| Maximising capacity of Spotland 08:20 - May 12 with 3103 views | pioneer |
As we move up a division we can expect bigger crowds and better chances of playing higher level teams in cup games. So what is needed to be able to use the full capacity of Spotland?
It’s probably been done to death on here over time be we do seem to be required to leave more seats empty than other clubs.
Do we need more effective stewarding, allocated seating, some types of barriers between the willbutts and each end, or rethinking were we accommodate away fans. It seems such a waste of potential revenue when attendance is limited to 7000 or so. |  | | |  |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 08:49 - May 12 with 2978 views | EllDale |
Just been checking the EFL away fan entitlement regulations.
Away teams are entitled to at least 2000 tickets or 10% of the total ground capacity if the ground capacity is less than 20k.
Oldham fans seem to think that they’re getting the whole of the Willbutts Lane again but I think that they may be in for a shock. Who else would travel in massive numbers though? Accrington? Rotherham? Tranmere? | | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 09:03 - May 12 with 2927 views | TVOS1907 |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 08:49 - May 12 by EllDale |
Just been checking the EFL away fan entitlement regulations.
Away teams are entitled to at least 2000 tickets or 10% of the total ground capacity if the ground capacity is less than 20k.
Oldham fans seem to think that they’re getting the whole of the Willbutts Lane again but I think that they may be in for a shock. Who else would travel in massive numbers though? Accrington? Rotherham? Tranmere? |
Accrington??
Grimsby, Chesterfield, Notts County (play offs permitting), Crewe, Shrewsbury, York, Port Vale, etc, would all bring more support than Accrington. |  |
| Maestro? No.
Elite? No.
Heavyweight poster? No.
Able to be rational and not over-react to individual results? Yes. |
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| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 13:00 - May 12 with 2629 views | Trev |
The most effective way would be for Wilbutts to be a home stand. Sure I read that there were to be CAB discussions around where fans were to be located but I may be misremembering. | | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 13:32 - May 12 with 2544 views | TalkingSutty |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 13:00 - May 12 by Trev |
The most effective way would be for Wilbutts to be a home stand. Sure I read that there were to be CAB discussions around where fans were to be located but I may be misremembering. |
You are putting away fans behind the goal if you do that which i think always gives the away team a advantage. The Pearl Street has never been better, the atmosphere in there is great now and i'm sure the manager and players will emphasise that. It's taken a lot of hard work to get it like that. The Sandy Lane is traditional, people wont want to move. You can't get proper vocal support in a side stand that would very rarely be filled with home fans and many orefer to be behind the goal. You could split the Willbutts lane and allocate 1500 seats for away fans and allocate the other half for home supporters, Carlisle did a similar thing. The stand is designed to be split i believe. House the away fans in the half nearest to Sandy Lane. Expecting season card holders to switch from behind the goal to the Willbutts Lane wont go down well. Giving them the option would be a better approach. [Post edited 12 May 19:52]
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| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:08 - May 12 with 2419 views | dale_upon_tyne |
I don’t remember capacity ever being an issue for League 2 games previously! Only Oldham will be relevant.
I think limiting away fans has been about suppressing the great atmosphere that away fans can generate in Wilbutts. Part of the discussion is therefore maximising the atmosphere created by home fans (ie Pearl).
In my view the strategy should be to try and build on the progress being made there - with the aim of making Pearl St the first stand to regularly sell out for league games, which is obviously something that has never happened before.
Would it be cost feasible be to effectively “extend” U Block by making U Block and V Block next to it safe standing before season tickets are allocated? Would encourage the singing section to expand and prevent damage to seats (I’ve seen evidence of quite a few broken seats around) |  | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:22 - May 12 with 2373 views | Nerazzurri |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:08 - May 12 by dale_upon_tyne |
I don’t remember capacity ever being an issue for League 2 games previously! Only Oldham will be relevant.
I think limiting away fans has been about suppressing the great atmosphere that away fans can generate in Wilbutts. Part of the discussion is therefore maximising the atmosphere created by home fans (ie Pearl).
In my view the strategy should be to try and build on the progress being made there - with the aim of making Pearl St the first stand to regularly sell out for league games, which is obviously something that has never happened before.
