Re: Stadium news Some fans think that the "March Madness" ticket offer is related to the opening of the South Stand. Perhaps that the offer is being done to get new fans in/old fans back, and then the stand will open. yawn. the reality is that the whole stand saga has become a running joke. A lot of fans are absolutely sick of it, partly because the club make absolutely no comments whatsoever on what is going on with regard to the stand. Add on to that the fact that the webcam has now stopped working. Plus there are still gaps in the stand (at the back of the SW corner) and it looks far from ready. I really do hope it is open soon as I've been looking forward to moving into it. But in all honesty I am sick to death of it - as are many others. And that is, in my opinion, a huge own goal by the club. PR at it's worst.
Re: Stadium news And now there is a rumour that the police, local council plus Health & Safety are all at the stadium on Friday assessing the South stand to see if it is fit to grant a licence so that it can apparently open for the game against Crystal Palace on 20th March. Of course I will still only believe it when I see fans actually sitting in the damn thing.
Re: Stadium news To add to the above, more rumours flying round now that so long as the licence is granted, the South stand will be open for the Crystal Palace game. The game right now is a sell out for home fans. Apparently though, fans who have since tried to buy tickets for the Palace game, were supposedly given a receipt and have been told by the ticket office that they need to go back next week to pick up their tickets with the new stand being open. Again, I stress that my belief in this will be when I see someone actually sat in the damn thing......
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Blackpool FC today confirmed that the South stand will open on 20th March for the home game against Crystal Palace! Chairman Karl Oyston said: President Valeri Belokon expressed his delight at the project being completed. I just fainted.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Wake up and tell me if our tickets for Nottingham Forest will be in the South stand too or will just the STHs move there??
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** You'll be in the North Stand I'd imagine, that's what's apparently happening to us on the 23rd. I'm fed up of that away stand as well so very good news
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Well after picking myself up off the floor, and clearing the blood from my head wound from hitting the floor, I plan to phone the ticket office tomorrow. All STH's are moving over there, and I did ask when I picked up the tickets about the move and was told it would be simply a matter of exchanging the tickets for the South.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Half right! Away fans are to be housed in two blocks only of the Kop (A and B) which will mean something like 1,000 seats. So, under half of the stand, not the whole stand. Any overflow then, I think, will still be going in the hideous East stand. Believe it or not, some home fans still want part of the East (or GK to give it the correct title.......) to be for home fans. They must be mad. Home fans will still be housed in the rest of the Kop (the North stand). However, all STH's from A to F blocks are moving en-masse to the new South stand and SW corner. Which will then mean that in the Kop, from C block onward, it will be non-STH's. But any single tickets bought for games can be moved to the South stand, which is what will happen with DG tickets, as they are for E block, so they can be moved to the block we are moving to, T block.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** I'm sure it's a lot simpler than it sounds, but with the sellout of all tickets for the March games this seems like it could turn into a real mess. Hopefully, it won't.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Nah it will be fine! Sounds more complicated than it will end up being! From what has since been said, the club actually wants away fans still to be housed in the East stand wherever possible, as they want all the other three stands filled with home fans. They are though going to have to do a lot of work to get new fans in and lapsed fans back. But with the very real possibility of a play-off spot, now is the time to do it. They are apparently handing out 10,000 flyers to local schools on the Fylde coast too. So for the Palace and Swansea games, away fans will be in A and B blocks, but after that it is then up to Blackpool fans to show that they can fill the Kop, West, South and the two corners.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Blackpool are appealing for fans to turn up in force at the reserves game on Wednesday. They need more than 500 fans to be at the game in order to test the stand so that it passes a Council check to confirm it is ok to be used on Saturday for the Crystal Palace game. The club have confirmed that entry to the reserve game (against Rochdale) will be free to try and get as many in as possible. It will also be an opportunity for fans moving to the new stand to see where they will sit (including me!!) and check out the facilities in the stand.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** There are rumours going round now that a safety certificate won't be issued in time for the game on Saturday. Funny things is though - the reserves game tomorrow needs 500 fans there in order to get the safety certificate. Rumours are wonderful.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Following last nights reserves game, for which the club needed 500 fans to turn up and use the facilities in order to get the safety certificate, the club ended up having to open the SW corner to accomodate all the fans who turned up, as the South could only have 1,000 for last nights game in order to test the facilities. A crowd of 1,600 meant that the council awarded the safety certificate. Bring on Saturday!
