If Leeds had spent the last two years turning away fans from their 20,000 capacity stadium then you might have a point.

When was the last 20,000 plus attendance at Headingley?

You don't spend money you haven't got on things you don't need. Leeds don't need (and are unlikely to need in the foreseeable future) a capacity of more than 21,000.

What is the foreseeable future Andy?

Every club in Super League is striving to improve crowds in the game as a whole. We had capacity crowds only 4 years ago.

We hit bad times in the economy and the drive for more fans took a backward step. I ask again do you seriously believe that these bad times will continue for ever?

As soon as the economy is back on track, the drive for bigger crowds will be there again. Although more importantly the need for corporate facilities will be there again.

We will not be in a position to knock down this new stand in a couple of years and build again. If ANY club is serious about growth aspirations and attracting income, then it needs to be better than this.

My point is, what is the point in doing this now? why not wait until the economy does pick up again and go back to the original plans? that is of course presuming that the issue here really is money.

what about the draw of the southstand, they had to make a "south stand ticket" because people were buying ground tickets and too many were trying to get in
it is the most famous and atmospheric stand in the ground for many (who knows if it will be after the build) and if it is not available how many would pay more to sit down or pay the same to stand elsewhere
i bet the southstand has sold out many times over the past few years, even when it had a larger capacity
why go for a cheap option now if the plans were there to do it properly only six months ago?

The last 22,000 was only in June '07. I know that's 4 years but not exactly ages ago.

To say we're unlikely to need the capacity for the foreseeable future is incredibly short sighted. What if we needed it in 2016? We'll still have this stand then!

Whatever we build now, we're stuck with for decades, and to spend £7m to reduce our capacity is total madness.

Careful with the word 'failure' Andy, it hasn't failed anything quite yet... but a few fellow engineers feel that they might lose some sleep if they give the old-girl another 'all-clear' for another year. The South Stand as reached the end of it's life and is no longer fit for purpose, structurally and otherwise. However, almost 80 years is not bad going for a structure of this kind!

So, just out of interest, is there a chance of me dying this year? Because where I stand you cant really get any further away from safety as it is

How many times has that capacity been needed since?

Since 2000 (which is as far back as the records on the SL Stats part of this website go), Leeds have exceeded the capacity under the new stadium plans a grand total of seven times.

Five of those occasions have been against Bradford.

So for one game a season, which hasn't had a crowd over 20,000 for four years, we want the club to be putting itself into additional debt which it then has to service? For what sort of return?

Course, the club could not do anything and just wait until the entire stand loses its H&S certificate if you want? Care to speculate on how much lost revenue that would result in?

OK !I will say it.Why not look into selling up relocating to maybe Boddington hall when leeds uni sell up then build a stadium befitting of the club?.
nothing but the best for Leeds rlfc.Not any more i'm afraid

Can I actually ask, what were people expecting it to look like? Just out of interest

Again... short sighted.

What about this Exiles match? That could grow over a number of years. Rugby League World Cup? Neutral Venue? I doubt the residents thing would allow pop concerts but the point is still there. Don't Wire rent the HJ out to the Liverpool FC reserves? What if LUFC get back in the big time and the same deal could be done?

It's all just very short sighted to say "we don't need the capacity".