FF / EAST CORNER ..... again : - )

[tamig]

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Do it Hibs…(Courtesy of ChatGPT)

Attachment 28697

Upgrading Hibernian FC’s Easter Road Stadium to fill in the corners (connecting the North, East, and West stands with continuous seating) would depend on a number of factors, but here’s a rough estimate and breakdown:

1. Estimated Construction Cost (Per Corner)

For relatively modest infill seating that matches the existing style:
• Basic stand infill: £2 million – £4 million per corner
• Premium design (with hospitality, improved access, and facilities): £5 million – £8 million per corner

2. Total Estimate for Both NW and NE Corners
• Basic estimate: £4 million – £8 million total
• High-spec estimate: £10 million – £16 million total

⸻

3. Cost Influencers
• Seating capacity added: Each corner might add ~1,000–1,500 seats depending on design, adding 2,000–3,000 total.
• Infrastructure upgrades: Access points, toilets, food & beverage areas, etc.
• Planning permissions and regulations in Edinburgh
• Construction logistics: Tight urban location, working around the existing structure
• Sustainability & materials: More eco-friendly builds may cost more upfront

⸻

4. Possible Funding Sources
• Club capital reserves
• External investment or sponsorship
• Fan funding initiatives
• Government or council grants (less likely unless part of a community project)

I don’t think we’ll ever get a symmetrical solution in the corners. The north/west corner is very problematic due to the road layout and existing tenements. It would need some really clever design work and a lot of cash to fill that corner with even a small amount of seats there. The south/east corner has similar challenges.

[Keith_M]

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Anything is possible. Just not probable.

Yep, arranging a compulsory purchase of a couple of blocks of flats on Albion Place, knocking them down, re-routing the road and then demolishing the ticket office building would make it a bit expensive.

[tamig]

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I’m confused is this not about the corner between the FF and the East Stand?

Kay-yay was talking the full monty.

[Jack]

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This has been discussed a number of times, but It's not possible to fill in the corner between the FF and West Stands.

A quick look at Google Maps and you'll understand why.

There are instances around the world where stadia overhang a public highway or similar.

In the UK it is possible for private individuals and companies to get permission to build structures over public spaces.

However in this instance there is no way the anti Hibs City of Edinburgh Council would grant permission for this to happen.

If hertz were in a similar situation they'd probably get a grant for it!

[tamig]

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There are instances around the world where stadia overhang a public highway or similar.

In the UK it is possible for private individuals and companies to get permission to build structures over public spaces.

However in this instance there is no way the anti Hibs City of Edinburgh Council would grant permission for this to happen.

If hertz were in a similar situation they'd probably get a grant for it!

Hertz would have about 500 boxes of planning papers though. Always the biggest.

[Crazyhorse]

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Kay-yay was talking the full monty.

👍😅

[Crazyhorse]

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I don’t think we’ll ever get a symmetrical solution in the corners. The north/west corner is very problematic due to the road layout and existing tenements. It would need some really clever design work and a lot of cash to fill that corner with even a small amount of seats there. The south/east corner has similar challenges.

I think it’s the Anderlecht stadium which has two corners like ER. They just put up some cool looking hospitality boxes to fill in those corners if I remember rightly. Been ages since I lived in Belgium and only went there once so it’s a bit of a vague memory tbh but it seemed like a good solution.

[RoYO!]

For the NW corner I'd essentially extend the famous five lower tier round to join the west. I'd then put a decent TV studio/ fancy hospitality box above it. May even be able to get the TV companies to pay towards it. Could whack a big screen in above this- probably the one from the north end of the east stand.

In NE we could hopefully maintain the majority of the car park with a cantilevered design over the existing space. Not sure about getting folk in and out. Could potentially use existing exits?

With getting out the east already an issue that may be a non starter.

No clue how I'd go about adding exits into the middle of the east. I guess it would need a new deck within the east concourse and stairs up to this.

I'm sure at the time of construction it was noted that the roofs did not require the panelling/ steels at the sides- these are to stop wind/ rain, rather than support the roof. Anyway that is my 2 bits!

[GreenCastle]

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For the NW corner I'd essentially extend the famous five lower tier round to join the west. I'd then put a decent TV studio/ fancy hospitality box above it. May even be able to get the TV companies to pay towards it. Could whack a big screen in above this- probably the one from the north end of the east stand.

In NE we could hopefully maintain the majority of the car park with a cantilevered design over the existing space. Not sure about getting folk in and out. Could potentially use existing exits?

With getting out the east already an issue that may be a non starter.

No clue how I'd go about adding exits into the middle of the east. I guess it would need a new deck within the east concourse and stairs up to this.

I'm sure at the time of construction it was noted that the roofs did not require the panelling/ steels at the sides- these are to stop wind/ rain, rather than support the roof. Anyway that is my 2 bits!

