Ashton Gate Capacity

[Rich]

I need some help.

I am trying to find out the capacity of Ashton Gate going bck over the years to include 1970 upwards.

I believe that our capacity was 40,000 or thereabouts and gradually reduced to our current level on safety grounds and through all seater developments.

I think I'm correct in stating that the East End had a capacity of 15,000 standing, Uncovered end 12,000 standing, enclosure 5,500 standing, Dolman 5,000 seated and Grandstand 2,500 seated.

I recall at the time officers from Avon county council carrying out safety checks on barriers and means of exit to determine the capacity, which was reduced to about 36,000 initially in the 80s then 32,000 shortly after, followed by further reductions to 28,000 and 22,000.

Thanks in advance

[nebristolred]

I'd be surprised if 15,000 managed to fit into the East End. When you mention the enclosure, are you referring to the standing area that used to be at the front of the Williams?

[Lichfield eastend]

If I remember right the record crowd is 44000 against Preston N E in the cup , Also I was in the eastend with 12000 others in the home leg of the league cup semi final against spurs , the total that night was 32000 I believe ,

[SecretSam]

Sorry for stating the obvious, but have you tried contacting the club? They'd have all this detail - they need it for fire safety certificates, etc

[Monkeh]

I don;t think there was an offical capacity back then, it was as many as you can fit in,

[Aizoon]

I don;t think there was an offical capacity back then, it was as many as you can fit in,

Not sure of that, but I do remember 39 and 37 thousand home league gates in the 65-66 season for Man C and Wolves. I believe that the nominal capacity was 40,000, and that each section was closed when it reached its capacity, but I wouldn't swear to it.

[Rich]

I'd be surprised if 15,000 managed to fit into the East End. When you mention the enclosure, are you referring to the standing area that used to be at the front of the Williams?

The East end is deceptively quite large, when it was made all seater they put 6,5000 seats in it, inc the corners, more gangways also had to be provided. Obviously lots of those seats are unusable because of poor views but I think the rule of thumb is that you lose something like 50% of the capacity having seating.

[LongwellRed]

for a long time in the 80's the official capacity was 30,868. I forget the breakdown for each stand

[beaverface]

I've managed to dig out the official stand capacities at AG which Steve Lansdown quoted after a match against the gash when we had an attendance of 16,699 and many people were asking why the official attendance was so low. This was back when the East End was known as the Database Wedlock stand.

Here are the facts and figures:-

DATABASE:Capacity is 5500 .Attendance 2590(Approx 1500 Rovers).Spare 2910.

DOLMAN:Capacity 6195.Attendance 5621.Spare 574.

ATYEO:Capacity 4249.Attendance 3812. Spare 437.

WILLIAMS:Capacity 5553.Attendance 4676. Spare 877.

Total Capacity 21,497

Attendace 16.699

------

Spare 4,798

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Reasons for spares:

a)Database is straight forward.It is a big stand and with the segregation it is easy to see it was only just over half full.

b)There will always be a number of spare seats as people tend to buy seats in blocks of 2 or more,leaving a number of individual seats spare.On the video you can see quite a lot of such seats in the family stand.

c)Sky and the Police took out a number of areas for safety and to get better camera angles.279 in total mainly in the Williams.The police took out a whole strip at the Database end of the Williams for obvious reasons.

d)Restricted viewing seating only gets sold as a last resort.For example behind the dugouts in the Williams are 187 seats not used.

e)Here is the cruncher some people just did not turn up.Approx 435 season ticket holders stayed away and in the Williams there were 270 no shows.

To sell out for an all ticket the capacity is just over 20,000, which is still squeezing people in.Despite the no shows who still bought tickets but probably decided to stay in the pub or something,perhaps on reflexion the crowd was a little disappointing.It was still a GREAT night though!

Iwould also point out that for a number of years now admission has been by ticket only.You buy the ticket away from the turnstile at the ticket office and then go to the turnstile.The turnstile is computerised and records your entry to the ground.The ticket sales are reconciled to the cash for each match,and the turnstile numbers reconciled to the ticket sales,so everything adds up.

Sorry to disappoint those who think something is amiss!

Hope this clears up this subject.

Steve.

[New Dazzler]

The capacity since the building of the Dolman around 1970 was over 37,000 and they achieved 37,000+ in both the Leeds and Liverpool FA cup ties of 1974, which were both all-ticket sell-outs. . They attracted nearly 38,000 for the Liverpool league game in May 1977, although that wasn't an all-ticket game.

At some stage in the next 6 months, presumably during the close season, the capacity had been reduced to just over 31,000 due to the implementation of new Sports Ground legislation. This was exceed by a few hundred on New Year's Eve 1977 when Brian Clough's Champions-to- be Nottm Forest came to the Gate. The size of the crowd surprised the club (again not an all-ticket affair) and they had to explain the breach of the capacity to the relevant committee of Avon County Council. They were let off with a slap on the wrists and avoided a fine by arguing that squeezing in a few hundred extra fans was a safer option than the potential for trouble if fans were locked outside the ground - in other words all those who turned up (correct me if I'm wrong and you were shown the "Sold Out" sign that day) were allowed in.

