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DERBY COUNTY WEST STAND UPPER


DavidNoble

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Hey gang, 

I have some friends that are coming down next weekend and would like to take in the City game.

I've just checked online and although there are a fair few seats available in the Dolman stand, I'd much rather go in the West Stand upper with them.

At the moment there are approx 220 tickets remaining in the West Stand lower, 57 tickets remaining in the South Stand, 540 tickets remaining in the Dolman (with 214 of those tickets being on a wing) whilst the Atyeo is sold out. That means we have about 800 tickets left for sale.

Will the club wait until we completely sell these tickets out or will the upper tier go on sale earlier?

 

ii) also, does anyone know what our capacity is excluding the Upper West Stand. If the overall capacity is 27,000 & I'm guessing the upper tier gives us an extra 7,000 then it'd be around 20,000? If so then with 800 tickets left then we've already got 19,000 for the game. 

 

anyway, yeah, when will the upper tier go on sale pls? xxxxx

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19 minutes ago, Olé said:

And we're delighted to have you!

That sounded really snobby didn't it! :facepalm:Didn't mean it like that at all, I was just asked to get them in the West stand and knowing there are 1000's of empty seats in there and that they might get released after purchasing mine is a tad annoying. 

I do love the Dolman and all those who reside in it! (Until 4.40 :whistle:)

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3 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I asked what the criteria was for opening the top tier in the Q&A, but the question was ignored.

I do think it would be helpful to know, so people know exactly where they stand in cases like the original poster has described.

It's typical 'wooliness' from Kelly 'n co.... Very odd as they don't seem to have a policy-why would you not?

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2 hours ago, arrytheb said:

That sounded really snobby didn't it! :facepalm:Didn't mean it like that at all, I was just asked to get them in the West stand and knowing there are 1000's of empty seats in there and that they might get released after purchasing mine is a tad annoying. 

I do love the Dolman and all those who reside in it! (Until 4.40 :whistle:)

I am actually choosing to sit in the Dolman for my games this season (member not STH).  Apart from being a bit cheaper, I prefer to have the West Stand as the backdrop to the action, rather than the Dolman!

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Ah, the mystery of the upper West Stand continues; will they, won't they go on sale, no one ever really knows.

For what it's worth, unless the upper tier fills up around you, then you feel removed from the action of the game, you lose the pulse of the match taking place below.

Definitely better experience to sit in the lower bowl of the ground.

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Myself and several people in work are waiting to buy several tickets but the tickets available are either singles or at the bottom of the stands. Speaking to the club office, they will only open up the top tier if all these tickets are sold or just singles are left. How much business are they missing out on with people choosing not to purchase due to the location of the seats available? I know of 10 tickets they could sell on one bank of desks in work!! The reluctance to open the stand is due to the costs of stewarding and concession stands. Surely if they only sell limited tickets, they don't need to open extra concessions and I can't believe the stewarding costs are prohibitive. It was difficult to get tickets when the building work was taking place and it isn't a lot easier now, despite having 27,000 seats. Very frustrating. It looks like I will be missing Saturday's game and possibly more whilst this policy remains. 

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The Upper tier still hasn't got a safety certificate yet (don't ask me why) so the club cant make a big deal out of it yet , special dispensation was given by the relevant authority for the Newcastle game, which was reduced for the Villa game. I guess when the entire stand is 100% finished from the changing rooms up we may attain the required safety certificate to open the whole stand. personally I don't understand how a 'brand new build' which has the most stringent of building regulations would then be subject to capacity restraints but that's H & S for you .

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2 minutes ago, EASTEND WURZEL said:

The Upper tier still hasn't got a safety certificate yet (don't ask me why) so the club cant make a big deal out of it yet , special dispensation was given by the relevant authority for the Newcastle game, which was reduced for the Villa game. I guess when the entire stand is 100% finished from the changing rooms up we may attain the required safety certificate to open the whole stand. personally I don't understand how a 'brand new build' which has the most stringent of building regulations would then be subject to capacity restraints but that's H & S for you .

I totally understand if this is the case but could the club just come out and make a statement that this is the case.

People are saying that they won't because it would be 'embarrassing' to admit that it isn't ready yet but isn't it more important that they're open and honest with the fans.

We've also decided not to go now because of this very reason that all remaining seats are singles or with poor views and some of my mates from Bristol probably won't fancy going again now.

 

Also, I don't buy the fact that they don't open the upper tier because of the cost of stewarding and kiosks. Obviously we don't want a Coventry situation with everyone dotted around everywhere but when the lower bowl is 90% sold out they should definitely open the upper tier. To open up one kiosk and have 5/6 stewards probably costs £500 yet the ticket and sales revenue (food/drink/programmes etc.) will bring this back.

