We get it we're not a massive club...

[Miltonaggro]

If anyone has kept hold of a copy of NikNak's 'Our Future?' DVD it would be a good time to send it to Dragan Solak as he's probably upbeat and ready to spunk £30 million on the Chapel after recent results - https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/9771448.saints-to-revamp-st-marys/

Personally I would turn the Fanzone back into a car park and the gasholders into luxury apartments with a rising penthouse viewing platform to be inflated with eco-gas on matchdays - otherwise 32K is about right as we will never have the population of a Bristol or Bradford, per se.

[Turkish]

10 minutes ago, moonraker said:

Of the teams you reference only one is premiership side, Bristol as is much of the West Country is as much a Rugby area as football, 4 of the top 5 Rugby clubs for attendances are in the West Country,  there are also a lot of "plastics" possibly i would contend because  neither of  Bristol's two clubs have been able to break out of the Lower leagues.

So what? Ipswich were a premier league side not long ago, Bristol is a bigger city than Southampton and Plymouth is similar. People have said with success and a big stadium then we could get 45,000, if we can why can’t they?

[Turkish]

56 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Ffs, yet again you’ve shown yourself up with having a dell-sized mentality. We don’t need to reduce prices like you say, we need an EasyJet-type layered pricing model. It’s not rocket science.

Ah yes the old dynamic pricing model. That was genius. Wasn’t also a Ryanair model suggested? People get a seat but if they want to go for piss it’s an extra fiver, use the stairs £3, sit with their mate, £20 please etc. brilliant ideas

[The Kraken]

7 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

You could draw a line diagonally across the country just south of Liverpool, Birmingham and London and see that Saints don't have a lot of competition in the Premier League in our half of the country.

Sorry, can you explain this one please, Dirk? I don’t quite see the relevance of this arbitrary line. Let’s say I say live in Wrexham.  Or Cheltenham. Or Bristol. What tangible benefit do Saints have here?

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Sorry, can you explain this one please, Dirk? I don’t quite see the relevance of this arbitrary line. Let’s say I say live in Wrexham.  Or Cheltenham. Or Bristol. What tangible benefit do Saints have here?

Actually my cousin lives in Wrexham and her kids could potentially have been saints fans instead of Liverpool if we had a stadium as big as Anfield 

[CB Fry]

13 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Sorry, can you explain this one please, Dirk? I don’t quite see the relevance of this arbitrary line. Let’s say I say live in Wrexham.  Or Cheltenham. Or Bristol. What tangible benefit do Saints have here?

I am starting to think that my many years ripping the piss out if this utterly ridiculous notion was just a gigantic waste of time.

[moonraker]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

So what? Ipswich were a premier league side not long ago, Bristol is a bigger city than Southampton and Plymouth is similar. People have said with success and a big stadium then we could get 45,000, if we can why can’t they?

Ipswich has about half the population of Southampton.  I gave reasons why Bristol's club struggle with support.  If city could establish themselves in the prem they would in all likelihood, but for their stadium 27k, double their attendances.

Edited 17 February, 2022 by moonraker

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, moonraker said:

Ipswich has about half the population of Southampton.  I gave reasons why Bristol's club struggle with support.  If city could establish themselves in the prem they would in all likelihood, but for their stadium 27k, double their attendances.

Except some of the genius ideas on here are that some of our potential 50,000 mega fanbase is going to come from Bristol. So it doesn't quite hold that there are problems with Bristolians supporting their own club, but that they are going to suddenly start passionately supporting a club in a smaller city 100 miles away.

[John D]

I've lived in Manchester for 25 years so out of touch now.

But what % of children in Southampton are supporting Saints as opposed to a big 6 club.  Does that change if we are more successful?

I grew up in Basingstoke in the 80s and school was full of plastic Liverpool fans, in the 90s there were more United.  I'm guessing they might be wearing City shirts now.

That pool must be the target to attract if we are successful. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 17 February, 2022 by John D
Typo

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, moonraker said:

Ipswich has about half the population of Southampton.  I gave reasons why Bristol's club struggle with support.  If city could establish themselves in the prem they would in all likelihood, but for their stadium 27k, double their attendances.

