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All this talk of being able to visit a new stadium next season, I looked at the construction details. It only has a capacity of 17,250, with "room to expand in future"!
I realise that Brentford aren't a big club and have plenty of competition for fans in London, and as a result don't want to overstretch their finances, but surely 17,250 is too small for a club that has been challenging for promotion over recent years and almost achieved it this time around?
Time will tell I guess.
Theyve increased their capacity by just under 50% by moving from Griffin Park, so maybe 17k is enough at the moment. QPR are close by and have a capacity of 18k - they're not desperate to increase.
Seems small to me, but I'm guessing they've done their sums, and it's a very crowded catchment area.
Bournemouth’s stadium is just over 11K and their catchment area’s much bigger than Brentford’s.
It sounds sensible to me.
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/newsn...ball-club.html
Stumbled across this from a few years ago which shows how many fans each club would have if everyone supported their nearest, Brentford coming surprisingly highly on that list
Apparently cardiff and Swansea were 3rd and 4th on there, but they were including people in north devon as being nearest, which is pretty unrealistic. think they're pretty high still.
Has there been any mention of how many tickets away teams will get?
I'm sure they would make more money from more away fans.
We almost always filled the away end at Griffin Park and would sell more if given them in the new ground I'm sure.
I think it is a bit small for Brentford. Even 20k capacity would have been a bit more understandable but I think they're being cautious given their previous average attendances.
Bournemouth have two problems regarding their ground. The first one is that they don't own it - they sold it in a lease-back deal back in 2005, and now, when they want to buy it back, they can't. It belongs to someone else, and they won't let them expand. That's because of the second reason - the ground is in a very posh and expensive suburb of Bournemouth.
Even if they could afford to buy up the adjacent land to expand, the council/residents are not going to allow it. The people who own the ground know that they just have to wait - sooner or later the club will have to move, and then the owners have a lovely bit of prime real estate in an expensive location.
17500 seems plenty for Brentford. I do think they've missed their chance at PL football though, I can't see them being as good next season.