MANCHESTER - Etihad Stadium (47,405)

[trmather]

Originally Posted by Mo Rush

Prob been asked a million time but can the roof portions be removed somehow to increase capacity for a World Cup bid. Suppose the benefit to cost ratio would not be that great.

I don't suppose cost would be of too much importance to their current owners considering the size of their bank balance.

[bigbossman]

exactly, unlike abramovich they seem to at least want to leave some sort of legacy at the club.

[Reptilikus]

Originally Posted by NeilF

The way the roof is supported, I don't think it would be too difficult to add a third tier behind the goals and re-pitch the roof. I think we're talking about changing 16 of the supports at each end to manage that, plus the pillars outside the stadium, of course. This may well be worth it, given that it could take capacity towards 60,000.

It is possible to change the roof at the ends of the stadium, but there are structural problems with that. If you look at this picture, maybe you can see that roof is supported by a steel wire ring.


On this picture I coloured it red.
image hosted on flickr


The ring is supported by the steel towers all around the stadium.
This is why that on the running track version of they stadium there are also steel towers in that end with no roof.
This means that it will be easy to remove the roof in the ends, but difficult to remove the steel towers, because the hold up the steel wire ring.

If they want to expand the end stands they would have to get a bigger and higher roof. This is a problem because the steel towers at the end are quite lower than the other towers.


You would basically have to add new higher towers first and then remove the old ones. Is tricky and maybe the balance of the hole roof will change.

image hosted on flickr

[JYDA]

Expansion to 80,000?

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle379025.html

[MS20]

They seem like smart businessmen with a real plan. There were plans released earlier last month that said an expansion to 60,000 was on the cards, along with the development of the Eastlands complex.

Being smart businessmen, they will see that 60,000 is the right figure. City could hope to fill a 60k seater in the future on a regular basis (they could definitely do it for a number of key fixtures throughout the season). An 80,000 seater is another thing though. Plus the whole supply/demand theory comes into play with a 60k seater. Case in point, Arsenal.

But it seems inevitable that Eastlands will be expanded at some point in the near future.

[MTF]

Manchester City's owners are assessing plans to make Eastlands the biggest stadium in English club football.

Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal that the Abu Dhabi United Group’s blueprint to oversee a major regeneration of the East Manchester area will include a project to expand their council-owned ground.

One of the plans being discussed is to add another tier and 30,000 seats to take the capacity of the City of Manchester Stadium to almost 80,000. City’s bitter rivals Manchester United currently have the biggest ground in the Premier League, with Old *Trafford able to hold 75,769.

But City owner Sheikh *Mansour has already *promised to build one of the best teams in world football – and he wants a stadium to match.
Click here to find out more!

Feasibility studies are being conducted to formulate how Eastlands’ 47,726 capacity can be increased.

A City source confirmed: “The owners want to build the best football club possible – both on and off the pitch.

“Everything is at a very early stage and the only thing that is set in stone at the moment is the development of a City Street outside the stadium, based on a *European-style fan zone. But the owners are *looking into every single aspect of how the club is run – including the possibility of expanding the stadium.

“But it won’t be just about increasing stadium capacity. We are looking at the whole match-day experience, from how fans are catered for on the concourses to how we look after corporate guests.”

The Blues are currently the third-best supported team in the Premier League, with only United and Arsenal boasting bigger average attendances this season.

But there is a belief at the club that if City become a major force in Europe demand for tickets will outweigh current supply.

One revolutionary idea being discussed is pitching ticket prices at a level that will attract future generations of fans to the club. City already offer some of the best deals in football, with junior *season ticket prices just £90 and tickets for some games as low as £5 for under-16s.

Prices for next season have yet to be announced, but City have asked all of their 36,000 season ticket holders to fill in an on-line questionnaire so to gauge how they can offer even better value.

Sunday Mirror Sport *revealed last month how City are planning to build a £50million training ground close to Eastlands.

They have since entered into a partnership with Manchester Council and the New East Manchester Regeneration Agency that will see major redevelopment in the area around the stadium.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle379025.html

[Mr. Fitz]

In my opinion, add another tier to the ends behind the goals that look similar to the 3 tiered stands and leave it there.

[Jim856796]

The answer to any proposal to expand the City of Manchester Stadium is NO. The stadium wasn't design to support any expansion and is fine the way it is.

[Aka]

What about winning first and building later?

[Jim856796]

How about winning first and building NEVER?

[Mr. Fitz]

I wouldn't like it to be expanded myself because it's nice the way it is, and City hardly fill it anyway. But they have the money to do it and they probably will do it.

