Ground Developments

[DavidW]

With Premier League football again next season, are there any more planned developments to Turf Moor?

It would be good to see the opposite concourse (Cricket field end) in the Bob Lord stand being covered to match the club shop side

[Here's-Johnny]

With Premier League football again next season, are there any more planned developments to Turf Moor?

It would be good to see the opposite concourse (Cricket field end) in the Bob Lord stand being covered to match the club shop side

The footprint is surely there for the cricket field End development/Upgrade no Excuses really. The longer it drags on....the more expensive it gets. JUST DO IT.

[bfcwest]

We need a bigger ground. Such a shame that we can’t accommodate new fans next season and take advantage of the demand.

Get the Bob Lord rebuilt to start with as we lose the least seats whilst it’s being done. We could even build on top of it and keep seats in play like Liverpool did maybe.


And those if you who said we don’t need any more seats because we never sell out……

[DCWat]

We need a bigger ground. Such a shame that we can’t accommodate new fans next season and take advantage of the demand.

Get the Bob Lord rebuilt to start with as we lose the least seats whilst it’s being done. We could even build on top of it and keep seats in play like Liverpool did maybe.


And those if you who said we don’t need any more seats because we never sell out……

How much bigger do you think we should make the ground and how regularly do you think we’d fill an increased capacity?

I’m not convinced we need a bigger ground but definitely one that has better facilities and more corporate opportunities.

[Squazo]

it’s a risky one… these are good times but we don’t wanna end up with empty seats like those down the road. realistically how many games a season do we sell out? will fans get bored after a few seasons in the prem?

[Pickles]

Attendance wise, 25,000 would be fine.

There definitely needs to be some developments in terms of the stands and the facilities. But it's also making better use of the space we have. The fan zone has been improved a lot, it's great, but there's more to be done there. The area outside the CFS is always a bottleneck and could be made better with some redesigning.

[Spijed]

We need a bigger ground. Such a shame that we can’t accommodate new fans next season and take advantage of the demand.

In the event of relegation you only have to look at other clubs who built bigger grounds whilst in the Premier league.....

A complete waste of money unless you can guarantee that we won't be relegated or fans won't lose interest if we stay at Championship level for a sustained period of time.

[DavidW]

Although I’d love a new CFS, I think more of these smaller improvements will be the way we go for a bit. I’d say we need a better, rather than bigger ground

[RVclaret]

Not that arsed about a big increase in capacity. Having said that I'd like us to consider filling in the corner between JM and Longside with seats. Where the disabled stand is now, it just looks awkward with the big empty space underneath. Same with between BL and JM, I'm not a huge fan of those stand designs but could be improved. Only be another 500 or so seats I'd imagine. Then create some sort of roof to connect the stands, it would just look miles better and more modern.

Then after that the players tunnel, big space there between CFS and Longside which is basically empty. Maybe move the changing rooms there and modernise the tunnel, offer fans an experience like City have with 'The Tunnel Club'.

[Dark Cloud]

We won't attract a significant increase in fans however successful or otherwise we are. We definitely don't need to be increasing capacity unless it's by a small amount, but the ground definitely needs investment and as others have said the cost of that simply rises the longer you leave it. I get the dilemma for the board as no way do they want spending on ground developments to hinder team building and that's been the issue at other clubs in the past. Tough one tbf.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Do we have a waiting list for season tickets?

Is the CFS likely to fail a H&E inspection anytime soon?

If it's no to both, then the money can be spent elsewhere.

Also the cricket club may need to relocate and that ain't happening from what I've read in previous discussions on here

[Boss Hogg]

I think it could do with being slightly bigger but we don’t need to increase it massively unless other events are being held there.improvements and catering do need looking at and the latter already is.

[Pickles]

We'll need a bigger seat for JJ

[bfcwest]

it’s a risky one… these are good times but we don’t wanna end up with empty seats like those down the road. realistically how many games a season do we sell out? will fans get bored after a few seasons in the prem?

That’s so negative. If you want to grow you need to have the capacity. And even if we did go down, what’s the problem with some empty seats? Cinemas and theatres don’t build capacity based on when people don’t want to go!!

If Blackburn do get promoted then they’ll be delighted that their ground holds 32k and not 22k like ours. Same for Stoke, West Brom, Norwich, Birmingham, Hull, Reading, Huddesfield, who’ve all developed bigger stadiums over the last 20 years whilst we haven’t.

Considering we’ve been in the Prem so much recently I think it’s ridiculous that our ground is still so small.

[what_no_pies]

We don't need more seats. We've been PL established, in Europe and had 15 glorious years and only sold out 15% (estimate) during all that.

Even if we continue playing attractive football the novelty will wear off for some, prices will spike and then we're left with crowds nearer 15000 in a half empty stadium - which is rubbish.

I'm in a minority here but i'd modernise the Cricket and BL but try and keep as much of their character as possible. Embrace all the clanging turnstyles, wooden seats and what not. They're irreplacable.

[bfcwest]

We could regularly get 30k in the Prem now under Kompany playing this style of football, and we could get even more on days against the big boys if we had a ground that allowed us to offer a bigger away following when required.

[taio]

I guess we'd need a few seasons in the PL before we'd do any major development. As several people have said we don't really need much of an increase in capacity. If they were to develop and we ended up with two or three thousand more seats that would be okay buy no need for any more.

[IanMcL]

I am not so sure a larger stand is essential. The alternative ways of viewing and bringing in income and merchandising worldwide, would dwarf any seat sales.

At the height of our success, we sell out. Otherwise, not.

Sell outs usually go to the wire.

[agreenwood]

Biggest challenge to rebuilding a stand when you’re selling out most weeks is where to put the people you’ve displaced.

We were lucky to get 12k on last time we did it. Whole different scenario now and a massive headache.

[Paul Waine]

We'll need a bigger seat for JJ

And, he will be bringing a couple of NFL teams a few times a season.

[bfcwest]

Biggest challenge to rebuilding a stand when you’re selling out most weeks is where to put the people you’ve displaced.

We were lucky to get 12k on last time we did it. Whole different scenario now and a massive headache.

Doesn’t need to be a challenge this time because the stands that are left are the smallest ones. Bob Lord is about 3000, so that’s the most you need to displace and we could
Possibly redevelop it in a way that much of it stays open. Then do the cricket field when the new bigger Bob Lord is open.

[bfcwest]

The reason we have a lower average attendance is in part because we have a lower capacity. Simply saying that because we don’t sell out every week then we don’t need a bigger ground is a bit naive and misses the point.
When we used to average 28k and even 32k we had a bigger ground. More like 38k capacity and higher. We will rarely average our capacity, but if our capacity is higher we will average higher and it will allow more walk on fans to come more often, offer better choice of where fans can sit, and help attract new fans.

[Fretters]

First thing I'd do is replace the dirty and rusty facias on the back/sides of the Longside/JM. Get them to match the slick looking disabled stands. And replace the appalling PA system.

[CoolClaret]

No thanks for a bigger ground - unless you filled the corners in between the cricket field end and Bob Lord or something on a rebuild.

No more than 23K, I’d hate to be in a position like Blackburn having 12K on some games in a stadium that holds 32, it’s terrible for the atmosphere.

If they rebuild the cricketfield/bob lord I hope they keep the same spacing on seats (highly unlikely) - they’re much more comfortable than those in the JH/JM

Agreed with the PA system it’s absolutely terrible!

Wish outside the ground on Harry Potts way would change somehow - the old sort of 60s style grey hoardings are a proper eyesore

[dougcollins]

Need to knock down the BL and replace it with something appropriate.

[TheFamilyCat]

Need to knock down the BL and replace it with something appropriate.

There's a nice stand at Ewood that they don't need. Reckon we could get it at a knock down price.

[CoolClaret]

The reason we have a lower average attendance is in part because we have a lower capacity. Simply saying that because we don’t sell out every week then we don’t need a bigger ground is a bit naive and misses the point.
When we used to average 28k and even 32k we had a bigger ground. More like 38k capacity and higher. We will rarely average our capacity, but if our capacity is higher we will average higher and it will allow more walk on fans to come more often, offer better choice of where fans can sit, and help attract new fans.

Not if we end up back in the Champ (which we eventually will)

We didn’t even hit max every week in the Prem when we finished 7th. Unless we’re top of the table week in week out and have every season like this there’s no chance.

Bit different way back when footy was a lot cheaper to attend comparatively

[BurnleyPaul]

The first thing to do will be to make sure that we’ve ticked all the boxes on the PL/Sky’s list of non-negotiables required for hosting PL games with all the requisite media facilities….

[randomclaret2]

The first thing to do will be to make sure that we’ve ticked all the boxes on the PL/Sky’s list of non-negotiables required for hosting PL games with all the requisite media facilities….

Will they have changed that much in 12 months ?

[Murger]

Parking is already a nightmare without extra capacity. The club could do with having its own multi-storey.

[Leon_C]

I'd say that improvement is more important than enlargement, at the moment. We really don't sell out that much - and even when we do, we don't know that we'd sell much more than 500-1000 additional tickets.
It would be interesting to see what might be done with the Bob Lord Stand. Extension, in theory would be possible - but you'd need to build a cantilever stand - meaning significant steelwork to the rear - which then impinges on the space. Also, they've recently built out the new club + BFCITC offices above the club shop - that would surely be affected by any extension work.

Personally, I'd like to see the Bob Lord and Cricket Field stands flattened, and re-built as a single 2 sided structure.
I'd also like to see the concourses in the "new" stands re-worked and re-furbished. They are incredibly austere, and a reminder of our skint days. You only have to see the finish standards at other stadiums to see that we don't have to put up with painted breezeblocks. However, without extending the stands, I can't see that much could really be done - and in any case, there is little ROI for the club in such a project.

[gawthorpe_view]

Decent Wi-Fi!

[beddie]

Need to knock down the BL and replace it with something appropriate.

Agreed. A two tier with corporate in the middle, like the Longside.

[BigGaz]

A custom built, 25,000 capacity stadium just off junction 11 by the Wood Land Spa, on the banks of the River Calder.

Glass or otherwise solid clear material to back the stands and roof enabling us to retain one of the best features of Turf Moor: The view over the top of the Bob Lord.

In house restaurants, bars, bookies and a hotel allowing the club to build up the revenue streams that are vital to the clubs revenue streams.

Improved concourses, including more space and upgraded kiosks including the ability for self serve drinks and places to sit and relax. Great for us, and allows the club the facility to say to the fans "come here well before the game, and don't be in a rush to get home after - there's plenty here for you to do."

I feel that time is upon us. Who says no?

[Here's-Johnny]

That’s so negative. If you want to grow you need to have the capacity. And even if we did go down, what’s the problem with some empty seats? Cinemas and theatres don’t build capacity based on when people don’t want to go!!

If Blackburn do get promoted then they’ll be delighted that their ground holds 32k and not 22k like ours. Same for Stoke, West Brom, Norwich, Birmingham, Hull, Reading, Huddesfield, who’ve all developed bigger stadiums over the last 20 years whilst we haven’t.

Considering we’ve been in the Prem so much recently I think it’s ridiculous that our ground is still so small.

Where's the next generation of fans gonna sit?

[bfcwest]

Not if we end up back in the Champ (which we eventually will)

We didn’t even hit max every week in the Prem when we finished 7th. Unless we’re top of the table week in week out and have every season like this there’s no chance.

Bit different way back when footy was a lot cheaper to attend comparatively

Football has never been so popular. We should be averaging late 20’s easily, but we can’t because the ground is too small.

