There has been little or no news on the development of Bloomfield Road for some time now. The last building work was the West Stand and the Kop (North Stand) which were built in 2001, together with the "temporary" East Stand (known by Blackpool fans as the Gene Kelly [or GK] Stand becuase it has no roof. No roof in the English winter climate = very wet away fans!) Last week members of the "Blackpool Vital" fans website met with chairman Karl Oyston. So the news now about the stadium development seems to stand as this: The South Stand will only be built as and when there are pre-lets in place for all the office space within the South Stand. As it stands at present there is one pr-let agreement (though no idea how much office space is involved), plus the boarded up area behind the Kop is to be a two floor, Drop-In Centre. Also this week the club stated that planning permission has gone in to increase capacity in the GK Stand by 1,000. Whilst this would be mainly for away fans they are also apparently trying to include in the application, permission to split the stand should there be any games where extra home capacity is needed. The club are also looking at adding additional seating in various parts of the West and Kop - about another 100 seats. Coupled with a possible extension to the GK Stand, that would take capacity at Bloomers to about 10,800. Going back to the South Stand, the club also confirmed that once it is built there will be a two floor hotel inlcuded within the stand (which would be in addition to the huge Travelodge currently being built on BFC Properties land the other side of Bloomfield Road). Any news, pictures etc of the stadium and any development can be posted in here!
Re: Stadium news Is a "Drop-In Centre" a daycare for children? Sounds like the owners want this property to support itself with the office space for let and the hotel. Is the stadium close enough to the activity near the touristy places for a hotel to do well there or do you think both of those hotels will sit empty?
Re: Stadium news Firstly the Drop In Centre - it is to be run by the "Blackpool Primary Care Trust" as far as I know, which is part of the NHS (National Health Service) in Blackpool. They are based at the stadium and the drop in centre though I'm not totally sure what it will be, but it isn't a day care centre for kids as there is already one (an "Eco Nursery") housed at the back of The Kop. http://www.safehandsnursery.net The PCT do run Walk-In Centres for local patients out of hours surgery, so maybe it will be one of them. Though this is described as being a "Drop-in" Centre! Their website: http://www.blackpoolpct.nhs.uk You did ask!! The palm trees - I posted some photos on the Hosuton forum a while back. I will though root 'em out and post some more!!
Re: Stadium news This last week has been an unusual one to say the very least with regard to the stadium. Firstly on Tuesday evening, club chairman Karl Oyston was a guest together with the chairmen of both Burnley and PKE on BBC Radio Lancashire. And he did himself absolutely no favours with his "performance" and attitude, especially about the stadium. Yet again he said that there are no plans to start building the South Stand. This despite before the season started he claimed that he would be focussing entirely on getting the SW Corner and the South Stand completed this season. His reasons beggar belief as he claims that there is no need for it to be built as the current stands are not full every game. Even though 50% of all home games have been sold out for home fans and it is very likley that most of the remaining home games will be virtually sold out. So the fans are doing their bit. The other 50% have been not far from full. Plus even though our average home attendance is third bottom in the Championship, we are TOP in terms of percentage of capacity (89%) so what more can the fans do? The Blackpool Gazette and the BBC have picked up on the anger from Blackpool fans. So what happens next? On Thursday it emerges that the club have applied for planning permission to increase the capacity at the ground! Great news? Not at all. The East Stand (or the GK - Gene Kelly) Stand for away fans, was erected in 2003, and under the agreement when it was built, was that it had to be removed by 1st September 2008. So what have the club done? Applied to add a further six rows to the back of the East Stand, which will add 972 seats and increase capacity in the stand to 2,937. Which then of course means if it receives planning permission that the "temporary" stand can then get another new date for it to be removed. Maybe another 5 years? What has angered Blackpool fans is a number of things - this wasn't even mentioned on Radio Lancashire. It only came out because a Blackpool fan found it on the Blackpool Council website and posted it on a 'Pool forum and the BBC have now picked it up and posted an article on their sports website, even stating on there that 'Pool fans are unhappy. Also even though it is great that at last we should have a total capacity above 10,000 (capacity would increase to 10,670) it then also means that away fans could have up to 28% of the stadium which is ridiculous. Isn't it supposed to be "Fortress Bloomfield"? Also some fans suspect that one of the main reasons the club are doing this is because the stand would otherwise have to come down in September. And meanwhile "we have no plans to build the South Stand". So the club are quite happy to increase capacity of the East Stand which for some games this season has been half empty yet will not increase capacity for home fans who have sold out 50% of games and who have been close for thne other 50%. You couldn't make it up.
