that's true...




partially

Can’t fault that to be honest.

If we can manage to see out for the likes of Leeds, Cas and one or two more then that should be enough to justify some works.

Surely we need to build as big as we can in the coming years along with the team and sell it to the fans , seems counter intuitive to see how many we get then build accordingly. Imaging when we go on a losing run and the wakey fans of old rear their heads and head for the exit once again . Build as big as you can then get the place filled and rocking

Not necessarily, you have to be wary of the utilisation score which for us could be very important. Build it too big too soon and it could have negative impacts on our score.

If we manage to pull around a 6k-6.5k average next season (which I think would be a realistic target then I can see the west being done with adding 500 or so during the works.

It’s not as simple as building it.

You have to also look at the demand within the stadium. Things I would consider are:

- The average 2025 attendence and how any increase in capacity would affect utilisation scoring for IMG grade.

- where the demand is within the stadium. For example if the east, north and south are continually sold out or close yet the west doesn’t sell out or close once then would you further develop the north to increase capacity for home fans where the demand is? If your filling the east most weeks then redeveloping adding facilities and new stand with added capacity and boxes could be worth it. You won’t for 500 or so fans.

- hospitality demand - if the MKM and south boxes sell out most weeks then you can justify a redevelopment including a number of boxes on 1F above the terrace as this should generate revenue match day.

- whether anything built could be utilised by the events team for outside match day. For example 5/6 x boxes on a sky terrace that house 10 persons each but have folding sectionable walls to open or close and increase between 10-60 person capacity would be ideal. You can then utilise 5/6 x boxes for match day and have another 50/60 (or more) events option for events/parties/business conferences.

- Ellis may want the new stand to house certain new facilities such as a gym or have a building/gym connected to the south west corner (the vacant space). Needs planning and consideration.

There are other considerations but that’s just a quick one.

BV is never going to be massive, its far too constrained. Best we could get on the current footprint is say 3k on the west, 4k in the north and 2.6k on the East. Maybe another 500 if some terracing was place in front of the flats. Circa 10k. Appreciate it's expensive and I'm spending some else's money, but we don't need to see what crowds we're going to get in SL to know what we need to do.

Agree that about 10k maybe but maybe 12k (if south is levelled and a new stand is built).

Things like this need careful planning though to maximise utilisation, facilities and payback especially.

I guess that's why he has a successful business and lots of money.

'Just build as big as you can' isn't really a good plan. As said above you need to know where to invest first.
He's always said he wants a bigger stadium to hold a regular 10k.

The North stand footprint is massive, and never has been used for its potential, along with the north east corner there is so much room for development

Agree with everything really, but given we've averaged 6k in the Championship (yes winning team), with virtually no away support, I think we must be aiming higher than that.

I think even more away fans will be looking forward to coming to BV now, rather than dreading it.

And you know they've missed us

If we're in the playoff chase til the very end I could see us averaging 7,500. There were 5,000 to see us beat Barrow, who brought five fans (not slagging them off), in a dead rubber. Agreed, a winning team is a huge factor, but no reason we can't be as competitive as Leigh have been over the last two years, and they averaged 2,779 in their promotion winning year.

Where have you seen that? Haven't seen anything about season tickets and based on all his behaviour so far I could see Ellis freezing adult prices to sell it out.

I'm not going to dig the posts out, but a lot of folk felt our crowds would plummet this year, too. A very few rightly pointed out we were down to our diehards already, and we have been since 2016. Our stadium was terrible, there was no sense we could ever challenge for silverware, and perhaps most powerfully, that never looked like changing.

The stadium is now a miles better experience. We'll be good to watch next season. And most importantly, there's hope 2026, 2027 and 2028 will be better. Away followings will also rise between 1,500 for Leeds and Hull, and 400 for Salford and Huddersfield.

I haven’t seen it anywhere, it’s my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. And Matt Ellis is a businessman, season tickets will be a minimum £225 minimum, you watch