Stadium Expansion - Bushey Hall

I was going on what someone suggested earlier in the thread.. and was also thinking that the 1881 had a central position now and would of course be standing.
I look forward to the pics.. or not as the case might be

 

That was scrapped after the Brighton game due to fisticuffs and grumpy people.

 

You’re obviously too young to remember the days before scoreboards. You had to check your watch, or the Watford Observer clock if you could see it, when the ref blew for the start of the second half and keep checking it towards the end to estimate how long was left. Of course in those days you had no idea how much injury time would be added; whistling at the ref was the thing.
As an aside: when we first had the ‘jumping men’ scoreboard with a clock it used to run on beyond, rather than freeze on, 90 minutes. It was so frustrating how many goals we conceded with 93 minutes on the clock!

 

No worries, the vast majority in my row do actually stand so I'll let you off! I will warn you though, it's probably less than 50/50 that I actually remember to take a photo. But some time within the next 2 seasons I will. Hopefully.

 

I am indeed, although I've been to a fair few away games where you have to guess how long is left. The trouble these days is that rather than a watch, most people use their phone for the time and therefore get distracted by a text from the missus, or the weather in Istanbul, or a video of a dog wearing shoes. By the time you've finished with those you've forgotten why you got your phone out.

 

I’m a bit unimpressed with the new screens.

For one, they’re smaller and harder to see, but also being at the top of the stands, you have to look upwards, and this can be quite annoying if you’ve got the sun or p*ssing rain shattering your eyeballs.

They’re not exactly aesthetically pleasing either at the top there. They don’t blend in and look like the’ve been slapped there because someone was bored and wanted a reason to walk the roof of the stand.

Not that it matters too much because the football happens on the pitch, but I feel like they could have come up with something better.

 

Correct about the screen not being visible if you're in the final few rows of the Rookery, standing or not. It would help if they properly announced things like VAR reviews rather than just relying upon the screen, for those of us who can't see it. Or put small screens on the sides of the Rookery. The club's response has basically been "too bad".

 

Am I the only one who missed any form our announcement for these little expansions?

Seems very strange not to do so. Maybe they’re waiting for the big announcement for another tier on the SEJ

 

Row X - Standing.

Row X - Sitting.

Row X - Below knee level.

 

This is almost exactly my view - I reckon you can see the bottom quarter of the screen when sitting in my seat. I am not complaining though, I think the view of the pitch from Row X in the Rookery is probably the best in the stadium.

By the way - can you see the Rookery End screen from the back of the VRE?

 

RS9 is very tinpot. The stairs up to the seats look a death trap. Is the seating even covered?

 

Seems to me that watching the big clock ticking down is now integral to the match day experience. I know I glance at it regularly perched on top of the Vic. Rd. stand from my vantage point 1/3 way up the Rookery.

The two big screens in the NW and SE corner were far superior. But now the policy is seats, seats, seats. All well and good but I hope that if you can't see a screen properly or are in a new, uncovered seat and consequently liable to get p.ssed upon at any minute, then you will be getting a significant discount.

 

RS9 users yesterday wouldn’t had seen Arsenal’s goals as they were busy shielding their eyes from the sun, which is preferable to sitting under umbrellas which undoubtably they will be doing in a few games this coming winter!

 

Plus youre not in the worst position there being wide of the under-hanging board on the Rookery roof. Looks like you might see it ok in the row in front of yours but not if directly behind the other board. Poor planning and inevitable once they took the decision to move the screens. Shame they cant project a screen onto the outside of the sensory room.. or move it and place a screen there.

 

Would it be too much trouble for them to suspend half a dozen smaller screens from the Rookery roof near the back? A bit like they do for the press seats at the back of the SEJ.

 

Exactly, I'm sure those wider than me also have the beams in the way too. Although as V Cabro says, other than the screen issue I think we have the best seats in the house. A good view, extra space because of the columns removing a seat, and a nice little shelf at the back (or, if you like to sit down, a nice little shelf to whack your head on. Handy for those Gray one-on-one situations).

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That's actually a better idea than anything I'd thought of. Relatively cheap, but complete coverage.