So what, Ipswich, despite being smaller than Southampton their record crowd is 6k higher. Also if our catchment area covers right up to north Hampshire, Dorset, wiltshire, Surrey, Sussex and so on why can’t they count All of east Anglia, Essex, Cambridgeshire, northants, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire etc? Surely same logic applies that a successful Ipswich team could attract fans from these areas.

CB Fry has already covered Bristol, they won’t support a team in their own city because they all like Rugby but will support one 100 miles away. Hilarious stuff

Edited 17 February, 2022 by Turkish

[notnowcato]

Record attendance and total catchment area are independent of each other. 

[Roo1976]

18 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

It's amazing what a difference stadium size makes. It's a pity we didn't start St Mary's with a 40,000 capacity. The difference in cost would have been minimal back then: maybe less than £10 mill. Nobody would ever have called West Ham a big club when they were at Upton Park. In fact, there were seasons when our average home gate was bigger than theirs. But, now they've moved to a big stadium, they've suddenly grown in size as a club in the eyes of the football public and are perceived as a club that could poach any one of our players if they wanted to.

Premier League clubs with 30,000 capacity stadiums, even teams that have won major trophies recently, like Leicester, will always be regarded as small by Premier League standards. In fact, I can envisage a time in the futiure, when we follow the American sports model and insist that teams require a minimum stadium capacity of 40,000 or more to even compete in in the Premier League.

Like your read but cant agree with the last sentence.Thais not feasible  to think lets say MK Dons get successive  promotions but not the financial clout to

upgrade to 40,000 or us would they not be allowed to stay?

[suewhistle]

Well, I haven't seen this argueing back and forth before! 😉

The argument against isn't as clear cut as some make out. When we had our 14K seated capacity at The Dell what would they have said should be the capacity of the new ground? I recall the plan for the Eastleigh/Stoneham ground was 25K, which I personally didn't think was enough. Having been unable to get into the ground along with thousands of others when it was standing I knew there was a degree of potential that was untapped, particularly given a bit of success, and the ability to get to the loo at half-time!

I don't think waiting lists for season tickets is a particularly good indicator. Plenty of people don't want the commitment, but do want to attend sometimes when they are able, and can afford it. How many posters here went on their own when young, and _could_ afford it. I managed it regularly as a student at the university and I'm pretty certain my budget wouldn't allow for that these days. We need to reignite the flexibility and affordability that we benefited from.

No doubt the subject will be part of the owner's strategic review, and may already have been dismissed, or shelved for a few years. I'm not going to worry too much about it, but I would like another European jaunt before I get too decrepit so I'll take more interest in the playing side for now.

 

 

[sambosa75]

18 hours ago, SaintBitterne said:

Look I'm under no illusion that we are a massive club and every player has their own agenda about wanting to play at the top. But what is with our players and chairman in recent days coming out and publicy discussing how small we are and that everyone wants to leave to bigger things.

Following on from Semmens interview, Bednarek had this to say today "Jan Bednarek on Ralph Hasenhuttl: "Hopefully, I keep my fingers crossed, that he will become, one day, the manager of some bigger team in the world.".

Like it's obvious were not an end goal for anyone, but let's maybe dress it up a bit ffs.

The trouble with this is, a few years ago under Koeman we were pretty much seen as THE place to go as the stepping stone to one of the big clubs.  The likes of van Dijk, Lovren, Mane, Wanyama, Morgan, even Toby knew that we played a good brand of football that would put them in the shop window.  The trouble is, fans, and I include myself in this, became dismayed at always letting these players go so the club bowed to pressure from the fans and instead signed players up to long-term contracts like Forster and made life difficult when it came to time to leave.  This resulted in a bloated squad and a much smaller talent pool to choose from as players no longer saw us as a club that wouldn't stand in their way once they earned their big move.

The strategy now has been clearly laid out.  We give players at clubs like Chelsea and Man City the platform to build a career away from those clubs where realistically they'll never break through.  Unfortunately to continue benefiting from this approach I think it is important that we do have to be as transparent as possible with our approach.  It's not nice to hear and I hope they don't continually go on about it at every opportunity but it is pretty much our one and only USP that makes us an attractive destination to the best young players around that are at the stage in their career where they need meaningful games and a platform to perform.

