Re: Stadium news A lot of work still to be done fitting out the stand behind the seating. At the back of the seats will be the two floors of the hotel. It is apparently still due to be finished some time in November.
Re: Stadium news so, I guess that means the seats cannot be used until the two floors of the hotel are completed???
Re: Stadium news I think that they are hoping to open the whole stand in one go rather than getting some seats in use first - and it would be fantastic to see the stand opened for the PKE game. Having said that, there are rumours that at least some part of R block (the block in the SW corner) is to be open for the Newcastle game next Wednesday.
Re: Stadium news And we now have ARMFIELD! All the seats are in place, and this picture shows the space above the seating where the two floors of the hotel will go. But at the moment, part of the Travelodge can still be seen.
Re: Stadium news The latest picture of Bloomfield Road, showing the new stand on the left, with work now concentrating inside and behind it. It also shows how small the East stand is as it is virtually impossible to see it, even though it holds about 1,750. On the left is the Travelodge, just over the road.
Re: Stadium news About time this was finished, I'm sick of being rained on every time we play there (even though I've only been twice when it's rained, but still!). Is the plan still to move away fans to the opposite end and put home fans in the new stand? What will the capacity be when finished? 15k? Looks very similar to Doncaster/Plymouth. I think it'd look much better with something a bit different on the final stand but doubt it'll happen, there's not much room there for it anyway judging by that picture.
Re: Stadium news Aye, it has been way too long coming. With away fans, it isn't still certain what will happen. The club (well Karl Oyston) reckon that in an "ideal world" home fans will occupy the Kop, West and South, keeping away fans in the GK (East). When the South opens, it will be for home fans. The Family stand, which currently is in two blocks of the Kop and the NW corner, will be moved to the new stand and expanded. What is likely to happen with away fans, is that they will be housed in part of the Kop - blocks A to C, depending on numbers, with the GK stand being used only for so called "big games". The projected capacity is about 16,000. It is similar to the Keepmoat but with significant differences. The picture above doesn't really show it, but the South stand is slightly taller than the West and Kop. It has four floors, rather than three, as it houses a 56 bedroomed hotel on the top two floors, with 28 rooms overlooking the pitch on those two floors with balconies for match days. As for the final stand, again the picture is deceptive. The stand that is planned for the East side is "a bit different" as it won't be as deep as the other three, it will look totally different whilst still ensuring that the stadium is then totally enclosed; and there is, believe it or not, more than enough room for it. That stand, unlike the other three won't have any office space, and so will be seating only.
Re: Stadium news This mock up shows something like what is proposed (although this is Blackpool and nothing ever either runs smoothly or rarely as originally planned!) -
Re: Stadium news The two new signs are currently being installed on the West Stand and are expected to be finished by Friday. This is one of them:
Re: Stadium news A panoramic view of the stadium as of 17 October 2009, taken by a Plymouth fan before kick-off at the link below. To view the full image use the scroll bar. http://www.greensonscreen.co.uk/matchdisplays/blackpool09A/1/panorama.asp
Re: Stadium news Blackpool F.C. announced today that a life-size statue of Jimmy Armfield has been commissioned by Blackpool Supporters Association which will cost £100,000 with the money to be raised by a series of fund raising events. The aim being to unveil the statue, which will be positioned outside the main entrance behind the West Stand facing Seasiders Way, on his 75th birthday in September 2010. On the announcement, Jimmy said The statue is to be created by Les Johnson, who was commissioned to create a statue of the late Brian Clough, which was unveiled in Nottingham city centre in November 2008. The Jimmy Armfield Statue Fund has a website at http://www.jimmyarmfield.co.uk/
Re: Stadium news At Saturdays home game against Scunthorpe United an extra row of seats appeared at the back of the Kop - 100+ seats! With the upcoming West Lancashire Derby against PKE perhaps the club are trying to get as many seats in as possible to get the capacity maybe above 10,000? It is looking increasingly unlikely that the seats in the South stand will be available to use by the PKE game, although R block in the SW corner does look to have more seats now. So maybe capacity will be around 10,000. A pity that the South stand won't be open by then, which I'm presuming it won't. It would have been an ideal match to open the new stand - live on TV (and not only in the UK but various other countries) and against PKE. Another 2,500 seats. There has been no news from the club about when the stand will open, so it is all mere speculation.