I dunna, I just think the club needs to comment on the procedure of when they'll open the upper tier and when the stand will be fully operational.

 

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4 minutes ago, DavidNoble said:

I totally understand if this is the case but could the club just come out and make a statement that this is the case.

People are saying that they won't because it would be 'embarrassing' to admit that it isn't ready yet but isn't it more important that they're open and honest with the fans.

We've also decided not to go now because of this very reason that all remaining seats are singles or with poor views and some of my mates from Bristol probably won't fancy going again now.

 

Also, I don't buy the fact that they don't open the upper tier because of the cost of stewarding and kiosks. Obviously we don't want a Coventry situation with everyone dotted around everywhere but when the lower bowl is 90% sold out they should definitely open the upper tier. To open up one kiosk and have 5/6 stewards probably costs £500 yet the ticket and sales revenue (food/drink/programmes etc.) will bring this back.

I dunna, I just think the club needs to comment on the procedure of when they'll open the upper tier and when the stand will be fully operational.

 

Im sure I heard somewhere that if the West Upper was open to even a small number of fans then the club has to provide stewarding for the entire stand. Writing it down it sounds ridiculous and im sure thats not the case but can anyone clear this up?

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On 12 September 2016 at 09:59, arrytheb said:

I tried to get two tickets together last night and had to make do with the Dolman as didn't want to risk waiting on the off chance they might open the upper west. 

A bit annoying but it what it is I guess

That's the attitude that Rovers fans have & look how it's turnt out for them.

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1 minute ago, Robin 101 said:

Im sure I heard somewhere that if the West Upper was open to even a small number of fans then the club has to provide stewarding for the entire stand. Writing it down it sounds ridiculous and im sure thats not the case but can anyone clear this up?

That's mad if true. Although I'm sure that I've seen other clubs don't have to do this when at away game. Particularly Wolves which springs to mind, they used to use the lower tier of one of their stands to let school kids in for free and would only have a handful of stewarding.

I also think that it's a shame that the absolute best disabled seats are up there yet aren't available all the time and instead they have to use the front row disabled seats when front row seats aren't the best for viewing the whole game. Of course it's a million times better than the disabled facilities that we used to have but I still think they can be used even better.

It sounds like I'm knocking the club, I'm really not. I understand it's a big development and there will be issues of course there will be but I guess I hope that some of them at Bristol Sport read this forum and see where they can improve.

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On 12 September 2016 at 07:54, ChippenhamRed said:

I asked what the criteria was for opening the top tier in the Q&A, but the question was ignored.

I do think it would be helpful to know, so people know exactly where they stand in cases like the original poster has described.

Don't quite know why people are still getting so worked up about the top tier.

The policy seems simple enough, when enough tickets are sold in the 'lower' areas of the ground, they open up the top. That number changes dependant on the circumstances of the game and H and S requirements.

Why don't they just open it fully every game? Well A) From an atmosphere point of view, BCFC don't want the fans scattered around and B) unless enough fans go up there the costs of opening and stewarding it can outweigh the benefit.

All seems simple enough to me, unless I'm completely missing the point.

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4 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

Don't quite know why people are still getting so worked up about the top tier.

The policy seems simple enough, when enough tickets are sold in the 'lower' areas of the ground, they open up the top. That number changes dependant on the circumstances of the game and H and S requirements.

Why don't they just open it fully every game? Well A) From an atmosphere point of view, BCFC don't want the fans scattered around and B) unless enough fans go up there the costs of opening and stewarding it can outweigh the benefit.

All seems simple enough to me, unless I'm completely missing the point.

The issues is how many tickets is 'enough' for them to then release the upper tier.

As others have said many of the seats now are dotted around with no more than 3 seats together and aren't with the best view which puts people off.

You end up having people 'gambling' on the upper tier being opened so that they can all sit together with their mates or at least have a decent view.

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6 minutes ago, DavidNoble said:

The issues is how many tickets is 'enough' for them to then release the upper tier.

As others have said many of the seats now are dotted around with no more than 3 seats together and aren't with the best view which puts people off.

You end up having people 'gambling' on the upper tier being opened so that they can all sit together with their mates or at least have a decent view.

This.

Imo, the top tier should be opened when there are fewer than 1,000 tickets left in the lower bowl - and certainly when there are fewer than 500 left. At the moment there are about 300 left (all, as David says, in poor viewing positions) and the top tier still isn't open.

The club are losing out on ticket sales here. Supply creates its own demand, and they are artificially constricting supply. It's daft.