Re: Stadium news That's just a bizarre stadium expansion situation. But building a hotel with the new stand does sound like it would be a really interesting step - if they ever do it.
Re: Stadium news Too strange. Looks like Oyston wants to a) save the cost of tearing down the GK stand while b) increasing the total capacity there at a lower cost than what it would cost to add the south stand for home supporters. Cheap, cheap, cheap!!
Re: Stadium news Indeed and what irks is that he is happy to increase by 972 the amount of seats for away fans who have in only a handful of games sold out the GK Stand this season. Yet he point blank refuses to increase the number of seats for home fans citing the fact that 50% of home games have been home sell outs. So why add extra seating for away fans? Oh yeah I forgot, unless something was done, the GK Stand would have to be taken down on 1st September. Cynicism is wonderful.
Re: Stadium news correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the team sponsor a raffle to raise funds to build the new stand? What happened to that money?
Re: Stadium news Aye that would be Karl Oyston! He is the chairman though, hid dad Owen Oyston is the clubs owner and major shareholder of both Blackpool FC properties Ltd (basically the stadium etc) and Blackpool FC Ltd (the team etc) with El Presidente Valeri Belokon having a 20% stake in Blackpool FC Ltd. Confused? Indeed every Blackpool fan is as that is what I think is correct!!! Tomorrow evening yet again is heading for YET another sell out in the home stands. Earlier today there were under 200 tickets left and they will go early tomorrow. And with Wolves having sold out their full allocation it will be a full house all round. And still the club refuse to start building the South Stand. Some fans have started singing about it during matches which is all well and good, but IMO it detracts from supporting the team which is what we should be doing. Some fans have called for protests after the full time whistle tomorrow. We shall see what happens! Some of the chants being - "Two stands, We've only got two stands We've only got two stands We've only got two stands" "Build the South, build the south, build the south" (to "here we go" tyope chant) and "Oyston, Oyston where's the South? Oyston, wheres the South?"
Re: Stadium news Hey we have our chant "Where's our stadium". It is used quite often when supporters and club officials are in the same place.
Re: Stadium news Houston will have a new stadium before we get a South Stand!! We shall see! I forgot to say about the christmas raffle. Ut probably raised a few quid, maybe about £104.58.....
Re: Stadium news A shame all round. I used to like going to Blackpool, even if the place looked old enough to be made of wattle & daub. I suppose it helped that I went three times and Reading won 4-2, 4-0 and 2-0. The 4-2 would have been in the late 80s, when many fans, sadly including myself, with "hilarious" originality brought an inflatable banana to games. I remember sitting* towards the back of the kop end and a gust of wind blew my banana away and I had to chase it half way down the terrace, painfully aware of just how much of a twat I must have looked. * it was a terrace, but it was a huge terrace, probably a good 40 yards to the back. We had about 200 up there so having your view obstructed by other fans wasn't really an issue, and for some reason we decided that the view was just as good if we sat down, so we did for at least part of the game.