With the various changes such as making the ground all-seater apart from the Park End the capacity dropped to around the 25,000 mark in the early 1990s.The building of the Ayteo reduced it to about 20,000 in 1994/5 but then the seats in the lower Dolman in 1996 were added to bring the number of seats up to around 21,5000.

That's where it gets confusing due to segregation issues for particular matches and a high number of "unsaleable" seats in the Wedlock, which basically puts the capacity for Football at around 19,000+. although some recent high profile rugby matches have used virtually every seat in the ground!

[i hate you butler]

I need some help.

I am trying to find out the capacity of Ashton Gate going bck over the years to include 1970 upwards.

I believe that our capacity was 40,000 or thereabouts and gradually reduced to our current level on safety grounds and through all seater developments.

I think I'm correct in stating that the East End had a capacity of 15,000 standing, Uncovered end 12,000 standing, enclosure 5,500 standing, Dolman 5,000 seated and Grandstand 2,500 seated.

I recall at the time officers from Avon county council carrying out safety checks on barriers and means of exit to determine the capacity, which was reduced to about 36,000 initially in the 80s then 32,000 shortly after, followed by further reductions to 28,000 and 22,000.

Thanks in advance

just referred to my Panini sticker album of 1979 and can confirm ashton gates capacity was 37000 which might sound a lot but was still one of the smallest grounds in the top 2 divisions eg the valley charlton used to be 66000!

[NickJ]

I need some help.

I am trying to find out the capacity of Ashton Gate going bck over the years to include 1970 upwards.

I believe that our capacity was 40,000 or thereabouts and gradually reduced to our current level on safety grounds and through all seater developments.

Rich,

I agree with the guy who's consulted his Panini album, 37,000.

Looked it up in my 1977 Rothmans, official capacity confirmed as 37,000.

So, definitely not 40,000 then.

Why do you need to know?

[CiderHider]

back then capacity's were subjective due to the then lax laws and regulations, but now we in a claim culture and each seat will have its own safty belts, anti swear defenders, room for a wheelchair and 4 jobsworths watching me to make sure i dont shout, throw anything, get drunk, swear, make rude gestures or set flares off and wave banners.

[Rich]

Rich,

I agree with the guy who's consulted his Panini album, 37,000.

Looked it up in my 1977 Rothmans, official capacity confirmed as 37,000.

So, definitely not 40,000 then.

Why do you need to know?

Nick for your information as you are obviously very interested. I believe that our capacity from 1970 onwards was 40,000, it was reduced as I've said over a period of time (which I'm not sure of) but I think it was this level when we had our first season in the fiirst division.

I know we had two cup games in 1974, against Leeds and Liverpool, that sold more tickets than the claimed capacity of 37,000. both matches had actual attendances that were higher than the capacity you state. I don't think there has ever been a match where the total amount of tickets sold matched those that actually attended. Usually there are quite a lot of people that don't attend for one reason or another, it's happened recently with 19,000 tickets sold and only 18,000 actually attend, I'm sure the ratios would have been the same back then.

I asked this question of another poster who cannot, or will not, explain this strange anomally. Obviously it would have been illegal to have sold more tickets than you have legal capacity to cater for,even in those days. So, the capacity had to be high enough to sell that amount of tickets and to include those that did not attend.

Of course I could be wrong and it's not illegal to sell more tickets than you have capacity for.

[Manon]

The East end is deceptively quite large, when it was made all seater they put 6,5000 seats in it, inc the corners, more gangways also had to be provided. Obviously lots of those seats are unusable because of poor views but I think the rule of thumb is that you lose something like 50% of the capacity having seating.

It is indeed. It has a fairly modest depth, but more than makes up for it it length - as I have mentioned in other threads, it is long enough to be a side stand, so I don't think it is inconceivable that 15,000 rammed in there I occasion.

[EstoniaTallinnRed]

Nick for your information as you are obviously very interested. I believe that our capacity from 1970 onwards was 40,000, it was reduced as I've said over a period of time (which I'm not sure of) but I think it was this level when we had our first season in the fiirst division.

I know we had two cup games in 1974, against Leeds and Liverpool, that sold more tickets than the claimed capacity of 37,000. both matches had actual attendances that were higher than the capacity you state. I don't think there has ever been a match where the total amount of tickets sold matched those that actually attended. Usually there are quite a lot of people that don't attend for one reason or another, it's happened recently with 19,000 tickets sold and only 18,000 actually attend, I'm sure the ratios would have been the same back then.

I asked this question of another poster who cannot, or will not, explain this strange anomally. Obviously it would have been illegal to have sold more tickets than you have legal capacity to cater for,even in those days. So, the capacity had to be high enough to sell that amount of tickets and to include those that did not attend.

Of course I could be wrong and it's not illegal to sell more tickets than you have capacity for.

Ryanair does it all the time!

