Ground Developments

[Here's-Johnny]

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

We’ve been at the Turf since 1883

White Hart Lane was an iconic Venue...its gone.

[taio]

One thing I wouldn't want is to relocate the stadium. Definitely not.

[IanMcL]

Decent Wi-Fi!

Any wifi

[ClaretTony]

Pace told a fans meeting recently that there are no plans for ground development although I think rail seating will be with us soon.

[CoolClaret]

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?

I think it’d be a bloody disaster mate - especially for all the pubs / food places in town and York Street on match day.

It really is part of the charm having the stadium in the centre of town - you can walk down from the train station, you can walk from the bus station everything. It would be a terrible decision

[CoolClaret]

White Hart Lane was an iconic Venue...its gone.

You ignored my point - our stadium is literally historic (more should be made of it) to any proper football purist it should be hallowed Turf…. 135 years of professional football played there and counting

[Claretprinter]

I believe there will be significant upgrades to the matchday hospitality side of things this summer. Along the lines of touchscreen pre-ordering of half time food and drink.

[taio]

As an aside I think the pitch might be getting re-done this summer

[bfcwest]

I believe there will be significant upgrades to the matchday hospitality side of things this summer. Along the lines of touchscreen pre-ordering of half time food and drink.

Fantastic, worth the trip.

[depechedingle]

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.

Moving to Huncoat, would be akin to Bolton's move from Burnden Park to The Reebok in Horwich.

Secondly, we would be based in Hyndburn and a lot closer to Stanley.

[TsarBomba]

We really need a long term plan when it comes to the Turf. There’s no joined up thinking. The disabled stands are a mess, (although i appreciate for those that use them they are a massive and much welcomed improvement).

We can’t keep titivating the the CFS and to a lesser extent the BL forever. We’ve spent millions on the CFS since our first promotion, which from a business perspective makes zero sense.

And although we don’t need to massively increase our capacity, we do need more premium seating. Slap another tier on the BL if necessary.

And all this talk about rail seating in the CFS, would the concourse be fit for purpose with the increase in capacity?

[BigGaz]

I think it’d be a bloody disaster mate - especially for all the pubs / food places in town and York Street on match day.

It really is part of the charm having the stadium in the centre of town - you can walk down from the train station, you can walk from the bus station everything. It would be a terrible decision

Yeah those are fair points, there would likely be 3rd party casualties that make for a morally tricky decision.

How about this then:

Flatten Turf Moor and ground share with someone like Bradford, Preston or Bolton for 18 months or so?

[Juan Tanamera]

How about playing that bit from Dvorak's New World Symphony and laying cobbled stones down Brunshaw Road?
Sheesh!

[Leon_C]

Moving to Huncoat, would be akin to Bolton's move from Burnden Park to The Reebok in Horwich.

Secondly, we would be based in Hyndburn and a lot closer to Stanley.

Absolutely - I agree that it carries more negatives than positives, but - if there was ever a plan to relocate... this might be the strongest option.

[Dark Cloud]

Having a drink and a natter in town both before and after the game and walking to and from the ground is absolutely integral to attending matches and to giving a club real identity imo. So many clubs have taken this away from fans. Reading, where we were only the other week, lay on buses for example, but Bolton are in a different town from where they started and Brighton are so far away they have to lay on special trains!!! There are loads of examples where clubs have moved out of town and ruined the whole experience. Those who have remained close and worked on their traditional footprint (us, Newcastle, Norwich are just three examples) have retained something extra special and also kept the local economy thriving on match days. We must NEVER move.

[randomclaret2]

Yeah those are fair points, there would likely be 3rd party casualties that make for a morally tricky decision.

How about this then:

Flatten Turf Moor and ground share with someone like Bradford, Preston or Bolton for 18 months or so?

Definitely Devil's Advocate ..

[BigGaz]

How about playing that bit from Dvorak's New World Symphony and laying cobbled stones down Brunshaw Road?
Sheesh!

Symphony No 9 in E minor

[dougcollins]

I believe there will be significant upgrades to the matchday hospitality side of things this summer. Along the lines of touchscreen pre-ordering of half time food and drink.