My thoughts were they do what they did to the back of north stand at Hampden and build back from the east slightly - add exits at the back also and add hospitality too at top / tv studio maybe also.

For corners - the idea of just a lower bowl tier would probably be the only way like Ibrox - east and south / east and north to link the 3 stands and leave west to stand alone.

[itslegaltender]

Anderlecht stadium.jpg Thanks to the other poster, had a look at Anderlechts. This.... could.... work for Easter Road either side of the FF. Smaller hospitality style block for the small area between West and FF, normal fill in on the other. Probably leave both corners at either side

[LaMotta]

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With the increased trend in attendances over the years., do you think that we will regret allowing the overall footprint of Easter Road and land owned to become so small?

There is a theory around stadium capacities that it is good for demand for seats to slightly outstrip supply of seats. Increasing the capacity could strangely end up being counterproductive in terms of selling more tickets, as it would be too easy to get one.


Hibs first port of call would be to get to that stage consistently whereby demand out strips current supply over a number of years - so that season tickets become extremely valuable and almost vital to guarantee a seat. At the same time we can reduce away allocations. Then we have waiting lists for season tickets and people reluctant to give them up.

Once you get that for a few years then you could think about increasing capacity. I don't think we are there yet, but there's no doubt we could get there one day.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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I don’t imagine it’s as easy as folk make out to just join the East and F5. The two stands would join up at a really funny angle unless you removed chunks out of the FFL and the East, you’d also be matching up a single tier stand with a steeper rake than a two tiered stand. Of course it could be done but not as simple as it would initially seem I don’t think.

We are miles away from needing more seats anyway. We can’t even get the south half filled when we’re on a record equalling run.

The rake of the upper FF is steeper than the lower, probably similar to the east. All you need to do is extend the east round to meet the FF top deck without joining it to the FF lower, where you could leave a small gap ...... it would not disrupt the sight line from either stand if it was done that way. Take a look at Celtic park ... the end stands do not match up with the side stand opposite the main stand there either.

If I recall correctly when the new east was opened in the 10/11 season we had a crowd of just over 18,000 against Rangers 1872 and that was the biggest crowd at ER for a number of years.
In the preceding decade our average crowds were:

00/01 .... 10,793
01/02 .... 11,603
02/03 .... 9,937
03/04 .... 9,150
04/05 .... 12,539
05/06 .... 13,818
06/07 .... 14,488
07/08 .... 13,884
08/09 .... 12,684
09/10 .... 12,164

What I'm suggesting is an increase of around 1000 to 1,500 seats, far less than the nearly 3000 the new east added to the stadium in 2010, based on average crowds that are way better than under 13,000 in 7 out of 10 seasons ... so when you look at that comparison it's anything but 'miles away' from being required when compared with the circumstances we were in during the first decade of the 2000s.

Also ... what has to be considered is that, yes if we want to increase the number of seats for Hibs fans we can take part of the south from the Uglies ( we can't even do it to Hearts without them doing it to us ) but if we added these seats to the 3 home stands we could accommodate more Hibs fans and still accommodate 4000 away fans .... more money for us = more money for the team long term.

Yes you can talk about cost per seat of the build .... In Spurs new stadium that was allegedly £19,000 per seat .... the new Hearts stand worked out at nearly £3000 per seat ..... you wouldn't be talking about anything like that if Hibs went down the basic route, as they did with the east.

[Frazerbob]

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Anderlecht stadium.jpg Thanks to the other poster, had a look at Anderlechts. This.... could.... work for Easter Road either side of the FF. Smaller hospitality style block for the small area between West and FF, normal fill in on the other. Probably leave both corners at either side

I remember we were all drooling over their stadium after we played them in 1992. Still looks cracking for a mid-sized ground.

[Hibs Go Bragh]

I'm sure it's Nottingham Forest who have like a multi storey style structure in one corner with hospitality boxes. It does look a bit temporary in its appearance so I 'd want something better looking but we could easily put this in the north west corner (maybe even south west as well) imagine groups of 10-12 with their own private box, unlimited food and drink and seating right outside the window. It would sell out every home game!

If we're talking complete fantasy then I'd go back in time and rebuild the east as a two tier stand. We could fill in the corners easy, it would take less time to exit the east, less people would leave early, more people would be there to clap the players off, people wouldn't have their view restricted by folks leaving early. Seeing as we've no football problems just now this would solve all our remaining problems in one lol

[One Day Soon]

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I'm sure it's Nottingham Forest who have like a multi storey style structure in one corner with hospitality boxes. It does look a bit temporary in its appearance so I 'd want something better looking but we could easily put this in the north west corner (maybe even south west as well) imagine groups of 10-12 with their own private box, unlimited food and drink and seating right outside the window. It would sell out every home game!