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Bring back the Wobby clock?

 

Biggest attendance for nearly 20 years on Saturday btw. Just shows you how the capacity has declined over those years...or the support?

 

I don't think the capacity has declined. 20 years ago it was about the same as it is now - give or take a few hundred.

 

Does anyone know if hospitality takers are included in the attendance figures, they don’t actually go through the same turnstiles as everyone else!

 

Why wouldn’t they be included?

 

I wonder if our defenders are included in the attendance figures. After all, they watch the match like the rest of us.

 

They casually walk in through reception have a meal and then take their seat and back at half time etc, which is a bit different to going through an actual turnstile, I could be wrong but I don't think complementary's are included!

 

I'm not sure about executive boxes but I think all the hospitality wonks have a ticket and allocated padded seat. So should be counted.

 

They will be added in whether they turn up or not.

 

Excellent.. hadnt spotted that! I believe we had 2 larger home crowds in the 99/2000 season and prior to that you have to go back to 1988 for a larger attendance!

It's a bit sketchy getting exact info on official capacities but i believe the highest all seated capacity we have had was just over 22,000 when we went all seater in 95. There's been a steady decline in capacity since then with such measures as the Vic Road stand reduction because of overcrowding concerns, to the removal of the lower than pitch level seats in the then Rous and ending up with the closure of the antiquated East stand. I think at that time our capacity had dropped to around 17,000, so 5,000 seats lost for various reasons. In recent seasons we have also seen smaller reductions mainly for access reasons, changes in the corporate seat set up and disabled viewing areas.
But here we are back up to around or just over our all time high seated capacity.. only it does seem we have maxed out now without a major stand rebuild.

 

I was born under the Rookery roof,
Guns were made for fighting......etc.

 

Spot on as usual. Any one notice the SEJ roof now looks way too small for the seats underneath with only the top few rows protected from the sun, the lower half seats get wet also the new bend is exposed. I guess all will be corrected with an extension in the near future.

 

Duxbury said about the club engaging consultants to advise on how to maximise what we already had before embarking on big rebuilds. That must be nigh on finished now. I can't see where they could jam any more seats in.

 

The stadium naming rights still have to be sold?

 

BREAKING NEWS

Watford are going to increase the stadium capacity by 11,000.....taking capacity up to 32,000.

Talks have already been started with Populous, who led the development of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and the two-phase project could cost up to £40m.

The two-phase plan is to add the second tier to the Sir Elton John stand, increasing this by 4,000. This will cost between £6-10 million and work could be started as early as this summer, depending on planning permission approval. After stage one completion the capacity would be 25,000.

The second phase of the redevelopment would see the Graham Taylor stand transformed with an additional 5,000 seats added. This aspect of the plan is longer term and work may not start for another three-to-five years — it would also take a more significant investment in the region of £30 million.

It would be remodelled in line with the main stand at Anfield, albeit on a smaller scale. The second phase would be structurally more complex and could take 18 months to complete.

In order to fund this, last year American company Prolific Media Holdings (PMH) came close to investing £125 million for a 37.5 per cent share of the club. Although the deal fell through during the due diligence period, a similar proposal could become vital if the ambitious plans are to be realised.

Populous’s brief will include helping the club finalise the budget that will be required for Watford’s development, in particular the second phase, and also ensure seat closures are kept to a minimum to ensure revenue isn’t greatly affected during the construction.

Source is The Athletic.

This confirms at least one thing....regardless of league position, the Pozzo's are still sticking around and are prepared to invest in and grow the club.

 

This is encouraging and means we are likely to stay at Vicarage Road for good. I think 32k is about right for us (assuming top flight football!).

 

No doubt about it now, I'm definitely going to get a seat in Championship. In fact it may be we go back to the days where I could rock up at the Vic on a Sat and just buy a ticket on the door!

 

One of the good things about this plan is that the second tier to the SEJ would be able to house all of the ST holders from the GT stand while that stand is rebuilt. I'm assuming the extra tier for the SEJ could be built without too much disruption to the current inhabitants of that stand (like me!).

Of course, if we go down there'll be plenty of seats to move to.