Would it be cost feasible be to effectively “extend” U Block by making U Block and V Block next to it safe standing before season tickets are allocated? Would encourage the singing section to expand and prevent damage to seats (I’ve seen evidence of quite a few broken seats around) |
Absolutely agree with this, we're onto a good thing in Pearl St & now let's maximise it. Definitely needs rail seating in there, the seats are a mess.
Just make sure we have a segregation plan in place for the Willbutts should the need arise. We definitely need more home seats for big occasions, we sold out 4,200 seats in 3 hours for the Scunthorpe game & despite it being the cheapest option it took 3 days to shift the remaining 300 places in The Sandy & it's always the last to fill up! |  |
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| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:49 - May 12 with 2299 views | rickyprickles |
I think the reason to limit away fans was either reducing the chance of flashpoints inside & outside, and making it more family friendly and let’s be honest here we want more home fans than away fans. Or it was about maximising our promotion prospects, limiting away fans to reduce chances of encouraging the opposition. But now we’re a league side, and promotion would of course be nice it’s not as important as getting out of the NL.
So be interesting to see what the clubs plans are for the foreseeable. As stated a couple of years ago, the owners want the club to be self sufficient within five years, so surely large away followings would be welcomed? Better stewarding & policing would surely allow for this. | | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 15:28 - May 12 with 2233 views | heywooddale |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:49 - May 12 by rickyprickles |
I think the reason to limit away fans was either reducing the chance of flashpoints inside & outside, and making it more family friendly and let’s be honest here we want more home fans than away fans. Or it was about maximising our promotion prospects, limiting away fans to reduce chances of encouraging the opposition. But now we’re a league side, and promotion would of course be nice it’s not as important as getting out of the NL.
So be interesting to see what the clubs plans are for the foreseeable. As stated a couple of years ago, the owners want the club to be self sufficient within five years, so surely large away followings would be welcomed? Better stewarding & policing would surely allow for this. |
On your last point; I was always under the impression and I believe the club has said this in the past, the reason the club has never properly considered moving the away fans from Wilbutts Lane is that due to it being the most modern stand with the best view it allows them to charge away fans the maximum ticket price we can maximising the profitability of away followings. Pretty sure it was said under Dunphy/Garlick so it is a long time ago, but I'd imagine the logic still works given that away following have a great variance than our home one. | | | |
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| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 15:42 - May 12 with 2206 views | onedalefan |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:08 - May 12 by dale_upon_tyne |
I don’t remember capacity ever being an issue for League 2 games previously! Only Oldham will be relevant.
I think limiting away fans has been about suppressing the great atmosphere that away fans can generate in Wilbutts. Part of the discussion is therefore maximising the atmosphere created by home fans (ie Pearl).
In my view the strategy should be to try and build on the progress being made there - with the aim of making Pearl St the first stand to regularly sell out for league games, which is obviously something that has never happened before.
Would it be cost feasible be to effectively “extend” U Block by making U Block and V Block next to it safe standing before season tickets are allocated? Would encourage the singing section to expand and prevent damage to seats (I’ve seen evidence of quite a few broken seats around) |
What happens to people who have sat in block V for many years? |  | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 19:06 - May 12 with 1981 views | rickyprickles |
Yeah it makes sense to keep away fans I’m the Wilbutts lane as you say due to been able to charge the maximum admission fee. I’m old Enough remember away fans in pearl st. But au always prefer Dale fans behind both goals | | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 19:50 - May 12 with 1850 views | dale_upon_tyne |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 15:42 - May 12 by onedalefan |
What happens to people who have sat in block V for many years? |
With average attendances of just over 3100 this year there really is plenty of room for everyone! | | | |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 14:23 - May 13 with 1444 views | onedalefan |
| Maximising capacity of Spotland on 19:50 - May 12 by dale_upon_tyne |
With average attendances of just over 3100 this year there really is plenty of room for everyone! |
Some of us have sat in the same place for many years because we like where it is. Also like to sit down through the match because of issues with my leg. Had to stand throughout the York and Scunthorpe games because people around wouldn't sit down and leg suffered after. Why should we have to move? | | | |
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