17 May 2016 14:54:09
I think it's about time saints showed the commitment and ambition and invested in both the manager and the team to push on into the bright future that we all know is awaiting us the board need to bite the bullet and enlarge St Marys if we take the option to add another 15000 seats we may not fill it every week but that would boost the coffers we are destined for something big let the good times roll.
Coyr.

1.) 18 May 2016
18 May 2016 08:41:35
adding another 15k would cause more problems than anything. The club would have to pay out for police/ stewards/ staff to cover 47k and considering we barely fill 32k every week, it wouldn't be a great idea and would just waste money. Boosting it to 36/ 38k would be a better place to start, then boost it to over 40k when that's filled consistently.

{Ed002's Note - There is little to be gained financially from going in to significant debt to add more seats.}

2.) 18 May 2016
18 May 2016 13:03:15
Seem to remember a long time ago the rough price broken down for adding a new seat was about £1500. times that by 15,000 and its a lot of money to spend on potentially empty seats.

3.) 18 May 2016
18 May 2016 14:22:01
The problem you face with adding to the stadium these days are ticket prices. As football fans we allow ourselves to be robbed every week. When the "20 is plenty" campaign was going for away games it was good but even then the fans accepted an extra £10 so it was £30. Believe me the price of getting a ticket is keeping many fans away. People say only the dedicated fans going these days or get a season ticket. Not true, I worked out I could get £55 return flight to Spain buy two tickets to a Barcelona game all cheaper than I could two tickets to watch saints play, arguably better football. That's my point those 1 or two empty seats we have would of been brought if tickets where as cheap as watch Barcelona play. £18 a ticket. And don't anyone say oh they need the extra revenue because your deluded. What with the premier league money the sponsorship money. They have money coming in left, right and centre. We will not expand our stadium and will not fill it until ticket prices are dropped to at least £20 both home and away. I mean more excuses fans make up for ticket prices the higher they will get. But that's probably just my opinion.

4.) 18 May 2016
18 May 2016 15:10:04
In this day and age, if the clubs priority really was the fans, then there is no reason why Saints shouldn't increase the capacity.

If ticket prices were more realistic (some prem clubs are around the £25 mark), or deals were made for family tickets then we would have no problem filling 40k for big games, and our average would increase by 5k for the mediocre teams.

If we also cared about increasing the fan base, then we would be targeting kids by making tickets completely free under a certain age (like before we were in the prem), and reaching out to schools across hampshire to offer kids + a parent free tickets.

There should also be incentives to supporters across hampshire, such as free coaches into the city, or a subsidy on public transport.

Maybe sponsoring local sports clubs across hamphire, or even in Southampton itself (eg the sports centre at lordswood)

However, all of these types of ideas are just pie in the sky, because the club isn't really interested in the fans, more so just making money.

With all the money sky brings in, I bet every single Saints supporter (if they're being completely honest) has some form of resentment about the ticket price, and has ideas on how to improve the club.

Even the other small things, like keeping the bar open, trying to reduce the queue for food and drinks, not showing the match in the concourse during the game etc. I find utterly frustrating.

So unless some or all of these things are at least considered, I fail to see how we can increase our fan base, and consequently need a bigger stadium. There's no time better than when the club is doing well on the pitch to promote the team. Things can change so quickly.