[bfcwest]

Where's the next generation of fans gonna sit?

Not at Turf Moor because it’s too small.

[CoolClaret]

Football has never been so popular. We should be averaging late 20’s easily, but we can’t because the ground is too small.

Think you’re in dreamland mate. No chance

[NewClaret]

Personally, I'd like to see the Bob Lord and Cricket Field stands flattened, and re-built as a single 2 sided structure.
I'd also like to see the concourses in the "new" stands re-worked and re-furbished. They are incredibly austere, and a reminder of our skint days. You only have to see the finish standards at other stadiums to see that we don't have to put up with painted breezeblocks. However, without extending the stands, I can't see that much could really be done - and in any case, there is little ROI for the club in such a project.

For me, I’d have loved to have seen the Bee Hole and Longside adjoined for historical significance, before the random corner quadrants were built.

So since this isn’t happening would like to see the Longside turn around in to the Cricketfield as 2 tier. A lot would disagree and want it single tier but I think a single combined stand would help the atmosphere no end. Think it adds about 2-3k.

I’d have a big players tunnel in the corner & new changing rooms in the corner. Our dressing rooms are dire and not PL standard.

On attendances, I’d happily give a few more to away fans (say 500 or so) and think we’d shift the rest if we had a competitive team in the Prem.

Our ground needs work though. I’m hoping Alan Pace has seen it’s not really even up to Championship standards, never mind Prem. Yes there’s no ROI but a clubs home is its image and if ALK want to improve that they need to start investing in our rusting stadium.

Agree also the boring, grey breeze block interior concourses needs some investment. Would love some murals personally.

[CoolClaret]

A custom built, 25,000 capacity stadium just off junction 11 by the Wood Land Spa, on the banks of the River Calder.

Glass or otherwise solid clear material to back the stands and roof enabling us to retain one of the best features of Turf Moor: The view over the top of the Bob Lord.

In house restaurants, bars, bookies and a hotel allowing the club to build up the revenue streams that are vital to the clubs revenue streams.

Improved concourses, including more space and upgraded kiosks including the ability for self serve drinks and places to sit and relax. Great for us, and allows the club the facility to say to the fans "come here well before the game, and don't be in a rush to get home after - there's plenty here for you to do."

I feel that time is upon us. Who says no?

Hoping this is a windup.

Turf Moor is an iconic venue - played league football there since the inception of the football league. I’d hate to see that go for some soulless corporate (toilet) bowl plonked on an industrial estate

[Leon_C]

A custom built, 25,000 capacity stadium just off junction 11 by the Wood Land Spa, on the banks of the River Calder.

This land is green belt, which would make that development unlikely. The eastbound-only M65 access would make that complex, I think. I would think that any brand new stadium would need better access. To that effect, you'd think that the old Huncoat power station site* - with connections to the A56/M65 junction would be more practical... but that would go down really badly with those (myself included) who enjoy a couple of pints before the match!

* note the Huncoat land is also partly green belt I think so that would bring its own complications as well.

[Spijed]

Here is a link to our average attendances over the years.

http://european-football-statistics.co. ... e/burn.htm

[Newchurch Claret]

There’s a wider point here. I think most of the views being expressed are based on “little old Burnley; that the fans attending match day will continue to be drawn from Burnley and the surrounding towns, in the main. Clearly our chairman is looking at a much wider appeal. Why couldn’t we attract more fans from farther afield to attend more regularly? The problem now is that the old stands are shot, don’t have sufficient capacity and aren’t really an attractive match day experience.

Provide more seats and a better quality match day experience for fans and more will come. Building over and above the existing Bob Lord is the obvious answer. Pretty easy to do that then move the BL fans upstairs whilst the old stand is modernised them brought back into use. When finished we could have about 28k capacity, which would be about right. The only downside is that the Longside upper fans will miss out on the best view in football.

[randomclaret2]

A custom built, 25,000 capacity stadium just off junction 11 by the Wood Land Spa, on the banks of the River Calder.

