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iwasthere1972
09-11-2011, 10:58 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15636043.stm

Their present capacity is 22,000 with an average attendance of 8,000. Currently their fans are having to look at 14,000 empty seats on matchday but plans are under way to increase the capacity by another 10,000 to 32,000. Besides the odd glamour game of rugby and England U21 match does it make any sense?

You could argue that the infrastructure is already in place but why they feel the need to go ahead and add more seats at this stage doesn't make any sense at all. There is simply no demand for them and may never be.

I could Google it but what's the other ground in England that has a similar capacity to MK Dons yet they only attract a few thousand fans?

frazeHFC
09-11-2011, 11:00 PM
That seems stupid to me. I am sure they have some logic? :confused:

iwasthere1972
09-11-2011, 11:06 PM
That seems stupid to me. I am sure they have some logic? :confused:

When you figure it out can you send me a pm. :aok: Cheers.

calmacuk
09-11-2011, 11:18 PM
Was it Darlington you were thinking of?

They currently play in the Conference and last home crowd was 1,680. The Darlington Arena has a capacity of 25,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darlington_Arena

Viva_Palmeiras
09-11-2011, 11:25 PM
When you figure it out can you send me a pm. :aok: Cheers.

Bound to be something to do with the expansion and ultimate world domination of xfactor or some religious cult tour that will sweep the nation. ;)
Either that or a tax dodge

iwasthere1972
09-11-2011, 11:26 PM
Was it Darlington you were thinking of?

They currently play in the Conference and last home crowd was 1,680. The Darlington Arena has a capacity of 25,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darlington_Arena

That's the one. Even then, and if they ever got that many fans, the capacity is capped at 10,000 due to poor access roads around the stadium.

iwasthere1972
09-11-2011, 11:28 PM
Bound to be something to do with the expansion and ultimate world domination of xfactor or some religious cult tour that will sweep the nation. ;)
Either that or a tax dodge

Or maybe they are planning on asking the mighty Hibernian FC down there for a friendly. Now that would make sense. I take it all back.

Lucius Apuleius
10-11-2011, 05:48 AM
Think Queens Park might have the record for empty seats at a match.

DarrenSQH
10-11-2011, 11:53 AM
Think Queens Park might have the record for empty seats at a match.

Im sure some italian teams beat them. Im sure Juventus had something like 300 fans turn up at the Del Alpi for a cup game.

Italian fans cant be bothered going to stadiums that are out of town like the Del Alpi. Thats why Juventus have had it redone alot smaller.


The delle Alpi's design was widely criticised due to the poor visibility caused by the distance between the stands and the pitch. This was because the athletics track, which was never used, was constructed around the outside of the pitch. Views from the lower tier were also restricted due to the positioning of advertising boardings.[3] (http://www.hibs.net/#cite_note-2) The stadium's location on the outskirts of town never found favour with fans, and the stadium design left spectators exposed to the elements. These factors contributed to low attendances; in the 2005–06 season, Juventus' average attendance was 35,880.[4] (http://www.hibs.net/#cite_note-3)
The poor visibility led to extraordinarily low attendances. For example, in the Coppa Italia (http://www.hibs.net/wiki/Coppa_Italia) home match against Sampdoria (http://www.hibs.net/wiki/U.C._Sampdoria) in the 2001–02 season, only 237 spectators showed up

basehibby
10-11-2011, 12:03 PM
That seems stupid to me. I am sure they have some logic? :confused:

The answer's in the article in black and white.....

"The work, which will increase the ground's capacity from 22,000 to 32,000, is being funded by a new £56m retail development on the site."

In other words the opportunity has arisen to expand now and get it paid for. MK Dons obviously have ambitions to play at a higher level than they are now where they might have use for all this capacity - get the work done now and they'll have 10,000 more seats to sell if and when they get to the EPL for example.


Also they can see how such a stadium might get used for other sports and events in future - thus raising additional revenue for their club. Plenty logic there to be going on with :nerd: