Condition of the stadium

[Victor]

18 hours ago, bpsaint said:

Wonder what happened to those jumbo screens that were meant to be installed this month 🤔

Read the link you posted - "... will be installed during the November international break".

[Matthew Le God]

On 30/07/2021 at 14:06, tunit said:

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2021-07-30/southampton-fc-announces-st-marys-improvements

 

18 hours ago, bpsaint said:

Wonder what happened to those jumbo screens that were meant to be installed this month 🤔

 

18 hours ago, The Cat said:

The big boards were delayed for some reason, but we had new LED boards above the tunnel and in the middle of the Itchen which was very exciting for fans of extra advertising.

 

16 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Like everything coming from China, delayed. November sometime was the last date I heard.

 

6 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

They were/are supposed to be installed during the next International break but someone who isnt prone to tittle tattle told me on Saturday that the new jumbo screens were too heavy to be supported by the existing brackets etc so who knows ?

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

[Streaky]

Maybe because they are secret pompey fans trying to discredit our great club at every turn 😁

[nta786]

24 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

I genuinely think the club have sneakily changed that in the article - pretty sure when I first read it a few months back, it said October!

See articles below here:

https://insidersport.com/2021/07/30/southampton-reveals-2-5m-stadium-improvement-plans-to-elevate-fan-experience/

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/19481484.saints-fans-react-2-5m-investment-revamping-st-marys/

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2021/08/01/saints-go-large-2-5m-st-marys-stadium-improvements/

https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/2021/07/30/southampton-marks-20-years-at-st-marys-with-stadium-improvements/

https://www.uknewsgroup.co.uk/southampton-fc-announce-upcoming-improvement-plans-to-st-marys-stadium/

[Saint_Jonny]

32 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

 

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

They have changed the article - it previously said October. Link below proves it.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210731171111/https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2021-07-30/southampton-fc-announces-st-marys-improvements

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

 

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

They were supposed to be ready for the start of this season, then the date was put back to October, now it’s November. Remember that the Kingsland was closed for the preseason friendlies because scaffolding was still in place for installing them

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

 

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

Why have you made up a story that it was never due in October when it was due in October? 🤫 

Get your facts straight before you write posts accusing people of getting their facts wrong smarty pants.

[John Boy Saint]

Mrs JBS who is not a trawler of the Internet - but paid attention to the message with her Season Ticket about the screens and commented on the date when they hadn’t changed. 

Memory like an Elephant trust me

Just don’t tell her I said that 😳

[LGTL]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

 

The article from the club says they are to be installed in the November international break.

So why have some of you made up stories of reasons why it didn't happen in October, when it was never due to happen in October? 🤔

It’s the third time the club have changed the date, so I’m afraid you’re very wrong. 

[The Cat]

Is MLG going to apologise?

[bpsaint]

6 hours ago, Victor said:

Read the link you posted - "... will be installed during the November international break".

Thanks everyone for confirming I wasn’t going mad and the article did say October before the club did a sneaky. I even checked it just before I posted last night.

Suck on that MLG. 

[The Cat]

Still no apology from MLG.

He's lightning fast to point out errors from other posters but when he is called out on one of his own he goes missing.

[skintsaint]

5 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Still no apology from MLG.

too busy writing a 4000 worded reply with tons of links no one could be bothered to argue against...again.

[Matthew Le God]

51 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Still no apology from MLG.

He's lightning fast to point out errors from other posters but when he is called out on one of his own he goes missing.

No need for an apology. I merely pointed out what the article says, not my fault the club were sneaky and edited it. 😉😇

45 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

too busy writing a 4000 worded reply with tons of links no one could be bothered to argue against...again.

I think you'll find lots of people on here are happy to argue with me over pointless stuff! 😁

[The Kraken]

1 hour ago, The Cat said:

Still no apology from MLG.

He's lightning fast to point out errors from other posters but when he is called out on one of his own he goes missing.

Not just an error, but using one bogus article to accuse other fans of making up stories against the club. Quite an unpleasant accusation, but I’m unsurprised there has been no retraction.