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Fantastic! And they said it would never happen
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** I still won't believe it until I am sat in my seat..... Jimmy Armfield has today talked about the opening of the stand which bears his name, saying he will feel fixed emotions when it finally opens tomorrow. The former Blackpool and England right back, who spent his entire 17 year playing career with the Seasiders, already holds legendary status in the town where he continues to live, and he is still an extremely popular figure in the game in England. Bloomfield Road will rightly pay tribute to his achievements tomorrow afternoon, but he is not quite sure how he will feel: The last time Jimmy made an official appearance at Bloomfield Road, when he was the half-time guest not long after his recovery from cancer, the reception he received by the fans was so immense that the second half had to be delayed as the supporters simply would not stop giving him a standing ovation. Tomorrow will probably be an emotional and special day!
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Striker Brett Ormerod, who was a Pool player when the old ground was still at Bloomfield Road with the current stadium still a pipe dream, has spoken of his joy at the South stand opening tomorrow:
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** A video of the opening of the stand in front of the media, prior to the ribbon cutting outside, and before the masses were allowed in. The four at the front are (from left to right) Club president Valeri Belokon, Jimmy Armfield, majority club owner Owen Oyston and club chairman Karl Oyston. Owen Oyston talks about Jimmy Armfield and Valeri Belokon, before Jimmy, who looks very humble and emotional, declares the stand officially open. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owkxBC9NwaE"]YouTube- Opening of the Jimmy Armfield Stand, 20th[/ame]
Re: Stadium news **South Stand to open on 20th March 2010** Jimmy outside the back of HIS stand, cutting the ribbon so that the turnstiles could be opened (oh and with a media scrum) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u0CZjgaSqs&playnext_from=TL&videos=zwxYR_v29U8&playnext=1"]YouTube- jimmy armfield opening new south stand blackpool fc[/ame]
Re: Stadium news **South Stand now open** Club chairman Karl Oyston has confirmed that IF Blackpool win the Play-Off final on 22nd May, then they will start work immediately on a new East stand - whether that is a much bigger temporary stand or the new permanent stand I don't know. But he seems to think they could get the stand up very quickly and take capacity up to 16,000 ASAP.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand now open** Well then. Wembley turned out ok in the end...... Karl Oyson has spoken since Saturday and confirmed that the East stand WILL now be built ASAP. But they are firstly going to check whether to go ahead and start building the permanent stand now or put up a big temporary stand for now and then build the new stand piecemeal. As a Premier League club now, they have to improve other areas too including the media and medical facilities as well as the TV gantry. The training ground will also finally get brought into the 21st century.
Re: Stadium news **South Stand now open** Sky Sports News just confirmed that the club will meet with the Premier League tomorrow to discuss the stadium and the completion of the new stand, plus other work that needs to be done to bring Bloomfield Road up to Premier League standard.
Re: Stadium news **East Stand to be built** Following the talks between the club and the Premier League yesterday, Blackpool have started talks about building the East stand. The club will work on the basis of the planning consent previously received from Blackpool Council for a 16,000 all-seater stadium. Karl Oyston said he hopes to start work as soon as possible and that a new stand can be built without having to purchase land on nearby Henry Street, or at the Number 1 Club, on Bloomfield Road, which was recently granted planning permission for a casino. He said: The plans from 2001 show the stadium has moved two metres further away from the back of the closest houses on nearby Henry Street which means there is enough land within the boundaries of the stadium to accommodate a new permanent stand. In order to meet the requirements of the Premier League, the club will have to provide new state-of-the-art facilities including a media centre and medical rooms. With the new season only about 11 weeks away, it looks like the club's current mix of permanent and temporary seats will remain in place in the short-term, although whether the current temporary stand will be replaced remains to be seen.
Re: Stadium news **East Stand to be built** Rumour Mill is in full swing. The latest rumour is that some sort of temporary structure will be in place for the start of the season with a capacity of about 6,000, taking stadium capacity up to about 17,000. The permanent East stand then to be built as and when they can with the two corners being the first to be built.