I've heard a little whisper, that despite there being no planning permission in place and heavens knows how much longer it will take the build the new South Stand, that The Supporters Club will be CLOSING before Christmas.

- Anyone else heard this ?

- Is it 'accurate' and if so, when is it going to close ?

- Why not, at least, keep it open until after the Christmas games / Boxing Day etc.

Whilst I understand that there are plans for a new bar in the new South Stand, the fear is that they will be just that, a bar and not somewhere like the Supporters Club where you can while away a couple of hours before or after the the game sat down (rather than stood up).

I always view the additional benefit of fans staying behind after games and not having to dash straight off in the malestrom that is the roads around the ground 30 - 45 minutes after a game has finished.

Whilst it is not everyone's cup of tea, there is a long history of a supporters club at Headingley (and if not the current one, the old 'bowling club' on what is now the car park by the main entrance gates) and it will be a shame when it has to go.

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as per my gig thread , graham indicated it may only open on matchdays , headingley central will honour october booking but poss not decembers & he himself may not be around at the end of the month

it's sad but it's use it or lose it and it isn't being used

As one of the original committee members who set up the Headingley Grounds Branch 40 something years ago I am sad to hear this news. It was in the "Bowling Club" we planned for the future South Stand car park premises over an excellent pint of mild or two followed by a game of snooker in the company of the first team after training.

I have been to the consultation this evening and it was a reasonably good night. Uncle Gary did however confirm that the South Stand Supporter Club would be going but they would be incorporating a quality bar in the new South Stand development.

To be fair to him he said it just does not stack up financially other than on match days when it take lots of money, but not enough to support it and the three men and a dog that use it most evenings!

It is a shame but it has had it's day!

Oh, one of the suggestions that Gary read out (made by the people present) was for a museum of some sort to be incorporated... that might be the solution to keeping all the memorabilia in the Supporter Club near to it's old location.

He's been talking about that since the year that Francis Cummins had his testimonial - the club has a lot of archive material going back to its inception that would make for some very interesting displays.

He mentioned that YCC were opening one, I assume as part of Will Alsop's folly, sorry stand. He seemed to like the idea and if he has talked about it before it could well happen this time!

I was also like to state for the record that my Cousin and I suggested a fans wall of bricks be incorporated into the stand as a means of raising additional funds for the build, Gary read that one out of course, so when then they start asking everyone to buy a permanent engraved 'brick' at several hundred pounds a time... it was my Cousins idea!

I read in the Y E P a while back that the club was considering comissioning a statue of John Holmes as part of the south stand development.
Was anything mentioned about this?

As a former 20 year southstand season ticket holder who unfortunately after a bad disability had to start using a wheelchair and transfered to the carnegie, will i be able to go into the new bar with all my southstand mates as we have all been using the supporters club for all these years or will i be segregated to the carnegie jolly boys bar to have to drink alone

There was a couple of disabled supporters at the event last night and one of the things Gary said about replacing the stand is that it would obviously improve access for disabled supporters in a major way (given it was built in 1932) and from a current legal regulation point of view I would expect all communal areas, bars, food outlets etc would be fully wheelchair accessible along with new wheelchair viewing areas to meet current best practise and standards.

Does anyone know if the club's closing permanently, or will it still be open on match days until the re-development starts?

If you post this question on the other thread about the consultation event, someone might ask Gary for you tonight.

Thanks, didn't know there was another one tonight. Might book myself on it.

Cheers. What i mean is i cant use my card for the carnegie stand to into the southstand so does this mean that i wont be able to access the southstand bar with my mates. Altho i have a great view fron where i sit in the upper tier of the carnegie i would love to sit in the southstand providing there is a good viewing platform.

I suspect the issue of recently restricting access to the South Stand to SS ticket holders only has been a safety issue because the imposed restriction of reduced numbers by Leeds Building Control. I am not sure if once the new stand is built they will just go back to have a ground ticket/season ticket and let people move freely again of whether they will still be asked to restrict entry by the safety officers.

I suspect that new well positioned disabled viewing platforms will be incorporated as part of the stand.