[Charlie Wayman]

15 hours ago, nta786 said:

I’m sure we could fill 40k if we charged £15 a pop rather than the avg £50 we charge these days, going as high as £89 for the Kingsland Premium. 
Coventry sold out fairly quickly at those prices.

I’d have loved a super stadium similar to those mock up pictures that MLG used to post but we’ll have to make do with 32k. 

If/when safe staying is allowed the capacity should automatically increase, remember the The Dell attendance record from the standing days was way above the final seating capacity.

[miserableoldgit]

44 minutes ago, sambosa75 said:

The trouble with this is, a few years ago under Koeman we were pretty much seen as THE place to go as the stepping stone to one of the big clubs.  The likes of van Dijk, Lovren, Mane, Wanyama, Morgan, even Toby knew that we played a good brand of football that would put them in the shop window.  The trouble is, fans, and I include myself in this, became dismayed at always letting these players go so the club bowed to pressure from the fans and instead signed players up to long-term contracts like Forster and made life difficult when it came to time to leave.  This resulted in a bloated squad and a much smaller talent pool to choose from as players no longer saw us as a club that wouldn't stand in their way once they earned their big move.

The strategy now has been clearly laid out.  We give players at clubs like Chelsea and Man City the platform to build a career away from those clubs where realistically they'll never break through.  Unfortunately to continue benefiting from this approach I think it is important that we do have to be as transparent as possible with our approach.  It's not nice to hear and I hope they don't continually go on about it at every opportunity but it is pretty much our one and only USP that makes us an attractive destination to the best young players around that are at the stage in their career where they need meaningful games and a platform to perform.

I think that what really pissed people off around the Koeman period was not losing the "big" players, but losing so many at more or less the same time. A steady, controlled model of player turnover is the intention here....

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, suewhistle said:

 

No doubt the subject will be part of the owner's strategic review, and may already have been dismissed, or shelved for a few years. I'm not going to worry too much about it, but I would like another European jaunt before I get too decrepit so I'll take more interest in the playing side for now.

 

 

They have been waiting to evaluate the forum consensus / squabble, before strategizing. THis is where they get most of their inspiration apparently.

Edited 17 February, 2022 by Toussaint

[sambosa75]

12 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

I think that what really pissed people off around the Koeman period was not losing the "big" players, but losing so many at more or less the same time. A steady, controlled model of player turnover is the intention here....

It would be great if that turns out to be the case but I'm sceptical that Saints will be prepared to turn down serious money for one of these players just because they happen to have already sold a player or two in that window.  I think what is more likely is they'll take that money and back themselves to re-invest it, use the sales as 'success stories/case studies' for other young, promising players and start the cycle again. 

Basically every time we get within touching distance of closing the gap to the big boys like under Koeman, we'll get dismantled and have to start over.  

[The Cat]

3 hours ago, John D said:

I've lived in Manchester for 25 years so out of touch now.

But what % of children in Southampton are supporting Saints as opposed to a big 6 club.  Does that change if we are more successful?

I grew up in Basingstoke in the 80s and school was full of plastic Liverpool fans, in the 90s there were more United.  I'm guessing they might be wearing City shirts now.

That pool must be the target to attract if we are successful. 

I have 2 kids aged 16 and 13 and most of their mates support Saints. There's obviously those who follow a big club but that always happens. 

[moonraker]

3 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Except some of the genius ideas on here are that some of our potential 50,000 mega fanbase is going to come from Bristol. So it doesn't quite hold that there are problems with Bristolians supporting their own club, but that they are going to suddenly start passionately supporting a club in a smaller city 100 miles away.

I never stated we could attract Brizzle fans, but up to Bath we can.  In the 80s I used a regular coach from Bath always full.  There was also a pub in West Lavington that acted as a ticket agent band ran a coach.  Build it and they will come. 

[CB Fry]

Just now, moonraker said:

I never stated we could attract Brizzle fans, but up to Bath we can.  In the 80s I used a regular coach from Bath always full.  There was also a pub in West Lavington that acted as a ticket agent band ran a coach.  Build it and they will come. 