Re: Stadium news Aye the old Spion Kop in its heyday when it had a roof (which in the end had to be taken down due to H&S!) was a superb place to be when full. It used to hold something like 15,000. The thing is though that everyone can see that if the stadium was completed it would be a great place. The place is very noisy as it is, which most away fans comment on, and if it ever gets completed it will be an awesome stadium. The full stadium plans from 2002 not long before the two first stands were built can be seen here - http://www.apxc98.dsl.pipex.com/seasidersstadiumplan2002.jpg Just click on the zoom to get larger images. I see that Readings stadium has also been built with the possibility of extending it if needed. That is also supposedly what could happen at Bloomfield Road with an extra tier which could take capacity from 16,000 (if it was ever completed) to about 25,000. However, I think the more likely option is that the club eventually leaves that stadium and ends up at Whyndyke Farm where the new stadium was first going to be built back in the days when Owen Oyston was Chairman and he had plans for a closeable roof, a retractable pitch and 40,000 capacity, "Blackpool Colloseum".....
Re: Stadium news I wish!!! The new Travelodge, the other side of Bloomfield Road is now up and ready and due to open on 2nd May with our final match of the season, at home to Watford two days later on the 4th which could prove interesting to say the least. Watford are currently 5th and it could well be that match has a bearing on whether they make the Play-Offs or even if results go their way, automatic promotion. So they could well be bringing a lot of support. And with views over the pitch from many rooms there could be a few viewing from the Travelodge! For the PKE game there must have been around 50 'Pool fans stood at various vantage points on Bloomfield Road. Some peering over the fencing - who the stewards initially moved, but in the end had to give up because there were just too many of them. Others clinging onto the big Advertising Boards opposite the ground, and some in houses on Bloomfield Road in bedroom windows. One fan was stood outside a bedroom window on top of what looked like a small porch. With only three home games left, they will all sell out again, certainly the home stands - the West and the Kop. With the GK stand, the East, Watford will fill it, Sheffield Wednesday probably will. West Brom, it is the Tuesday evening after their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Not much of a choice really - Wembley stadium or the Gene Kelly stand! Having said that they will still bring a fair few. I just checked the planning application for the extension to the East increasing it to 2,937 and the stadium capacity to 10,670 (which can be viewed online) and although it states that the target date for a decision wa 27th March, no decision has yet been made, with a "comittee meeting" due on 7th April! To be fair to Karl Oyston he has constantly said the same thing that the building of the South Stand is dependent upon pre-letting the office space. However, most fans tend to agree that surely after all this time that could have been done by now. Regardless of the pre-lets though, in my opinion if we stay up in the Championship this season, which we should do now, then the only way to move on, to remain an established Championship side is to get the damn South Stand built and thereby let more Blackpool fans come to watch matches and increase revenue for the club. I know of numerous fans (including me) who have family members who wanted to come to games this season but who couldn't because there are nearly 6,000 season ticket holders, meaning for each match there are only about 1,700 general sale tickets, and even then it is virtually impossible for a Season Ticket Holder to get tickets for someone sitting near them. The only other option would be to sit down in P,Q or R block down the far end of the West Stand for one match, which is open to all the elements, very windswept and where there is less of an atmosphere, and no-one wants to do that. Karl Oyston said before the season started that he would be working on the development of the stadium and specifically the South Stand for the next 40 odd weeks. And yet here we are near the end of the season and the only increase in capacity has been about another 100 seats where the media used to sit, who have now been moved to the balcony where the Match Day Announcer and his PA equipment and helpers used to stand.
Re: Stadium news Well, we're counting on you to round up some tickets for us next season if we can get a contingent of fans to come across the pond! Beg, borrow, steal if you must.
Re: Stadium news Oh I'm sure it can be sorted. A few weeks ago there was a group of 8 (I think it was 8 if I recall correctly) fans of USL club Charleston Battery at the home match with Barnsley. Tony Parr the Match Day announcer mentioned them at half time! Trouble is they will have been housed down the far end of the West Stand. To be honest if it were me, I would rather sit on the front row in the Kop which is only just about on a slightly higher level than the pitch, but at least you would then get all the atmosphere!