What could possibly go wrong.

[taio]

Yeah those are fair points, there would likely be 3rd party casualties that make for a morally tricky decision.

How about this then:

Flatten Turf Moor and ground share with someone like Bradford, Preston or Bolton for 18 months or so?

The chances of a full stadium build or rebuild in the foreseeable future feels totally unrealistic

[Bosscat]

I believe there will be significant upgrades to the matchday hospitality side of things this summer. Along the lines of touchscreen pre-ordering of half time food and drink.

As long as its not using your phone on the "fantastic" wifi

[Spijed]

As long as its not using your phone on the "fantastic" wifi

At other grounds it doesn't seem to be a problem but "Dial-Up" moves faster at Turf Moor.

[BigGaz]

Definitely Devil's Advocate ..

I can assure you I’m not. Quite happy for Tony or one of the mods to check my IP against his and confirm that they’re unique.

It does however give away the general demographics of the board when someone advocating for a relocation or rebuild of our dated, tired looking stadium to take advantage of modernity is dismissed as the insane ramblings of a wind up merchant though

[Royboyclaret]

Turf Moor must never, ever, be abandoned.

[BigGaz]

The chances of a full stadium build or rebuild in the foreseeable future feels totally unrealistic

It does unfortunately, but equally so does any kind of localised redevelopment with a hint of some longer term strategic plan

[jedi_master]

I imagine it’s impossible for various architectural/logistical reasons but the only ‘obvious’ area we could expand on capacity without infringing on current seating mid-season is the corner between the CF and the JH.

Would it not be possible to get a corner in there, extending the capacity of the home half of the CF stand and building above the tunnel, connecting to the side of the JH? As I say, I know it would be difficult as the stands aren’t aligned per se but surely it’s possible somehow. You could then gradually replace the roof/sides of the CF with half of it needing to be done as part of that expansion. Could possibly jam more corporate space in too.

[dougcollins]

I can assure you I’m not. Quite happy for Tony or one of the mods to check my IP against his and confirm that they’re unique.

It does however give away the general demographics of the board when someone advocating for a relocation or rebuild of our dated, tired looking stadium to take advantage of modernity is dismissed as the insane ramblings of a wind up merchant though

Isn't DA the only sane one here?

Oh, and that PStotto feller.

[Spijed]

How many additional seats could be put in the Bob Lord & Cricket field stand were they to remove all the wooden ones and replace with standard plastic seats?

[BigGaz]

Calder Vale must never, ever, be abandoned.

Some bloke on the Burnley Rovers chat site in 1882.

[clarethomer]

For me…..


1 - extend the longside so we can have better concourses and more optimised food and drink and toilet facilities. This would also perhaps increase the corporate functionality.

2 - build corners up on each side of longside so that more seating can be added and move media seats out of middle of the longside and make more corporate seating to support 1.

3 - provide wifi access or 5g access within the ground.

4 - replace cf stand and extend the concourses outwards to the side.

5 - replace Bob lord and bring seating lower towards pitch and build the subs seating into the stand.

[NewClaret]

We really need a long term plan when it comes to the Turf. There’s no joined up thinking. The disabled stands are a mess, (although i appreciate for those that use them they are a massive and much welcomed improvement).

We can’t keep titivating the the CFS and to a lesser extent the BL forever. We’ve spent millions on the CFS since our first promotion, which from a business perspective makes zero sense.

And although we don’t need to massively increase our capacity, we do need more premium seating. Slap another tier on the BL if necessary.

And all this talk about rail seating in the CFS, would the concourse be fit for purpose with the increase in capacity?

I completely agree with this. We need a vision for the ground.

It doesn’t have to be implemented all in one go but we need a vision.

I agree the bolt on corner stands are a mess (notwithstanding their great purpose), but the whole ground looks tired and dated. It needs a reclad and a paint job bare minimum.

In the Prem, I think we’re amongst the top 40/50 or so richest clubs in the world, yet TM is nowhere near a top 50 stadium with 50 year old stands.

I know we need to rebuild a team capable of being competitive in the Prem, but we do need a vision and some investment in the ground also.