We have built it, and we've never had a season ticket waiting list in 20 years of being at St Mary's. In which time we have finished top 8 and been in Europe. 

So they haven't come.

[Sarnia Cherie]

Perhaps I have been a Saints fan for so long that I am numbed to the pain. It has been a roller-coaster ride over the years so at the moment it is nice not having to wait for the bottom half of the Premier League table to be shown to see where Saints are. A lot on here may disagree with me and that's fine, but I am happy with Saints the way they are. I know that Champions League football will never be ours but when I look at the supposedly Big 6 clubs, I don't wish we were amongst them. On the whole they look to be unhappy clubs with players not performing, dressing room disputes, prima donnas by the bucket load etc. When I look at our team at the moment I see a bunch of lads who are enjoying their football, playing for each other, for Ralph and the fans and I don't find much wrong with that. 

[Mystic Force]

1 hour ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

Perhaps I have been a Saints fan for so long that I am numbed to the pain. It has been a roller-coaster ride over the years so at the moment it is nice not having to wait for the bottom half of the Premier League table to be shown to see where Saints are. A lot on here may disagree with me and that's fine, but I am happy with Saints the way they are. I know that Champions League football will never be ours but when I look at the supposedly Big 6 clubs, I don't wish we were amongst them. On the whole they look to be unhappy clubs with players not performing, dressing room disputes, prima donnas by the bucket load etc. When I look at our team at the moment I see a bunch of lads who are enjoying their football, playing for each other, for Ralph and the fans and I don't find much wrong with that. 

But could we share that with 8,000 new friends?

I do think that the size of the stadium does have some impact on the perception of club size, West Ham for most of the time I have been aware of football have been a comparable club to us in league position and reputation, but since moving they seem to have been elevated in the zeitgeist. There is no logic to it, no reason, just a weird perception thing. Tottenham have only in recent years put themselves back towards the upper reaches, the larger stadium is not for income, match day revenue pails compared to TV money, and the cost of the thing is going to take a while to offset, but it does enhance their reputation. Not sure Maine Road would have the same appeal for Middle eastern oil money. Part of the reason that I think Newcastle attracted their new owners.

But just having a large stadium is no guarantee, Sunderland have never been able to use the size to build successfully. And counter examples like Chelsea, who have long been restricted but external funding has assisted them.

I think we could probably sustain a larger stadium, Unfortunately new construction will be expensive and the new seating it produces would be for tickets that would be expected to be lower in price so either other tickets get more expensive relatively for us to suffer (By us I mean you, as I live in America these days) or the price does not justify the additional expenditure. But I am not sure it is only about income, that is my point.

[Viking Saint]

3 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

I think that what really pissed people off around the Koeman period was not losing the "big" players, but losing so many at more or less the same time. A steady, controlled model of player turnover is the intention here....

True, and also the way that some of them agitated to get their moves. We all know there's no loyalty in Football any more apart from the fans but some of the behaviour took the piss

[LiberalCommunist]

MP & NC leaving were the catalyst for that extraordinary summer window. I imagine a few of the players (well at least Lallana) thought the wheels had come off and we'd be relegated the next season.

I wouldn't expect to see a situation like that again unless there is some big turmoil behind the scenes.

We did amazingly well to calm the waters. I'll always have a soft spot for Ron for how he handled that first month. Not many other gaffers would have had his approach. 

[Turkish]

3 hours ago, CB Fry said:

We have built it, and we've never had a season ticket waiting list in 20 years of being at St Mary's. In which time we have finished top 8 and been in Europe. 

So they haven't come.

Remember a lot of people would come but because St Marys is usually near sell out they dont bother as they dont think they'll get a ticket. If we had a bigger stadium then they'd know they could so would come.

[Cumbria Saint]

Does it really matter whether we are regarded as a 'big' club? I'd prefer to watch the Saints in a full stadium every week rather than one that is only three quarters full half the time. Even now there are often plenty of empty seats evident.