[Mozz]

On 26/10/2021 at 15:22, ant said:

Fair doos. Think I've sampled the sustenance about twice in the past decade, so I'm not surprised that passed me by.

Happy to be proved wrong about the beer, too - but it looked like the same old Kingfisher (et al) bilge.

Mental really, with Unity, Dancing Man, Steam Town and Vibrant Forest in and around the city. Not expecting there to be cask, but most of those listed predominantly sell keg anyway.

A couple of years ago they shifted pies/sausage roll supplier to Piglets Pantry (the Worthing company) and they are legitimately really good.

Don't think they were listed on the screens, but there was small fridge with a smattering of 333ml craft cans in the Northam bar.  Agree on the general point though.  Would think a Unity tie up at least would be a nice touch seeing as they're practically round the corner.

[Daft Kerplunk]

On 29/10/2021 at 16:42, Mozz said:

A couple of years ago they shifted pies/sausage roll supplier to Piglets Pantry (the Worthing company) and they are legitimately really good.

Don't think they were listed on the screens, but there was small fridge with a smattering of 333ml craft cans in the Northam bar.  Agree on the general point though.  Would think a Unity tie up at least would be a nice touch seeing as they're practically round the corner.

Can’t imagine the really local brewing companies would be able to meet the type of commercial/financial requirements needed. It would also need to be quite a creative deal to make it work alongside the Kingfisher deal. Would be nice though.

[Toussaint]

https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/the-uks-top-5-football-stadium-construction-projects/

Just saw this in a construction publication, there are some stunning projects afoot. Finances permitting its time we did something with SMS, it's very tired, dated, drab and generic. It was what we needed at the time, the Barr Construction "flat pack" was the cheapest  £ / per seat available, but things have moved on.

 

[Alan Sugarfree]

7 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/the-uks-top-5-football-stadium-construction-projects/

Just saw this in a construction publication, there are some stunning projects afoot. Finances permitting its time we did something with SMS, it's very tired, dated, drab and generic. It was what we needed at the time, the Barr Construction "flat pack" was the cheapest  £ / per seat available, but things have moved on.

 

Regardless of any development of the stadium, it really needs a deep clean. The roof supports are filthy and inside it could do with a clean and lick of paint.

I think It would look good externally to see the roof strut supports painted red and white alternately.

[Disco Stu]

What's going on with the new screens that were to be fitted? Something has clearly gone wrong. The dead pixels on the screen above Northam is embarrassing tbh.

Edited 25 January, 2022 by Disco Stu

[Kenilworthy]

I trust the company building the Milton End redevelopment has asked for payment up front

[saint1977]

1 hour ago, Alan Sugarfree said:

Regardless of any development of the stadium, it really needs a deep clean. The roof supports are filthy and inside it could do with a clean and lick of paint.

I think It would look good externally to see the roof strut supports painted red and white alternately.

It’s not just the surface level condition, the structure has had 20 years of weathering in a location right next to water and exposed to winds. I can’t imagine there was much in the kitty for maintenance in the Gao era so one of the first tasks will be to assess any short-medium issues. Look at Birmingham’s St Andrew’s, stands are a few years older than SMS but some very serious issues have them closed https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-st-andrews-repairs-22823221

Where SMS was a standard Barr construction I expect this makes inspection and access easier than some of the crawl spaces at St Andrew’s in that article. Nevertheless, it only takes 5 years of eyes off the ball in maintenance - which at cosmetic level seems possible - and bills mount up. 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Toussaint said:

https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/the-uks-top-5-football-stadium-construction-projects/

Just saw this in a construction publication, there are some stunning projects afoot. Finances permitting its time we did something with SMS, it's very tired, dated, drab and generic. It was what we needed at the time, the Barr Construction "flat pack" was the cheapest  £ / per seat available, but things have moved on.

 

Can you make a business case for such changes?