[NickJ]

Nick for your information as you are obviously very interested. I believe that our capacity from 1970 onwards was 40,000, it was reduced as I've said over a period of time (which I'm not sure of) but I think it was this level when we had our first season in the fiirst division.

I know we had two cup games in 1974, against Leeds and Liverpool, that sold more tickets than the claimed capacity of 37,000. both matches had actual attendances that were higher than the capacity you state. I don't think there has ever been a match where the total amount of tickets sold matched those that actually attended. Usually there are quite a lot of people that don't attend for one reason or another, it's happened recently with 19,000 tickets sold and only 18,000 actually attend, I'm sure the ratios would have been the same back then.

I asked this question of another poster who cannot, or will not, explain this strange anomally. Obviously it would have been illegal to have sold more tickets than you have legal capacity to cater for,even in those days. So, the capacity had to be high enough to sell that amount of tickets and to include those that did not attend.

Of course I could be wrong and it's not illegal to sell more tickets than you have capacity for.

All those words just to establish the capacity of a football ground.

Following the Dolman construction circa 1970 the official capacity was just over 37,000.

The 1974 FA Cup ties against Leeds and Liverpool were all-ticket sell outs each of just over 37,000. I was at both, trust me there were no unsold tickets. (I was also at the away at Elland Road, a Tuesday afternoon 1.30pm ko due to the miners strike, official attendance 49,000 with several hundred City sat on the roof). That game at Elland Road was the most magical City game, ever. Well maybe 1977 Coventry (the irony!) matched it.

Anyway, in 1977 we had an above-capacity of just over 38,000 against Liverpool, it wasnt all-ticket and the size of the crowd caught the club out - in todays H&S environment they'd rather let 10,000 too few in than 500 too many.

Since 1970 we have had three other atendances above 30,000 all of them being just above 31,000.

So, just to confirm, since 1970 our official capacity has never been above 37,000 and something.

Hope that helps, just PM me your address if you'd like copies of Rothmans, programmes, etc confirming all of that.

[Jordan Tansley]

This Nick & Rich thing is still a better love story than Twilight.

[NickJ]

This Nick & Rich thing is still a better love story than Twilight.

And you're the twilight voyeur.

[Rich]

Nick,

1. if as you say our capacity was 37,000, can you explain why the club sold more then 37,000 tickets?

2. As you say the matches were sold out all ticket affairs, as we all know not everybody that has bought a ticket attends, yet both matches attracted more than your stated capacity which you confirm with a panini sticker, so logic dictates that the capacity was higher.

You continue to use irrelevent statements to fudge over things, so i'll ask you again, why were more tickets sold than the official capacity? I would be grateful if you answered the question this time. When I get official confirmation on the capacity ie: not from a panini sticker, I will post it and state that I am either right or wrong. I will not post irrelevant statements as a smokescreen.

[Tully Bascomb]

How two people can have a row over this is madness. What next, is the Robin a european lesser spotted robin or an english red throated twibble marsh robin. Who knows!

[Rich]

How two people can have a row over this is madness. What next, is the Robin a european lesser spotted robin or an english red throated twibble marsh robin. Who knows!

Basically Tim, Nick and I have history, I am trying to help the club in it's plans for the future, whereas Nick, is doing his upmost to hinder them. He seems to think if he proves one point that makes his arguement correct for all other points.

[Rich]

Below is a link to information on football stadiums. I am still trying to confirm my beliefs but this goes some way to it. http://www.footyhomes.co.uk/Bristol_City_-_Ashton_Gate A small section of terracing was added in front of the Dolman stand which increased the capacity further, after this article was printed.

In 1975 an act of parliament was introduced called the safety of sports ground act 1975.

I believe that prior to that our capacity was not as claimed 37,000. It was subsequently reduced after the implementation of this act. To try and increase the capacity, the club were negotiating with the bowls club and I believe the trading estate, both to the rear of the Dolman stand and adjacent to each corner of the ground. The problem was not the capacity but the means of escape from the ground, which was hindered at these points.

[sodburyred]

Below is a link to information on football stadiums. I am still trying to confirm my beliefs but this goes some way to it. http://www.footyhomes.co.uk/Bristol_City_-_Ashton_Gate A small section of terracing was added in front of the Dolman stand which increased the capacity further, after this article was printed.

In 1975 an act of parliament was introduced called the safety of sports ground act 1975.

I believe that prior to that our capacity was not as claimed 37,000. It was subsequently reduced after the implementation of this act. To try and increase the capacity, the club were negotiating with the bowls club and I believe the trading estate, both to the rear of the Dolman stand and adjacent to each corner of the ground. The problem was not the capacity but the means of escape from the ground, which was hindered at these points.

Not really to do with the discussion but this is how stadiums capacity is worked out. Its not how many can fit in the stands its how many can escape from them.

[Rich]

Not really to do with the discussion but this is how stadiums capacity is worked out. Its not how many can fit in the stands its how many can escape from them.

I agree. That's why I believe that prior to this new act of 1975, and susequent enforcements, the capacity was higher than some posters claim.