[rooney]

26 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Remember a lot of people would come but because St Marys is usually near sell out they dont bother as they dont think they'll get a ticket. If we had a bigger stadium then they'd know they could so would come.

Come on Turkish that is a nonsense thing to say. We are hardly ever a sell out, If we sold 25K Season tickets regularly for 5 years, we would have a case for expansion.

[moonraker]

4 hours ago, CB Fry said:

We have built it, and we've never had a season ticket waiting list in 20 years of being at St Mary's. In which time we have finished top 8 and been in Europe. 

So they haven't come.

Waiting lists as has been argued above are no indication of future potential.  How long was the waiting list when we were at The Dell? We now have an average attendance double our Dell average, many said 25000 was enough, well we built 32000 and in the main whilst in the Prem they have come.

Edited 17 February, 2022 by moonraker

[Kenilworthy]

5 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

If/when safe staying is allowed the capacity should automatically increase, remember the The Dell attendance record from the standing days was way above the final seating capacity.

Sadly, those days are long gone. The only way safe standing will ever be allowed is with rail seating - which I think is brilliant - but it takes exactly the same space. The days of being jammed shoulder to shoulder on terraces will never return.

[Turkish]

35 minutes ago, rooney said:

Come on Turkish that is a nonsense thing to say. We are hardly ever a sell out, If we sold 25K Season tickets regularly for 5 years, we would have a case for expansion.

Yes i know, i'm taking the piss, that is what some bellends said.

[Toadhall Saint]

6 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

Sadly, those days are long gone. The only way safe standing will ever be allowed is with rail seating - which I think is brilliant - but it takes exactly the same space. The days of being jammed shoulder to shoulder on terraces will never return.

🙁

[CB Fry]

26 minutes ago, moonraker said:

Waiting lists as has been argued above are no indication of future potential.  How long was the waiting list when we were at The Dell? We now have an average attendance double our Dell average, many said 25000 was enough, well we built 32000 and in the main whilst in the Prem they have come.

It is a very clear indication of current and future demand. Which is not indicating a requirement to expand to 40k. There is no evidence of any further potential right now. A coach from Somerset or a train from West Sussex is not enough.

 

 

[Mystic Force]

I haven't heard the words "Dell sized mentality" for a while on here, so you can have this one for free.

Edited 17 February, 2022 by Mystic Force

[The Kraken]

5 hours ago, moonraker said:

Waiting lists as has been argued above are no indication of future potential.  How long was the waiting list when we were at The Dell? We now have an average attendance double our Dell average, many said 25000 was enough, well we built 32000 and in the main whilst in the Prem they have come.

Out of interest, what metric can you suggest is a better one for expansion than a season ticket waiting list?

Of course, there are very many factors that need to be considered together. But, in your opinion, which one metric do you think is the most pertinent? And, are saints hitting it now?

[moonraker]

10 hours ago, The Kraken said:

Out of interest, what metric can you suggest is a better one for expansion than a season ticket waiting list?

Of course, there are very many factors that need to be considered together. But, in your opinion, which one metric do you think is the most pertinent? And, are saints hitting it now?

I do not believe there is a single super metric for assessing our potential for bigger attendances.  Whilst I accept that a healthy season ticket waiting list would add to the body of evidence for potential increased attendances it is as you state one of many.  Taking any criteria in isolation does not further the discussion.  That being said I think there are three others that in my view carry similar weight as season ticket waiting list; Catchment area, on field success (subjective in its own right) and historic trends.   My view is that whilst we cannot claim exclusive attractiveness to the whole central south and south west, we do, I would contend, offer more than all the other clubs in these areas, the vast majority of clubs (in the prem) who have increased their capacity have seen a corresponding increase in attendances, our current on field performance is very encouraging, and for a club of our size we are as established and stable as a prem club could ask to be.   So in conclusion there is not a single super metric, as a business the club need to assess all of the evidence (metrics) to assess the potential for growing our attendance and weigh that against the increased potential for commercial growth. 