Glass or otherwise solid clear material to back the stands and roof enabling us to retain one of the best features of Turf Moor: The view over the top of the Bob Lord.

In house restaurants, bars, bookies and a hotel allowing the club to build up the revenue streams that are vital to the clubs revenue streams.

Improved concourses, including more space and upgraded kiosks including the ability for self serve drinks and places to sit and relax. Great for us, and allows the club the facility to say to the fans "come here well before the game, and don't be in a rush to get home after - there's plenty here for you to do."

I feel that time is upon us. Who says no?

Is that you Devil's Advocate ?

[Here's-Johnny]

Hoping this is a windup.

Turf Moor is an iconic venue - played league football there since the inception of the football league. I’d hate to see that go for some soulless corporate (toilet) bowl plonked on an industrial estate

So was white Hart Lane.

[CoolClaret]

There’s a wider point here. I think most of the views being expressed are based on “little old Burnley; that the fans attending match day will continue to be drawn from Burnley and the surrounding towns, in the main. Clearly our chairman is looking at a much wider appeal. Why couldn’t we attract more fans from farther afield to attend more regularly? The problem now is that the old stands are shot, don’t have sufficient capacity and aren’t really an attractive match day experience.

Provide more seats and a better quality match day experience for fans and more will come. Building over and above the existing Bob Lord is the obvious answer. Pretty easy to do that then move the BL fans upstairs whilst the old stand is modernised them brought back into use. When finished we could have about 28k capacity, which would be about right. The only downside is that the Longside upper fans will miss out on the best view in football.

I’m sure there will be analytics to gauge all this but the point still stands - if (when) we eventually go down then what? It’s terrible having a ground under 50% of capacity and it negatively effects the atmosphere which I believe rubs off on the players.

Part of what makes Turf Moor so good (especially at the moment) is that the stands are near to the pitch and are at capacity - adding to that cauldron like atmosphere.

The absolute last thing we need to do now is get too big for our boots; be a little bit ambitious of course but don’t get daft with it

[CoolClaret]

So was white Hart Lane.

No it wasn’t, opened 11 years after the inception of the football league

We’ve been at the Turf since 1883

[randomclaret2]

If the Bob Lord and Cricket Field could be joined up and extended, to end up looking like the Sides opposite and to the right of the main stand at Ashton Gate, I think it would look well ( to the left side and the far end for those who were there on Saturday )

[BigGaz]

Hoping this is a windup.

Turf Moor is an iconic venue - played league football there since the inception of the football league. I’d hate to see that go for some soulless corporate (toilet) bowl plonked on an industrial estate

Nope. The Bob Lord is a 50 year old stand. It looks and feels like it. Ditto the Cricket Field which is even older. The 2 newer ones are shite.

There are so many challenges involved with renovating what we have. Reduced capacity, The cricket club's reticence to sign over their land, how lopsided it will look, not forgetting the difficulty had in actually making it all line up.

I agree we don't want a soulless new stadium on an industrial estate. I couldn't think of anything worse. That being said, i think people (pretty fairly) have this conception of new stadiums being soulless which is partly due to the identikit style stadiums that cropped up like Bolton and Huddersfields, then Leicester and Coventry and so on and so forth. It doesn't have to be like that though.

The type of stadium i have in mind when i think about a new one are some of the more successful and nicer looking ones, like Brentford's or the Amex

I also like to apply the "ship of theseus" to stadia. Vague amusement to consider that every single one of it's original stands have been replaced a couple of times over, as well as the pitch.

If none of the original stands, pitches or features are still standing, is it still really turf moor? Will it still be turf moor if we replace all 4 stands and the pitch in the same location? If it is, what is it that makes Turf Moor, Turf Moor, if not the infrastructure there?

[BigGaz]

Is that you Devil's Advocate ?

I am currently advocating for the Devil, but i am not Devil's Advocate