[Jim856796]

So now the City of Manchester Stadium can be expanded by extending the upper tier throughout the stadium?

[DenilsonUK]

Nothing major, but they're spending £1.5m on improving the conference and hospitality facilities over the summer.

Originally Posted by "Conference-News.co.uk

Manchester City Football Club is committing over £1.5 million to overhaul conference and hospitality facilities at the City of Manchester Stadium this summer.

Work starts this week at the venue, which entertains 75,000 corporate hospitality guests a season, together with 250,000 annual conference and events delegates.

The investment from the Premier League big spenders will include an upgrade of all executive boxes to Platinum standard and refurbishment of The Boardroom dining facility.

The twelve super deluxe Platinum boxes, trialled last season, will be rolled out to create 54 more, including six double boxes able to entertain 20 guests.

Additional panoramic window seating will be created in the Legend’s area, together with a new bar.

Head of sales at Manchester City, David Chell, tells conference-news: “The £1.5m investment in the City of Manchester Stadium will have a significant impact on our conference and events offering. The upgrade of suites and boxes, together with a new culinary line-up, will ensure our 250,000 annual conference and events delegates enjoy the very best facilities as part of a premium experience.”

He adds: “With a new pitch, ongoing investment in the team and our sights set on bettering our Premier League performance next season, it is essential our hospitality facilities are upgraded.”

[PrevaricationComplex]

talk of 30000 expansion is silly. a further 15000 cant be added to the ends, not enough space. 15000 people is what one stand at braga looks like. so that big an expansion would have to include the side stands...however
...that wavy shape of the bowl is there for a reason, the side stands are as far from the pitch as they can possibly be.


for a 50000 seater football stadium filling out this limit is bad, very bad. its essentially capped. maybe they can add 5000 at each end. but they wont make 80000.

special thanks to sercan for uploading that image from a FIFA pdf.

[Mo Rush]

Any expansion would require an entirely new roof.

[MS20]

Then they'll build a new roof?

Eastlands definitely needs to become 60,000 in the near future. Considering that Mansour has commissioned work to be done around the stadium, its only a matter of time before they expand.

To all the people who actually believe the 80k stories, calm down it wont go any higher than 60k.

[Gary James]

Whether extending the sides is achievable or not, it is worth pointing out that as part of the original discussions in the late 90s (before the formal documentation was signed), the City Council had a plan to make this an 80,000 capacity stadium with.... United as tenants.

The story is included in my new updated version of "Manchester A Football History" (ISBN 9780955812736) due out the 1st week of December.

Copies can be pre-ordered from www.manchesterfootball.org

[MoreOrLess]

Originally Posted by Mo Rush

Any expansion would require an entirely new roof.

Not sure about that, Reptilikus's post suggests to me that it maybe only the very edge of the roof that needs to stay at the same level to support the sides. If an extra tier were added to the ends then that roof could remain at the same height but instead of sloping downwards stay level as at the sides.

One big factor to consider aswell is that UEFA are talking about limating spending on players to turnover. Thats potentially bad news for suger daddy teams since it limates the amount their owners can invest. A way of getting around that would be to expand their stadiums even if it wasnt cost effective because higher turnover = more spending power.

I don't think its any coincidense that Chelsea's interest in Earls Court has suddenly sparked up again aswell.

[Monks]

If it's feasible, surely the most logical way to expand the stadium at present would be to lower the pitch and add a few more rows of seating, a la the Mercedes-Benz arena? Lowering the pitch would also reduce the sizable gap between the stands and the touchlines as well.

Are there any reasons why this wouldn't be a possible expansion solution? I suppose there would be immediate trouble with regards to sheltering these seats because they might not be covered by the existing roof. Any other reasons? I only ask as I'm genuinely interested. Cheers.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by MoreOrLess

Not sure about that, Reptilikus's post suggests to me that it maybe only the very edge of the roof that needs to stay at the same level to support the sides. If an extra tier were added to the ends then that roof could remain at the same height but instead of sloping downwards stay level as at the sides.

One big factor to consider aswell is that UEFA are talking about limating spending on players to turnover. Thats potentially bad news for suger daddy teams since it limates the amount their owners can invest. A way of getting around that would be to expand their stadiums even if it wasnt cost effective because higher turnover = more spending power.

I don't think its any coincidense that Chelsea's interest in Earls Court has suddenly sparked up again aswell.

1. I think that removing the roof at the ends might be possible that there was no roof at the one end during the Commies.

2. The owners could pool private funds into a bigger pool comprising private and public funds, to fund the expansion, in a way creating a different body e.g. the ODA

Not sure if this would work.