[John B]

1 hour ago, moonraker said:

I do not believe there is a single super metric for assessing our potential for bigger attendances.  Whilst I accept that a healthy season ticket waiting list would add to the body of evidence for potential increased attendances it is as you state one of many.  Taking any criteria in isolation does not further the discussion.  That being said I think there are three others that in my view carry similar weight as season ticket waiting list; Catchment area, on field success (subjective in its own right) and historic trends.   My view is that whilst we cannot claim exclusive attractiveness to the whole central south and south west, we do, I would contend, offer more than all the other clubs in these areas, the vast majority of clubs (in the prem) who have increased their capacity have seen a corresponding increase in attendances, our current on field performance is very encouraging, and for a club of our size we are as established and stable as a prem club could ask to be.   So in conclusion there is not a single super metric, as a business the club need to assess all of the evidence (metrics) to assess the potential for growing our attendance and weigh that against the increased potential for commercial growth. 

I think lots of fans are fed up with the PL and like supporting local teams the Village I live in in Berkshire Binfield got to Wembley last year in the Vase is well and lots go and watch a couple of games a season at Reading in fact I am going to watch a game next month with my son in law

 

 

Why go down to St Mary's for an expensive day out

[Tom & Gerry]

I don't want to be a big club. Nothing better than being a giant killer. Big clubs only have to lose one match and they are in crisis. even if they win something it's expected, they can only be disappointed.

It doesn't mean I don't want to win things, but our way of slowly getting better by improving players and keeping them happy by letting them go to bigger clubs if they want, and we get the dosh, and having ready made replacements seems more sustainable and more likely to keep us in the premier league and win a cup than chasing glory for a short fix and then crashing and burning like Wigan, Sunderland and one other unmentionable club I could name.

[Dellman]

Wise words! Some fans call that 'lack of ambition' and get upset,even  angry. Seems like realism to me. Big clubs fans expect to win everything so are usually disappointed. For a small club we are doing well and I believe this is much admired by others.

[moonraker]

1 hour ago, John B said:

 

 

 

Why go down to St Mary's for an expensive day out

Because I am a Saints fan.  I also watch my local non league team, Bath City and Bath Rugby, and occasionally go to Brizzle Rovers with a couple of mates, but Saints will always be my priority.  I know I am fortunate to be able to afford to enjoy all of this.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, moonraker said:

I do not believe there is a single super metric for assessing our potential for bigger attendances.  Whilst I accept that a healthy season ticket waiting list would add to the body of evidence for potential increased attendances it is as you state one of many.  Taking any criteria in isolation does not further the discussion.  That being said I think there are three others that in my view carry similar weight as season ticket waiting list; Catchment area, on field success (subjective in its own right) and historic trends.   My view is that whilst we cannot claim exclusive attractiveness to the whole central south and south west, we do, I would contend, offer more than all the other clubs in these areas, the vast majority of clubs (in the prem) who have increased their capacity have seen a corresponding increase in attendances, our current on field performance is very encouraging, and for a club of our size we are as established and stable as a prem club could ask to be.   So in conclusion there is not a single super metric, as a business the club need to assess all of the evidence (metrics) to assess the potential for growing our attendance and weigh that against the increased potential for commercial growth. 

So how do we rank in your three criteria?

catchment area

on field success

historic trends 

Let’s hear a bit more about this ranking system you’ve created to assess our potential 

[John B]

41 minutes ago, moonraker said:

Because I am a Saints fan.  I also watch my local non league team, Bath City and Bath Rugby, and occasionally go to Brizzle Rovers with a couple of mates, but Saints will always be my priority.  I know I am fortunate to be able to afford to enjoy all of this.

The point I was trying to make was that it is unlikely new supporters would travel to St Mary's to justify a 40000 stadium

 

Like you I used to travel from the top of the M3 to watch the Saints when I was younger even had a season ticket and watched the Rugby around the Richmond area in the 1970s and 8os because I was a Saint I am a still a Saint following every game on the Internet it is not easy to give up after 60 years.

 

Unfortunately my brother died earlier in the month we first went to the Dell August 1962 when we both returned to Southampton he had a ticket for the Swansea game which his widow used instead and since his death we have not lost so I am pretty confident that a run will continue tomorrow

 

 

[gammon cheeks]

On 16/02/2022 at 15:51, tajjuk said:

Leicester are a 'medium sized city' (and actually one with far more local competitors) but they are increasing their capacity to 40k pretty soon. It's quite obvious if you have some success, you'll get more fans and outgrow the stadium. 