Re: Stadium news Blackpool FC have submitted a documunt to Blackpool Council indicating that they want to start using the seating in the South stand in December. It has also been confirmed that the extra row of seating at the back of the Kop has finally pushed capacity over 10,000. There are in total an additional 112 seats at the back of the Kop. So that coupled with 110 seats in the West stand over redundant stairwells plus 213 seats have opened in recent matches in the new south-west corner have pushed the stadium capacity up to 10,035. Once the South stand is open, another 3,000 (approximately) seats will be added. The total number is still not yet known, Blackpool Council stated that "changes by the football club to seating layouts make an exact figure difficult to provide at this stage." The council is expected to approve the plans. If the stand does open in December they are likely to test it first in a smaller game such as a reserve match, before an official opening in a first team fixture. Blackpool have three home games in December: Barnsey (5th), West Bromwich Albion (19th) and Sheffield Wednesday (28th). The Barnsley game is almost certainly too soon, which means the stand could be open by Christmas.
Re: Stadium news Things really are changing for the better at Bloomfield Road. Not long ago, chairman Karl Oyston said that the East stand wasn't particularly high on the list of priorities to be built and there was no real prospect of it being built. Now it has been confirmed that the club hope to work with Urban Regeneration Company, ReBlackpool, to build the stand. It will though be different to the original plans which had it as seating only. Now the plan is for it to be larger, with office/retail space, which will mean that additional land will need to be acquired. Oyston has said that he wants to deliver a venue which could host events other than football – such as rock concerts and ReBlackpool says it wants to work with the club to make the dream a reality. Oyston said: Chief executive of ReBlackpool Doug Garrett said he wanted to see the stadium completed and there was a real desire for the development to be completed. The role of ReBlackpool would be to look at potential uses for a new East Stand. It could also assist with land assembly possibly using regional development agency money. But the latter would only happen if the club signed up to a firm development plan. He added:
Re: Stadium news It has been confirmed that plans [for the South stand] have already gone before Blackpool Council's Public Protection Committee, which has prepared a provisional General Safety Certificate to allow the club to open the £8.5m stand's doors as soon as it is issued. The normal planning process, where the committee decides on the building's safety once it is completed, would take weeks longer From Blackpool Council: The seats are already in place and all that remains is for the services beneath the stand to be completed.
Re: Stadium news With the club being totally silent on the South stand - there has been no official update or any pictures for quite a while now - it has led to fan speculating that the stand won't be open this year after all. There have been rumours that it now won't open until February at the earliest with one rumour suggesting that it will be officially opened at the home game against Ipswich Town on 11th March. Just a pity that the club are saying nothing.
Re: Stadium news Still no date for the South Stand to open. However, BFC have now written to all Season Ticket holders in the Kop (blocks A to G including the North West corner) informing them that they will be moved to the new stand this season. We will still be in the Family stand, but are moving from E block to the new T block in the South, hopefully still sat with the same people. There has been talk of the stand opening either late in January or in February.
Re: Stadium news I guess with the club now finally confirming our new seats in the South that the opening can't be too far off. Looking forward to it now, as it has been a long time coming and the concourses are apparently twice as big as the other stands and it contains a supporters bar. With the capacity rising by around 3,000 there should be plenty of seats in April! Jimmy Armfield, who the stand is named after was given a CBE in the New Years Honours List There are five levels of the "Most Excellent Order of the British Empire": Member (MBE) Officer (OBE) Commander (CBE) Knight Commander (KBE) or Dame Commander (DBE) Knight Grand Cross (GBE) or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) and so he's moved up from OBE to CBE, one step below a knighthood. Anyway, with the stand being named after him plus the statue of him which it is hoped will be made in time for his 75th birthday in September, it is some year for Jimmy.
Re: Stadium news A report today says that the South stand will finally open on 20th February. This weekend there is electrical work going on in the stand and a definite date has now apparently finally been set for the opening. However, given BFC's record, it must be seen as very provisional! Also, there will apparently be not one but two large video screens at Bloomfield Road that will show team line-ups, match action, replays etc. The bad news is that the new Supporters bar is not expected to be opened until the 2010-11 season.
Re: Stadium news Some potentially huge news for Blackpool and the Fylde coast was announced today as Blackpool have been approached to be part of the England 2018 World Cup bid. Bloomfield Road could become a specific training site for the bid. In the North West, there are three stadiums that will be used if the bid is successful: Liverpool's planned Stanley park Stadium, Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium. And the teams will need training sites in the area, which is why Bloomfield Road could play a part in the bid. Club secretary Matt Williams explained: It would mean national teams using Blackpool's facilities and bring massive media exposure and prestige to the area. Matt continued: