| New Stand - Capacity 17:25 - Nov 27 with 7959 views | ipswichtillidie |
What do you think MA has in mind for capacity to make us financially equipped to remain competitive. My gut is telling me 40,000. That would be some stand. We have 6000 on the waiting list, would 40k be over-egging it or a more sustainable level to future proof the club for regular PL football. History obviously weighs heavy in regards previous expansions.
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| New Stand - Capacity on 11:45 - Nov 28 with 1461 views | urbanpenguin |
| New Stand - Capacity on 10:24 - Nov 28 by lurcher |
Yes potentially adding seats either side of the new media area will help raise capacity. The north stand disabled sections are a bit of a loss. They have lots of empty space and necessitate actual seats not being sold. Surely they can do something better with the corner where the North meets the cobbold. That little plinth that once had seats on it could be taken out and a better disabled section created. |
I recently visited the new Everton stadium as I was reviewing it for an American architecture magazine. There was a lot about the ground I did not like, but one thing that was incredibly impressive was the access for supports with disabilities.
Importantly, every single section of the ground had disabled accessible areas, they were not simply given one area. This means that a fan who has a seat in an area and then develops a disability does not need to move elsewhere, but can remain with their friends, with the view they like, and the atmosphere they have known. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:46 - Nov 28 with 1456 views | Bobbychase |
| New Stand - Capacity on 17:44 - Nov 27 by lurcher |
We will extend the west stand first.
I expect the ground will go to 40. |
I think Ashton backtracked on that idea in the latest video |  |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 11:52 - Nov 28 with 1434 views | urbanpenguin |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:46 - Nov 28 by Bobbychase |
I think Ashton backtracked on that idea in the latest video |
He said: "We continue to look at do we do something with the West Stand first, increase capacity there before we do Portman Road. We're also looking at the practice pitch and how developments could take place behind the West Stand and link in to the West Stand." | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:55 - Nov 28 with 1413 views | OldFart71 |
Listening to Mark Aston I doubt anything will happen that is unsustainable. As he said it will have to work 365 days a year.
Of course there's never a guarantee that Town could get into the Premier League and stay there.
Our aim must be to be better than the likes of Everton,Fulham and Crystal Palace, all sort of mid table teams and occasionally be able to beat the man City's, Man Utd's etc.
Obviously it would be great to be like we were under Sir Bobby but times are much different and the money generated by teams able to pull in plus 50,000 crowds and worldwide status means that it would be unlikely that we could consistently compete with them.
Cautiously I'd say around 37,000 would be adequate to both accommodate the one's still wanting ST's and the increased away support of Premier teams. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:57 - Nov 28 with 1408 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:41 - Nov 28 by longtimefan |
I might be being a bit thick here ( more than likely) but isn’t it likely the case that most of the 6k on the waiting list are those already attending on a match by match basis. By that token, doesn’t the fact that the list is 6k mean there may not be a demand much in excess of 30k ? |
Yes, today that is a fair assessment - but you need to be thinking 5 years from now, and where we (hopefully) will be. The situation last year is also a good reference. Thousands of people who it seems wanted, but couldn't get tickets. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:06 - Nov 28 with 1350 views | Sharkey |
I'm quite surprised by the relative modesty of Bournemouth's plans, which I think suggest about 23,00. Bournemouth/Christchurch/Poole is a big place (400,000) and Dorset has a population roughly as big as Suffolk's. Obviously there are significant differences from Town - the lower number of 'in the blood' fans, the fact that the nearest neighbours across a county border are Southampton rather than Colchester and Cambridge, and so on, but I'm still surprised they're not thinking a bit bigger. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:27 - Nov 28 with 1328 views | lurcher |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:45 - Nov 28 by urbanpenguin |
I recently visited the new Everton stadium as I was reviewing it for an American architecture magazine. There was a lot about the ground I did not like, but one thing that was incredibly impressive was the access for supports with disabilities.
Importantly, every single section of the ground had disabled accessible areas, they were not simply given one area. This means that a fan who has a seat in an area and then develops a disability does not need to move elsewhere, but can remain with their friends, with the view they like, and the atmosphere they have known. |
I thought accommodating disabled sections in all new areas was a rule. Or it was when they added a tier to Churchmans and then a the new 2 tier North some years back. Given the move of section 6 a dedicated disabled section with better views down in that corner could be good for everyone. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:29 - Nov 28 with 1314 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:52 - Nov 28 by urbanpenguin |
He said: "We continue to look at do we do something with the West Stand first, increase capacity there before we do Portman Road. We're also looking at the practice pitch and how developments could take place behind the West Stand and link in to the West Stand." |
He actually caught himself, and adjust what he said if you relisten to it. I picked up on it at the time. He seemed to start by indicating we'd considered it (with seemingly an implication that it had been parked), and the seemed to catch that, and say 'we continue to look at it''
I may be reading too much into his phrasing at the time, but I did think it odd at the time, and though he 'corrected' himself, not yet wanting to publicly say it's been decided against. | | | |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 13:57 - Nov 28 with 1278 views | urbanpenguin |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:29 - Nov 28 by SuffolkPunchFC |
He actually caught himself, and adjust what he said if you relisten to it. I picked up on it at the time. He seemed to start by indicating we'd considered it (with seemingly an implication that it had been parked), and the seemed to catch that, and say 'we continue to look at it''
I may be reading too much into his phrasing at the time, but I did think it odd at the time, and though he 'corrected' himself, not yet wanting to publicly say it's been decided against. |
He said, "We Looked at... We are looking at..."
I don't read into it at all what you do tbh. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 14:10 - Nov 28 with 1262 views | The_Major |
40k would seem to be the most plausible, because quite aside from it being extremely questionable we'd fill anything bigger, we'd probably outgrow the site beyond that.
The SBR can't go any further back because of the houses on Alderman Road, the SAR would bring it very close indeed to the Churchmans flats and the Travelodge, and to have the seating required in the side stands to bring it to say, 45-50k, you'd need a Newcastle style gradient and end up being able to see Felixstowe from the back of the West Stand. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 17:38 - Nov 28 with 1171 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:57 - Nov 28 by urbanpenguin |
He said, "We Looked at... We are looking at..."
I don't read into it at all what you do tbh. |
It's opinion of course, but for me, to say 'you looked' at something, and then quickly correcting it, suggests more than you're reading into it. I've seen this sort of corporate faux pas too often not to recognise it (and done it myself) 
It's a feeling given experience.
We'll have to agree to disagree, | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 17:48 - Nov 28 with 1162 views | Cafe_Newman |
36-38k seems logical.
That said, it may be 40k if people in the northern half of East Anglia want to watch something decent. |  | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 18:42 - Nov 28 with 1105 views | Jon_456 |
| New Stand - Capacity on 13:29 - Nov 28 by SuffolkPunchFC |
He actually caught himself, and adjust what he said if you relisten to it. I picked up on it at the time. He seemed to start by indicating we'd considered it (with seemingly an implication that it had been parked), and the seemed to catch that, and say 'we continue to look at it''
I may be reading too much into his phrasing at the time, but I did think it odd at the time, and though he 'corrected' himself, not yet wanting to publicly say it's been decided against. |
I noticed that too and assumed the same.
Hopefully we’re over analysing it as it would be nice to see both sides extended. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 18:56 - Dec 17 with 921 views | ipswichtillidie |
So 40k is the figure the club wants to achieve. I suspect that will be over the two stands as suggested in Phil’s article. Exciting times. | |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 19:31 - Dec 17 with 870 views | stonojnr |
| New Stand - Capacity on 20:58 - Nov 27 by NthQldITFC |
Seems very short-sighted with a 6,000 waiting list now and potentially more if we get PL established. I'd go 42-45k, which would presumably entail first a West Stand extension then a Cobbold rebuild with corners filled to SAR and SBR, removing the Planet Blue corner block and moving it into the new retail center (sic) inside the new SKM stand. Filled corners could well help with atmosphere, methinks. |
Just remember to keep an eye on attendances, we might have a 6k waiting list for season tickets, and why wouldnt people who go to every game anyway want to get a discounted cheaper ticket for attending the same games it doesn't mean there's untapped demand for another 15k fans every week
because we arent selling out games now and literally people will immediately say ah but its Christmas, ah but we arent doing so well (yeah being in the top 6 is such a bad position when we were in a lower league not so long ago)
We need to see there is sustained demand, in the face of undoubtedly rising prices as we move forward, before over committing to a big capacity increase.
40k is probably the absolute we can sustain as a Premiership club. Worth remembering also we've been in the Premiership for 3 seasons out of the last 25. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 20:42 - Dec 17 with 803 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 19:31 - Dec 17 by stonojnr |
Just remember to keep an eye on attendances, we might have a 6k waiting list for season tickets, and why wouldnt people who go to every game anyway want to get a discounted cheaper ticket for attending the same games it doesn't mean there's untapped demand for another 15k fans every week
because we arent selling out games now and literally people will immediately say ah but its Christmas, ah but we arent doing so well (yeah being in the top 6 is such a bad position when we were in a lower league not so long ago)
We need to see there is sustained demand, in the face of undoubtedly rising prices as we move forward, before over committing to a big capacity increase.
40k is probably the absolute we can sustain as a Premiership club. Worth remembering also we've been in the Premiership for 3 seasons out of the last 25. |
If you have followed the various comments coming out of the club over the past couple of years, you’ll note that the goal is to be an established PL club by 2032. They’re building infrastructure with this goal in mind.
Are there guarantees? No, of course not - but the backing is there to achieve it.
With the footballing and non-footballing objectives, 40k is a sensible target - along with the other facilities that will build around that. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 21:51 - Dec 17 with 723 views | bournemouthblue |
| New Stand - Capacity on 17:44 - Nov 27 by lurcher |
We will extend the west stand first.
I expect the ground will go to 40. |
I think the suggestion was to extend it by roughly the same number of Cobbold season ticket holders so they can be moved to the West Stand prior to the Cobbold rebuild |  |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 02:05 - Dec 18 with 627 views | quirkie |
40k would make us a potential UK WC 2038 or WC 2042 ground. |  |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 06:30 - Dec 18 with 585 views | RIPbobby |
Just imagine what another 10k will do to the local roads, carparks and trains. They are already a mess. [Post edited 18 Dec 2025 7:19]
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| New Stand - Capacity on 09:03 - Dec 18 with 523 views | Cafe_Newman |
40k is plenty
90k would allow attendance figures of about 27,000 fans respecting social distancing during a future pandemic. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 10:03 - Dec 18 with 474 views | NthQldITFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 19:31 - Dec 17 by stonojnr |
Just remember to keep an eye on attendances, we might have a 6k waiting list for season tickets, and why wouldnt people who go to every game anyway want to get a discounted cheaper ticket for attending the same games it doesn't mean there's untapped demand for another 15k fans every week
because we arent selling out games now and literally people will immediately say ah but its Christmas, ah but we arent doing so well (yeah being in the top 6 is such a bad position when we were in a lower league not so long ago)
We need to see there is sustained demand, in the face of undoubtedly rising prices as we move forward, before over committing to a big capacity increase.
40k is probably the absolute we can sustain as a Premiership club. Worth remembering also we've been in the Premiership for 3 seasons out of the last 25. |
But you're picturing the club/team as it is now and whether that fills a 40K stadium.
What you've got to think about is the full package - The ownership and Ashton and the whole club is geared up to improve everything including seeing the club as at least a stable mid-table Prem club. And why not. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton have done it. They're putting everything in place to get there. It may not happen, but that's the aspiration.
And if it does happen, and if football stays the same (ugly, glitzy, money-obsessed as it may be) then with our existing support plus our catchment area of potential new fans a 40K stadium is what we need ten years down the line. |  |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 10:22 - Dec 18 with 441 views | MVBlue |
| New Stand - Capacity on 17:42 - Nov 27 by J2BLUE |
35,000 seems right. Can we sustain 40k? Hopefully it never happens again but under Evans 14,000 of us were rattling around in PR including away fans.
It very much depends on success 35,000 with the ability to become 40,000 would be ideal IMO. |
I just posited the same point, perhaps in a more brash way, on the front page post about 36000 being more suitable and received 3 downvotes!! Different crowd on those posts?
"35,000 seems right. Can we sustain 40k?" |  |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 10:40 - Dec 18 with 420 views | lurcher |
| New Stand - Capacity on 10:22 - Dec 18 by MVBlue |
I just posited the same point, perhaps in a more brash way, on the front page post about 36000 being more suitable and received 3 downvotes!! Different crowd on those posts?
"35,000 seems right. Can we sustain 40k?" |
The seats will be built and covered with adverts when not required. Much like at Man City. It is far easier and cheaper to add all of future stretch capacity now, in one go. | | | |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:34 - Dec 18 with 388 views | MVBlue |
| New Stand - Capacity on 10:40 - Dec 18 by lurcher |
The seats will be built and covered with adverts when not required. Much like at Man City. It is far easier and cheaper to add all of future stretch capacity now, in one go. |
Actually my point on the main news post was indeed related to the escalating costs.
Surely we should learn from history and not stretch ourselves to expand all in one go? I and all of us had to live those Marcus Evans years he who bought our club because we were SKINT when we built the new stands after 1 year in the Prem. | |
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| New Stand - Capacity on 12:02 - Dec 18 with 363 views | NthQldITFC |
| New Stand - Capacity on 11:34 - Dec 18 by MVBlue |
Actually my point on the main news post was indeed related to the escalating costs.
Surely we should learn from history and not stretch ourselves to expand all in one go? I and all of us had to live those Marcus Evans years he who bought our club because we were SKINT when we built the new stands after 1 year in the Prem. |
Totally different situation though, isn't it?
No expert, but won't this be funded by ownership group investment rather than borrowing against future TV revenue which may or may not be there?
If that's correct then there's absolutely no value at all in the simple 'we were SKINT when we built the new stands after 1 year in the Prem' argument. We might get to a point where we don't fill the stands, but that's not a disaster, is it? What would be, if not a disaster then a failure to plan for the future, would be the ownership group sitting on their hands about expanding the stadium to an aspirational level when they are clearly putting so much into the squad and the training facilities at the moment. It would be a big missed opportunity and totally out of keeping with everything they are doing. [Post edited 18 Dec 2025 12:04]
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