Man City's attendances in the early 2000s in the PL were about 35-40k, they now get about 52-54k average attendances. 

Pretty much any club in the UK within reason could grow their fanbase significantly over time with sustained success, certainly one like ours with basically no local rivals. It's like 50-60 miles in any direction to even get another PL club.  

Too be honest i think a lot of it is ticket pricing ..i agree that big cities have a bigger fanbase ..but if it was cheap enough and tickets were easier to get for the casual fan we could quite easily fill 40k stadium in my opinion .

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, gammon cheeks said:

Too be honest i think a lot of it is ticket pricing ..i agree that big cities have a bigger fanbase ..but if it was cheap enough and tickets were easier to get for the casual fan we could quite easily fill 40k stadium in my opinion .

Yes we could. It’s a matter of market price sensitivity.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

8 minutes ago, gammon cheeks said:

Too be honest i think a lot of it is ticket pricing ..i agree that big cities have a bigger fanbase ..but if it was cheap enough and tickets were easier to get for the casual fan we could quite easily fill 40k stadium in my opinion .

Exactly. Club not helping itself by charging a £1.50 booking fee for each ticket purchased 

[ErwinK1961]

2 hours ago, John B said:

The point I was trying to make was that it is unlikely new supporters would travel to St Mary's to justify a 40000 stadium

 

Like you I used to travel from the top of the M3 to watch the Saints when I was younger even had a season ticket and watched the Rugby around the Richmond area in the 1970s and 8os because I was a Saint I am a still a Saint following every game on the Internet it is not easy to give up after 60 years.

 

Unfortunately my brother died earlier in the month we first went to the Dell August 1962 when we both returned to Southampton he had a ticket for the Swansea game which his widow used instead and since his death we have not lost so I am pretty confident that a run will continue tomorrow

 

 

Sorry for your loss John

[TWar]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/02/18/southampton-became-premier-leagues-grown-up-club/

[moonraker]

2 hours ago, John B said:

The point I was trying to make was that it is unlikely new supporters would travel to St Mary's to justify a 40000 stadium

 

Like you I used to travel from the top of the M3 to watch the Saints when I was younger even had a season ticket and watched the Rugby around the Richmond area in the 1970s and 8os because I was a Saint I am a still a Saint following every game on the Internet it is not easy to give up after 60 years.

 

Unfortunately my brother died earlier in the month we first went to the Dell August 1962 when we both returned to Southampton he had a ticket for the Swansea game which his widow used instead and since his death we have not lost so I am pretty confident that a run will continue tomorrow

 

 

John sorry for your loss. 

I do not make every home game as I do not go on my own, so only go when other family members are available, one lives in Cambridge the other here in Bath.  We normally make 8 or 9 home games and a couple of aways a season.

 

 

[moonraker]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

So how do we rank in your three criteria?

catchment area

on field success

historic trends 

Let’s hear a bit more about this ranking system you’ve created to assess our potential 

I have not created a ranking system, just stated some of the things that would be obvious to anyone creating a business plan for stadium expansion.  As you I am sure well know such an ambition would require a lot of research and analysis, and alongside a ranking a weighting would be applied, I am sure with your apparent superior insight you could do that.  You, I,  nor anyone else on here has empirical evidence as to whether an expansion would result in notably and regular increased attendance, but I for one like to believe that the club can grow, as has been said so many times we all have an opinion on these things and my differs from yours.   

Edited 18 February, 2022 by moonraker

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Exactly. Club not helping itself by charging a £1.50 booking fee for each ticket purchased 

Isn't that because ticket sales are sub contracted to Ticketmaster and this is their fee? It's pretty much standard practice across the entertainments industries now.

Not so long ago I bought tickets for BBC Prom concerts in person at the ticket office in the Royal Albert Hall but was still charged a booking fee. Ticketmaster seem to have a stranglehold on event ticket sales these days and venues seem only too happy to rid themselves of the chore (outsourcing in business speak - Effing Rip off in fan speak).