[Sheaf Saint]

25 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

What's going on with the new screens that were to be fitted? Something has clearly gone wrong. The dead pixels on the screen above Northam is embarrassing tbh.

I'm told that due to budget constraints, this is going to be taken out of storage and installed in its place...

[Toussaint]

Just now, Whitey Grandad said:

Can you make a business case for such changes?

There would be some sort of cost benefit analysis which you would presume had been undertaken by all prior to proceeding with capital projects in any business, not just the 5 football clubs highlighted in the article.  It's always a difficult one with Saints, there are always going to have 28,000 of us turn up regardless of the drabness of the product or  surroundings whilst we are in the premier league. It would depend on how the new owners see the future?

[S-Clarke]

34 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

What's going on with the new screens that were to be fitted? Something has clearly gone wrong. The dead pixels on the screen above Northam is embarrassing tbh.

I did wonder that, they were supposed to be installed in the Sept international break, then the November one...but they're still not there. Given the current climate of tech chip shortages etc I wonder if it's just caught up in that can of worms.

[Saint Mikey]

8 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I'm told that due to budget constraints, this is going to be taken out of storage and installed in its place...

😆 The scoreboard we bought 2nd hand from Everton! Blast from the past.

[Whitey Grandad]

12 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

There would be some sort of cost benefit analysis which you would presume had been undertaken by all prior to proceeding with capital projects in any business, not just the 5 football clubs highlighted in the article.  It's always a difficult one with Saints, there are always going to have 28,000 of us turn up regardless of the drabness of the product or  surroundings whilst we are in the premier league. It would depend on how the new owners see the future?

Quite so. If it were your own personal money would you think it worthwhile? 

Personall I don''t think it's too bad, not enough to worry about anyway.

[The Left Back]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Can you make a business case for such changes?

You ask a profound question (even if you didn't realise it). Apologies to you and others if I am teaching grandmother to suck eggs here...

Business cases for infrastructure spending are notoriously difficult.  They require a creative, broad and long view of return on investment.  The easy bit is the implications of letting the stadium decline to an unsafe standard.  It's easy to justify spend in that case.  After that it gets harder.  You can't prove having red and white striped roof supports (for example) generate any income, so why bother?   These things have to be taken in the round.  A stadium that looks tired, unloved, old, whatever will start to put off sponsors, players and (some) supporters.  A modern, well maintained, inspiring stadium speaks of a club on the up.  These things can be converted into a business case but it's not straightforward.  One trick is to find ways of upgrading infrastructure as part of a business plan that is stronger - e.g. renovating the whole stadium while enlarging it. I wonder if the new owners would be more ambitious about a bigger stadium than previous ones, given we are going to be the flagship of their stable (mixing metaphors!)? Another might be to tie infrastructure into a sponsorship deal - ie a refurb so that a new stadium sponsor can get its livery displayed everywhere. Or tie a refurb into a business case for other uses of the stadium - eg concert venue.  So it's not easy - things like the padded seats are easier to justify as they are linked to price increases and therefore ROI is clear and measurable.  But that is very old and conventional thinking.  Plush seating in a run down stadium will only work to a point.

Personally I think the stadium does need some fairly serious attention, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen this summer. The roof needs a good clean, the screens modernised (finally) and some fresh branding everywhere.  I'd also like us to do something outside the ground with the gas towers, railway line and all the approaches.  The pitch is world class, the rest of the stadium needs to be at least premier league standard, which is a much higher bar than 2001.

 

 

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Saint Mikey said:

😆 The scoreboard we bought 2nd hand from Everton! Blast from the past.

Preferred the old bloke in the white lab coat who used to put the scores out at halftime in the West Stand-Archers corner. Always a great cheer when he dropped one of the numbers ! Simple things in a bygone age.

[CamSaint]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I did wonder that, they were supposed to be installed in the Sept international break, then the November one...but they're still not there. Given the current climate of tech chip shortages etc I wonder if it's just caught up in that can of worms.

I seem to remember in a Total Saints Podcast, Martin Semmens said that as the new screens are much heavier, the delay was due to sorting out corrosion that had been discovered in the steel supports to which the new screens will be fitted. He did imply that that was well in hand, though, but clearly it hasn't happened yet.

Obviously my memory wasn't quite right! - See Mozz's post below!

Edited 25 January, 2022 by CamSaint

[Mozz]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I did wonder that, they were supposed to be installed in the Sept international break, then the November one...but they're still not there. Given the current climate of tech chip shortages etc I wonder if it's just caught up in that can of worms.

This was asked to Managing Director Toby Steele when he was on the Total Saints Podcast in November and his response was Jan/Feb.

Reason given was that they found that water had leaked into the steel structure over time which had to be removed and then the steel strengthened due to corrosion caused by the water.

[Whitey Grandad]

34 minutes ago, The Left Back said:

You ask a profound question (even if you didn't realise it). Apologies to you and others if I am teaching grandmother to suck eggs here...

Business cases for infrastructure spending are notoriously difficult.  They require a creative, broad and long view of return on investment.  The easy bit is the implications of letting the stadium decline to an unsafe standard.  It's easy to justify spend in that case.  After that it gets harder.  You can't prove having red and white striped roof supports (for example) generate any income, so why bother?   These things have to be taken in the round.  A stadium that looks tired, unloved, old, whatever will start to put off sponsors, players and (some) supporters.  A modern, well maintained, inspiring stadium speaks of a club on the up.  These things can be converted into a business case but it's not straightforward.  One trick is to find ways of upgrading infrastructure as part of a business plan that is stronger - e.g. renovating the whole stadium while enlarging it. I wonder if the new owners would be more ambitious about a bigger stadium than previous ones, given we are going to be the flagship of their stable (mixing metaphors!)? Another might be to tie infrastructure into a sponsorship deal - ie a refurb so that a new stadium sponsor can get its livery displayed everywhere. Or tie a refurb into a business case for other uses of the stadium - eg concert venue.  So it's not easy - things like the padded seats are easier to justify as they are linked to price increases and therefore ROI is clear and measurable.  But that is very old and conventional thinking.  Plush seating in a run down stadium will only work to a point.

Personally I think the stadium does need some fairly serious attention, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen this summer. The roof needs a good clean, the screens modernised (finally) and some fresh branding everywhere.  I'd also like us to do something outside the ground with the gas towers, railway line and all the approaches.  The pitch is world class, the rest of the stadium needs to be at least premier league standard, which is a much higher bar than 2001.

 

 

That's why I ask them. I would guess that any benefits from any improvements would be secondary and would not have a direct return in any income in the short term. Part of it is maintaining what you already have. Then there are the secondary benefits of presenting a club that's looking to the future and wants to improve its image. Maybe even to the extend of attracting new talent.

[nta786]

2 hours ago, The Left Back said:

 The pitch is world class, the rest of the stadium needs to be at least premier league standard, which is a much higher bar than 2001.

We put on a light show now with all the pyrotechnics, flashing lights and what not etc etc, which is pretty good for the cameras/TV

A bit of rust on the concourses is probably as you say less on the priority list.

[suewhistle]

3 hours ago, The Left Back said:

Business cases for infrastructure spending are notoriously difficult.

Someone I know was having an informal chat with Brian Hunt, then the director in charge of the St. Marys development. He said that they roughly budgeted for a third crowds of 18k, a third 24K, and a third around 28k for the top clubs. At the time The Dell was limited to around 14K. As we know the figures have been much better than that, which is one of the difficulties of a CBA, but far better than the alternative!

A far better product both on and off the pitch has benefits all round, so let us hope that a few constraints on development and investment in infrastructure have been slackened. I see that a new gym is planned for Staplewood.

 

[mikec]

3 hours ago, Badger said:

Preferred the old bloke in the white lab coat who used to put the scores out at halftime in the West Stand-Archers corner. Always a great cheer when he dropped one of the numbers ! Simple things in a bygone age.

But you had to buy a programme (or try to look over the shoulder of someone who had one) to work out which score related to which game.

[STEVEADAMS]

On 25/01/2022 at 23:21, Saint Mikey said:

😆 The scoreboard we bought 2nd hand from Everton! Blast from the past.

When it rained it always went wrong haha and pixels always missing 😂

[Saint_clark]

On 25/01/2022 at 11:36, Toussaint said:

https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/the-uks-top-5-football-stadium-construction-projects/

Just saw this in a construction publication, there are some stunning projects afoot. Finances permitting its time we did something with SMS, it's very tired, dated, drab and generic. It was what we needed at the time, the Barr Construction "flat pack" was the cheapest  £ / per seat available, but things have moved on.

 

How on earth are Pompey spending £11.5million on a stadium expansion in league one!?

[IFHP]

26 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

How on earth are Pompey spending £11.5million on a stadium expansion in league one!?

Or more importantly how the f**k did it make it into the top 6 ! 

[JRM]

2 hours ago, IFHP said:

Or more importantly how the f**k did it make it into the top 6 ! 

Agree they must have run out after 5 and scrapping the barrell with that one. How much will Fratton hold after that? Doesn't seem worth it. 

Fulham will be good, an increased capacity should also mean a bigger allocation for us when they come up next season 

[whelk]

40 minutes ago, JRM said:

Agree they must have run out after 5 and scrapping the barrell with that one. How much will Fratton hold after that? Doesn't seem worth it. 

Fulham will be good, an increased capacity should also mean a bigger allocation for us when they come up next season 

Are Fulham still going to have the neutral section with give scope for huge away following?

[SW5 SAINT]

2 hours ago, IFHP said:

Or more importantly how the f**k did it make it into the top 6 ! 

Not much else going on around the country in the way of stadium redevelopments. I notice we didn’t really see much of Pompey’s Milton Road redevelopment apart from a rather drab walkway…….

[John Boy Saint]

On 25/01/2022 at 15:20, Badger said:

Preferred the old bloke in the white lab coat who used to put the scores out at halftime in the West Stand-Archers corner. Always a great cheer when he dropped one of the numbers ! Simple things in a bygone age.

Those were the days - the letter key was in the back of the programme.

I did think they were down the Milton Road end - because as nippers the first thing to look for when turning up at the Dell was the TV Lorries in the Car Park - BBC or The Big Match - We were always the first ones through the turnstiles when they opened and headed down to the front wall to get our prime spot. Before we did anything else, we all leaned over the wall to see what letter we were over. I thought it was the half time alphabet when I first saw this, but, you’re right as to it’s location, I then remembered it was seeing what letter we were above in which advertising hoarding…………..  All that just so we could look for ourselves on TV.

As you say simple things from a bygone age.

Edited 29 January, 2022 by John Boy Saint

[Charlie Wayman]

On 25/01/2022 at 11:36, Toussaint said:

https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/the-uks-top-5-football-stadium-construction-projects/

Just saw this in a construction publication, there are some stunning projects afoot. Finances permitting its time we did something with SMS, it's very tired, dated, drab and generic. It was what we needed at the time, the Barr Construction "flat pack" was the cheapest  £ / per seat available, but things have moved on.

 

I am surprised and appalled by the Forest Green proposal. Have they forgotten already what happened at Bradford? 

A disaster waiting to happen.

[Daft Kerplunk]

25 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I am surprised and appalled by the Forest Green proposal. Have they forgotten already what happened at Bradford? 

A disaster waiting to happen.

No smoking in stadiums any more though, and timber use in construction has greatly improved. No way it would pass far more rigorous structural tests if it wasn’t deemed to be okay. Problem at Bradford was also linked to exits, lack of trained staff, low maintenance. 
 

in Scandinavia and other very progressive countries, they are building tall buildings from wood given the progress in strength and safety. 

[for_heaven's_Saint]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I am surprised and appalled by the Forest Green proposal. Have they forgotten already what happened at Bradford? 

A disaster waiting to happen.

 

Their chairman has responded to similar comments:

 

Quote

Speaking as a guest on BBC Radio Two’s Jeremy Vine show, Vince answered questions about the high-profile project, specifically doubts over the safety of building a stadium fashioned entirely from wood.

“Seventy-five per cent of the carbon footprint of sports stadia is embedded in the materials they are made from,” said Vince. “Wood is just a good old fashioned building material. Modern timber is engineered to be fire retardant.

“Wood is safer in a fire than steel because steel collapses at high temperatures. Wood simply chars away to destruction, but that takes a long time. Stadia today are designed to be evacuated in a handful of minutes so nobody gets trapped if there is a fire.”

 

 

[Saint J 77]

I think if our new owners are serious about their investment they will have plans to improve the stadium. It will be interesting to see what they do to improve the stadium over the years to come.

I know it is a point of contention for some but I do wonder if they could finally find a way to move the away fans from behind the goal. I know the issue for moving the away fans is the police not wanting it to happen for safety reasons. Maybe now we have some modest finances behind us the board could find a sensible solution for this?

Apart from actually extending the stadium capacity, which we know will not happen until we fill it out each home game. I wonder what other smaller changes will be made? What things can be done to help give us home a better home advantage? 

What fan facilities can be improved? Could we see some of the land and property around the ground bought up by the club?

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next. I’m hopeful we will see some serious investment from our new owners on the stadium in the near future. 

Edited 30 January, 2022 by Saint J 77

[Whitey Grandad]

7 hours ago, Saint J 77 said:

I think if our new owners are serious about their investment they will have plans to improve the stadium. It will be interesting to see what they do to improve the stadium over the years to come.

I know it is a point of contention for some but I do wonder if they could finally find a way to move the away fans from behind the goal. I know the issue for moving the away fans is the police not wanting it to happen for safety reasons. Maybe now we have some modest finances behind us the board could find a sensible solution for this?

Apart from actually extending the stadium capacity, which we know will not happen until we fill it out each home game. I wonder what other smaller changes will be made? What things can be done to help give us home a better home advantage? 

What fan facilities can be improved? Could we see some of the land and property around the ground bought up by the club?

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next. I’m hopeful we will see some serious investment from our new owners on the stadium in the near future. 

That’s been a bone of contention for a long time. When you consider that the usual convention between teams is that the away team attacks the end containing their own fans in the second half it should be no wonder that we tend to let in more goals in that period. It may also go part of the way to explaining our tendency to let leads slip. 

[stevy777_x]

8 hours ago, Saint J 77 said:

I think if our new owners are serious about their investment they will have plans to improve the stadium. It will be interesting to see what they do to improve the stadium over the years to come.

I know it is a point of contention for some but I do wonder if they could finally find a way to move the away fans from behind the goal. I know the issue for moving the away fans is the police not wanting it to happen for safety reasons. Maybe now we have some modest finances behind us the board could find a sensible solution for this?

Apart from actually extending the stadium capacity, which we know will not happen until we fill it out each home game. I wonder what other smaller changes will be made? What things can be done to help give us home a better home advantage? 

What fan facilities can be improved? Could we see some of the land and property around the ground bought up by the club?

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next. I’m hopeful we will see some serious investment from our new owners on the stadium in the near future. 

Well the gas works were up for sale and we didn t buy it so a crying shame as it could have been used to aditional construction around the stadium

[tunit]

31 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

That’s been a bone of contention for a long time. When you consider that the usual convention between teams is that the away team attacks the end containing their own fans in the second half it should be no wonder that we tend to let in more goals in that period. It may also go part of the way to explaining our tendency to let leads slip. 

I was looking at this the other day. Even going onto google maps and trying to figure out how they could get the away fans out haha. Maybe if the footbridge was turned into away exit only and their coaches parked on the top or on northam road the away fans could be moved to the Kingsland North. Then our fans can have all of the northam and we can kick that way in the second half. This would always be opposed by people who use the bridge or sit in kingsland north of course. Just hate seeing jubilant away fans on the TV highlights!