Re: Stadium news In the past week there has been growing speculation that the club are about to announce the start of work on the South Stand. The club have planning permission for an extension to the GK stand (the East Stand - the away end) increasing it up to 2,937. They also have planning permission to erect a temporary South Stand holding about 650ish. Not too long ago Karl Oyston reckoned that "doing nothing is no longer an option" and that the club had various options open to them including 1. Building the entire South Stand including the SW corner which would add about another 3,000(ish) seats but which will take about 40 weeks to complete. Although in theory the seats could be in place ready to be used a lot earlier while the structure was completed (the office space, the hotel etc) If and when the South Stand is built it will apparently contain office space as the Kop and the West Stand, but also a bar/restaurant as well as a small "luxury" hotel which will have rooms that have balconies with views over the pitch which can be hired out on match days (though whther that works out or not I really don't know) One other aspect of the South Stand is that it will be a four floor stand, unlike the Kop and the West which have three floors. 2. Building the SW corner, which would be about another 650(ish) seats plus a temporary South Stand. That would then only add about another 1,300 to capacity though and would then mean us having two temporary stands. I would prefer the club to just go ahead and build the whole lot and not add another temporary stand. Though having said all this, it is still just pure speculation and rumour, something that happened this time last year when season tickets were on sale........
Re: Stadium news The speculation was correct. The club have just announced that work will start on constructing the SW corner and the South Stand immediately. The announcement was made in a statement from club chairman Valeri Belekon from his hq in Riga, Latvia saying, "It gives me great pride and pleasure to announce that the new South Stand and South-West Corner will go ahead immediately. I am investing substantially in this new development in a full partnership with the Oyston family." Belekon goes on to express his delight in how the club has progressed since he came on board and added that "the proposed increase in seat capacity in the East Stand and the new 3,500 seats soon to be built in the South and South-West corner will give, I believe, a clear signal to the football industry and potential new players for Blackpool Football Club that we are serious contenders to advance further." He ends his statement with "The future is tangerine." The away fans GK Stand which will increase capacity by 972 seats up to 2,937 giving a current capacity of 10,760. Once complete the new South stand will then increase capacity to 14,260. Karl Oyston has expanded on the statement saying that it will take about 40 weeks to build the stand, but that some seats should become available before that time, maybe even before the end of 2008. The stand will be named after club legend Jimmy Armfield who was a one club man and who still lives in Blackpool. Born in Manchester, but raised in Blackpool, he played over 600 games for the 'Pool between 1954 and 1971. He also played 43 times for England and had the honour of being England captain 15 times. For three consecutive years from 1962 to 1964 he was voted the best right back in Europe, and at the 1962 World Cup in Chile he was acclaimed as the best right back in the world. He was included (along with fellow Blackpool player Alan Ball) in the 1966 England World Cup squad but missed the tournament through injury. His last game for the club came on 1 May 1971 at home to Manchester United in what was also the clubs last game in the top flight of English football. He went on to mamage Leeds United and Bolton Wanderers and is still a radio pundit for BBC Radio Five Live as well as being a consultant with the English FA. In 2007 he received chemotherapy treatment for for Non-Hodgkin lymphonia. After finally starting to recover, he was guest of honour at a 'Pool match against Colchester United on 22 September 2007, where at half time he received a standing ovation that went on so long that the second half was slightly delayed. In March 2008 he received the Outstanding Contribution Honour at the English FA's annual award ceremony in London. Great news that the stand will finally be built (and let's just hope it is!) but also because Sir Jimmy, as many Blackpool fans affectionately call him fully deserves it too.
Re: Stadium news Given that Belokon stated work would be starting immediately, hopefully we will have some pictures soon of work starting and can keep up to date with progress on the stand. When the stand is complete though with it supposedly to contain a small "exclusive" hotel with some rooms overlooking the pitch, that will be available to be used on match days, we will then have both the Travelodge across the road and (hopefully) a club hotel. The plans also include a bar/restaurant in the stand, and it will be four floors not three as with the West and the Kop. Hopefully there will be pictures soon! And maybe the club could be persuaded to install a webcam!
Re: Stadium news I think it's just great that the team will honor Jimmy Armfield by naming the new stand for him. A fitting tribute for someone who has given so much to the Seasiders!