[Pickles]

I hear what everyone's saying about it needing improvements. But I'd be gutted if we left the Turf. The town centre's already a bit crap as it is, having the football club in the middle of it is important.

[Royboyclaret]

Some bloke on the Burnley Rovers chat site in 1882.

Turf Moor became our home in February 1883, some nine months after our Club came into being.......let's keep it that way.

[Here's-Johnny]

How many additional seats could be put in the Bob Lord & Cricket field stand were they to remove all the wooden ones and replace with standard plastic seats?

Not being funny but there's a lot of arses that won't fit on a "Standard" size seat ..whatever that is... at turf Moor.

[BurnleyFC]

I do still love the Turf, but I’d also be open to us moving to a new, custom built stadium if it was viable.

The one caveat to that being that it must be in the borough of Burnley, so that rules out the old Huncoat power station site for me.

[Bosscat]

Not being funny but there's a lot of arses that won't fit on a "Standard" size seat ..whatever that is... at turf Moor.

There are probably 16000 + standard size seats in Turf Moor in the JHL/U, JMU/L and the away half of the CFS are you saying the Bob Lorders are Lard Arses

[RVclaret]

Would you be open to renaming the Turf if it meant we could crack on with some serious upgrading?

[Bosscat]

Would you be open to renaming the Turf if it meant we could crack on with some serious upgrading?

NO

[Pickles]

Would you be open to renaming the Turf if it meant we could crack on with some serious upgrading?

No. It's Turf Moor.

[Royboyclaret]

Would you be open to renaming the Turf if it meant we could crack on with some serious upgrading?

Looks like you've already received an adequate response, RV.

[Volvoclaret]

There's an empty stadium down the road, deadwood or something like that.

[corporal jones]

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

What’s wrong with BL? Great view, comfy seats, easy to get in and out. Build another tier above it with new corporate areas during the season and remove the existing roof during the summer as Liverpool have done twice.

[BurnleyFC]

Moving to Huncoat, would be akin to Bolton's move from Burnden Park to The Reebok in Horwich.

Secondly, we would be based in Hyndburn and a lot closer to Stanley.

It’d be worse. At least Horwich is still technically in the borough of Bolton, where as Huncoat is in Accrington.

It’s just as well it’ll never happen.

[Clockwork Claret]

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

Fill in the corners on the longside and safe standing in the cricket.

Done.

[Here's-Johnny]

There are probably 16000 + standard size seats in Turf Moor in the JHL/U, JMU/L and the away half of the CFS are you saying the Bob Lorders are Lard Arses

Tbh....Make do and mend.. in replacing seats at a football stadium in the Premier league is Embarrassing.

[Cirrus_Minor]

So now we are back in the Premier league and there's a waiting list for season tickets let's start farting about with the stands. I think we might need to use any money we have on new signings.

[karatekid]

How about a roof upgrade to keep people in the front 15 rows of the JM and Longside dry when its persisting down, which is more often than not.

[123EasyasBFC]

The ground is what makes us, us!! Potentially the corners of JM and longside and bob lord with seats but other than that keep it as horrible for the opposition as possible, make our dressing room great.

Spend the money on keeping the training ground state of the art as that’s the place players go to work day in day out

[CaptainKirk]

What actually is a “soulless corporate bowl”?
A brand new, 25,000 seater, with all the bells and whistles in and around a new venue sounds great to me.
Much better than the rickety old eyesore we have now.
Good job most of the dinosaurs on here will be dead in a few years.

[BigGaz]

I’m not keen on the dinosaur comment but it would actually be interesting to have a poll on whether you should do it or not categorised by age and sex because I have a hunch that the lions share of those who say ‘yes’ are more likely to be the younger/middle aged and would appeal more to a female vote too. Be pretty cool to see that theory validated or dismantled.

[Bosscat]

What actually is a “soulless corporate bowl”?
A brand new, 25,000 seater, with all the bells and whistles in and around a new venue sounds great to me.
Much better than the rickety old eyesore we have now.
Good job most of the dinosaurs on here will be dead in a few years.

Wow