 

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7 minutes ago, DavidNoble said:

The issues is how many tickets is 'enough' for them to then release the upper tier.

As others have said many of the seats now are dotted around with no more than 3 seats together and aren't with the best view which puts people off.

You end up having people 'gambling' on the upper tier being opened so that they can all sit together with their mates or at least have a decent view.

Well as I said, that number no doubt changes per game and with the safety certificates is vague at the moment. 

It's got to be financially beneficial to the club and clearly they don't think the demand are there yet for the Derby game. Only they know how many phone calls they get asking about it, we can only speculate. They are not going to open it for one group of 10 guys who want to sit together.

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10 minutes ago, husshen said:

This.

Imo, the top tier should be opened when there are fewer than 1,000 tickets left in the lower bowl - and certainly when there are fewer than 500 left. At the moment there are about 300 left (all, as David says, in poor viewing positions) and the top tier still isn't open.

The club are losing out on ticket sales here. Supply creates its own demand, and they are artificially constricting supply. It's daft.

 

In your opinion, what are the poor viewing areas? Because I can't think of many 'poor' views in Ashton Gate now. It comes down to preference, if you prefer to be side on and behind the goal. I wouldn't say the corners are poor views.

Often there are more seats left than the website suggests as they have released them in batches.

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16 minutes ago, DavidNoble said:

The issues is how many tickets is 'enough' for them to then release the upper tier.

As others have said many of the seats now are dotted around with no more than 3 seats together and aren't with the best view which puts people off.

You end up having people 'gambling' on the upper tier being opened so that they can all sit together with their mates or at least have a decent view.

Exactly this, and that's why I asked the question on the Q&A.  The clarity would be helpful.

1 minute ago, Alessandro said:

Well as I said, that number no doubt changes per game and with the safety certificates is vague at the moment. 

It's got to be financially beneficial to the club and clearly they don't think the demand are there yet for the Derby game. Only they know how many phone calls they get asking about it, we can only speculate. They are not going to open it for one group of 10 guys who want to sit together.

The safety certificate is a side issue because it's only relevant temporarily; I think what we are talking about here is the general long-term plan for top tier use.  I don't think anyone is suggesting they should open the top tier for one group of 10 people - but if that group were able to make an informed decision on whether they should wait for the top tier, or settle for split seats in the lower bowl, that would be helpful.  At the moment we have no understand of the club's policy towards opening the top tier and in particular how many seats have to be sold before it is opened.

@Mkelly your input here would be appreciated (also see my unanswered question in the Q&A).

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28 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

Don't quite know why people are still getting so worked up about the top tier.

The policy seems simple enough, when enough tickets are sold in the 'lower' areas of the ground, they open up the top. That number changes dependant on the circumstances of the game and H and S requirements.

Why don't they just open it fully every game? Well A) From an atmosphere point of view, BCFC don't want the fans scattered around and B) unless enough fans go up there the costs of opening and stewarding it can outweigh the benefit.

All seems simple enough to me, unless I'm completely missing the point.

I think most of us already fully appreciate your reasons A) and B) and indeed I support the club's decision to reserve the top tier for overflow only.  But that's not quite the point being made here.

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I can't believe that people would wait for the top tier to open or not buy tickets..! 

We've never had that tier there before, pretty much any seat in the stadium has a good view now and the club have made it very clear that the top tier won't be opened until it's required. If there are seats left elsewhere, then it's not required..!

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1 hour ago, husshen said:

This.

Imo, the top tier should be opened when there are fewer than 1,000 tickets left in the lower bowl - and certainly when there are fewer than 500 left. At the moment there are about 300 left (all, as David says, in poor viewing positions) and the top tier still isn't open.

The club are losing out on ticket sales here. Supply creates its own demand, and they are artificially constricting supply. It's daft.

 

Doesn't that mean we are way over 20K again then, with a 22,500 lower bowl, or is the Lansdown lower tier still not up to 100%?

Once it's all in full usage, surely the club will have a figure in mind (guessing at 18K home fans, ie 21,500 in total) which triggers the opening of the top tier but how do they publish this? Also, if the figure is getting near any 'trigger' figure, wouldn't a lot of people suspend their purchase waiting for the top tier meaning we don't reach the 'trigger' point?

On 'stewarding for the whole stand if the upper is open', I would assume we have stewards in the lower tier anyway so it's not much of a raise in cost is it?

I'm not disagreeing with anyone BTW, just asking the questions. What I would say is that if I wanted to watch a game (luckily I'm a SC holder), I wouldn't miss it because certain seats weren't available, I would move heaven and earth to get a ticket. WTGR would you do that if it was a PO semi (I know it would be open for a game like that anyway)?

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