.

on a smiliar note JW is thinking of renaming Ewood park and I bets theres gonna be an outcry.


certain parts of football are tradition ie shirt colours and grounds but in this day and age money talks and if that means new grounds then its unfortunate that local supporters lose part of there own heratige.(im rambling now)

imagine the out cry of liverpool losing anfield or Man Utd losing Old trafford.

[Rumlesen]

Yes, it is all about profit and buisness now. But the money still pays for the best football. So it is with mixed feelings

[Xcout]

Well, really nice picture of the new stadium, and I see that they overpass civil manifestation of people against the new stadium. Or something like that I read a time ago.

I have seen pictures of how the stadium will look when finish and is really impressive, I know that the field where you first start is the best for sentimental, but if the capacity is not enough?? what will you do?? I mean is both economic and need the change.

Time cures any injury, I see Arsenal fans in some years to consider this their home as they do with Hinbury, of course, hibury will never be forgotten. But also good things will happen in the new stadium.


One thing to consider, In Italy, the stadium of Juventus (Delle Api) is a very big one, and they don't manage to fill it, well just in champions league games, and that is really worrying, they have consider changing to a smaller stadium.

[AK1979]

The East stand will not be knocked down Rumlesen as it is a government listed building so thats something i suppose.

With regard to moving i dont think we had much choice if expanding Highbury wasnt a possibilty. A capacity of 38,000 simply isnt enough to cater for the demand. There is a 7 year waiting list for season tickets and even a 3 year waiting list just to get on the membership scheme, which allows you to apply for the remaining tickets so something had to be done.

As much as i love the place, Highbury is a little old fashioned nowadays, which does have a certain amount of charm i suppose but time moves on.........!

As for not filling the ground, i think we can easily get 60,000 at the moment as there are enough bandwagon jumpers to want to watch the team we have at the moment. We were selling out 80,000 at Wembley in the Champions League against Swedish part timers so thats not a problem. The test will come in 10 or so years time when the Wenger era is over. Even if we are a weaker team, i still think regular attendances of around 50k are easily within reach.

[Rumlesen]

I have no doubt about filling the stadium. I have been to Highbury many times(for one who live outside UK) and i fear that it just wont be the same to travel all the way to see the Gunners. But i hope i am wrong. .

[Carl]

i still think regular attendances of around 50k are easily within reach.

plus it being in maor city helps.

apparently we have the highest population percentage attending ewood but rarely get over 28K

[Carl]

Population figures:


Blackburn 109, 000
Bolton 261, 037
Burnley 89, 542
Preston 129, 633
Birmingham 977, 087
Wolverhampton 236, 582
Norwich 121, 550
Ipswich 117, 069
Croydon (Charlton, Palace) 330, 587


> I think you'll see that Rovers fans compare quite well.
>
>
> Blackburn Rovers, Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 24,376 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 26,226 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 25,976 (Premier League)
>
> Birmingham CITY (CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 29,076 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 28,831 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 21,978 (Division One)
>
> Bolton Wanderers (Bigger population than Blackburn), Average
Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 26,795 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 25,017 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 25,097 (Premier League)
>
> Charltom Athletic (Capital CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 26,293 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 26,256 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 24,165 (Premier League)
>
> Crstal Palace, (Capital CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 17,344 (Division One)
> 2002-2003: 16,867 (Division One)
> 2001-2002: 18,101 (Division One)
>
> Fulham, (Capital CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 16,342 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 16,707 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 19,550 (Premier League)
>
> Norwhich CITY, (CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 18,987 (Division One)
> 2002-2003: 20,356 (Division One)
> 2001-2002: 18,644 (Division One)
>
> West Bromich Albion, (CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 24,765 (Division One)
> 2002-2003: 26,776 (Premier League)
> 2001-2002: 20,910 (Division One)
>
> Burnley, (comparable in size to Blackburn), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 12,541 (Division One)
> 2002-2003: 14,108 (Division One)
> 2001-2002: 15,948 (Division One)
>
> Preston North End, (CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 14,150 (Division One)
> 2002-2003: 13,853 (Division One)
> 2001-2002: 14,887 (Division One)
>
> Wolverhampton Wanderers, (CITY club), Average Attendance:
> 2003-2004: 28,874 (Premier League)
> 2002-2003: 25,745 (Division One)
> 2001-2002: 23,796 (Division One)

I simply cannot believe i am posting this again but hey ho, i'm bored a feck. As someone pointed out in another post, if you take into account the Asian population of Blackburn (who let's face it, don't watch footy at stadiums) and say the under 5's and over 70's, we do very well. Ewood Park holds just over 31,000 therefore it looks quite empty when there are 25-26,000 in - with 5-6,000 empty seats. Most of the clubs above have stadiums that only hold 25,-27,000 capacity so when they're getting our attendance figures their stadiums look more full. Rovers are not a propper little club. We're not "plucky little Blackburn" that they can patronise. We can still compete in the transfer market, we have a world class satdium, training facilities, medical facilities and one of the best youth acadamies in Britain. We occasionally win trophies too. The 'neutral' fans despise this, in other words, they are jelous. The hated Radio 5 despise this because they are proffesional snobs. I think the attendance figures of clubs like Bolton, Preston, Leicester, Birmingham etc are an absolute disgrace. If all they can do with pop's twice/three times that of Blackburn is avergae only a couple of thousand - 4 thousand more than us... i'd be ashamed if i was them. Also, i think we all klnow that there are more Season Ticket holders from within Blackburn than there are any other clubs town/city

[Carl]

sorry if it sounds arragunt but it was taken off a rovers message board.
but interesting stats.

[AK1979]

Interesting when you put it like that Herp, it certainly puts some of the stick Blackburn get into some perspective and makes it look undeserved.

Whoever posted the above stats though should take into account that the London clubs arent necessarily at an advantage because they are in a capital city. Yes the population of London is obviously pretty massive, but there must be around 15-20 clubs to spread the fanbase around rather than 2-3 in most other cities? (Liverpool/Everton/Tranmere, Birmingham/Villa, Man Utd/Man City) etc etc

[Carl]

yeah but even then some fans will travel from just ouside the main city(london ,Manchester,birmingham) to goto the matches.
every fan that goes to ewood live in blackburn bar 1-2%

[Carl]

even birmingham they have nearly a million population and split over villa city and west brom thats 300,000 potential fan base and they only get 10% of that.

we get 25% ish of our population poptential fan base.

[AK1979]

even birmingham they have nearly a million population and split over villa city and west brom thats 300,000 potential fan base and they only get 10% of that.

not forgetting wolves and walsall as well

[Carl]

yeah but you get the jist of what im saying.

[Bruise Pristene]

burnley have the highest attendence in comparision with population, i heard a commentator claim the other day, cant remember who it was, but on itv i think

[GotaFancy?]

Originally Posted by AK1979

Even if we are a weaker team, i still think regular attendances of around 50k are easily within reach.

You're obviously too young to remember what the attendances were like in the early eighties!!!! I remember regularly standing on the north bank with less than 20,000 - sometimes it was a struggle to get 15,000 (but I also remember 57,000 against Liverpool and a similar number against Spurs, where it wasn't all ticket and the gates were closed on a full stadium before 2pm for a 3pm kick off). Times have changed - football is cool - all attendances have gone up - but it's a fashion - fashions end - there won't always be the boom that there is now.....

Yes Arsenal can easily fill the Emirates now - in fact if we look at now, it is nowhere near big enough, but in the longer term........