If we're talking complete fantasy then I'd go back in time and rebuild the east as a two tier stand. We could fill in the corners easy, it would take less time to exit the east, less people would leave early, more people would be there to clap the players off, people wouldn't have their view restricted by folks leaving early. Seeing as we've no football problems just now this would solve all our remaining problems in one lol

When the Euros were mooted for a UK bid around about 2000 a study was done showing how the east could be given another tier. I think it was a proposal for a temporary additional level, but it is possible.

[tamig]

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When the Euros were mooted for a UK bid around about 2000 a study was done showing how the east could be given another tier. I think it was a proposal for a temporary additional level, but it is possible.

The stadium footprint has been reduced significantly since these plans were being mooted. And before the new East was designed and built.

[CentreLine]

The design of ER was future proofed at time of building. The architects ensured that it would be possible to fill in all four corners at some later date, if required. That’s not necessarily entirely with seating. There are tv studios and hospitality boxes to be considered too.
I spoke with Garry O’Hagan last season and he confirmed it was still possible today.

Personally I would want to raise the corner seating five or six feet above the existing seating. That would allow for simple segregation solutions and also ensure no restricted views.

[DickieDastardly]

The East stand was built with capacity to add a mid level concourse, it also has a structure which allows a hotel or similar to be built within.

It would be great to see the corners filled in but we are a long long way off that ever happening. Oh and getting out of the east at FT even from halfway up is brutal - I can understand people leaving early.

[Phil MaGlass]

Dont know why they just dont put a massive tent up in the gap between the east and FF and put portable bars in there and a bit of live music before the games. Oh just to add, I think it would be a waste of cash filling the corners in as it wont guarantee more income and from what I have experienced from my club in the Hague, fans hardly ever sit in these seats.

[JeMeSouviens]

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When the Euros were mooted for a UK bid around about 2000 a study was done showing how the east could be given another tier. I think it was a proposal for a temporary additional level, but it is possible.

When it didn't happen we sold the car park area behind the east stand and there are blocks of flats there now. You'd have to knock those down to make it possible again.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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Dont know why they just dont put a massive tent up in the gap between the east and FF and put portable bars in there and a bit of live music before the games. Oh just to add, I think it would be a waste of cash filling the corners in as it wont guarantee more income and from what I have experienced from my club in the Hague, fans hardly ever sit in these seats.

When it comes to stadium revamps it's not always about simply increasing the capacity. There's also the look and feel of the stadium, modernising it to make it more user friendly ( eg quicker access to and exit from stands ) and better aesthetics and atmosphere. Real Madrid have just spent 1.5 billion quid that only added a mere 4000 seats to an 81,000 capacity stadium.

It might not 'guarantee' income .... but it gives the ability to increase it if demand rises. As I pointed out in another post, when Hibs increased ER by 3000 seats 15 years ago ( all in the home stands it should be remembered ) our average crowds justified it even less than adding 1000 to 1,500 seats would be justified now. How often in that 15 years have Hibs had crowds over the 17,500 capacity ER was before the east was built?

EG .... Last season we had several home crowds over 17,500 to a total of 8,389 for those games ( every one of those extra fans was a Hibs fan ) over what we would have got if we hadn't built the new east, that was during a season when we were utter pish and following two seasons where we had finished 5th and 7th. That really puts to bed any thought that if this club was to have even a reasonable period of success we couldn't use another 1000 or so seats.

[GreenCastle]

A question is what will happen in say 20 years time…

Will Hibs knock down and rebuild any of the stands ?

If I was a jambo I would be concerned about the state of their crap stands - only a matter of time before they need replaced.

[overdrive]

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When it didn't happen we sold the car park area behind the east stand and there are blocks of flats there now. You'd have to knock those down to make it possible again.

You could probably build a small second tier within the existing footprint if it overhangs some of the existing seating. IIRC, the top tier of the main stand at Ibrox was built within the existing footprint. Only thing is, you'd probably not then be able to fill in the corners as I think they had to build those two staircases in the corners at either end of that stand for access, unless you could do something internally within the East.

[Thatdayinmay16]

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Dont know why they just dont put a massive tent up in the gap between the east and FF and put portable bars in there and a bit of live music before the games. Oh just to add, I think it would be a waste of cash filling the corners in as it wont guarantee more income and from what I have experienced from my club in the Hague, fans hardly ever sit in these seats.

Not sure I agree with a tent but certainly an extra building block or area like the below between the West and FF or the East & FF would be great.

You could give Sky/BT/Premier sports & Hibs TV the top area with a lounge like you see in many stadiums where the pundits sit and go over the game. The rest could be sold as hospitality or area's for fans/sponsors etc.

[overdrive]

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Dont know why they just dont put a massive tent up in the gap between the east and FF and put portable bars in there and a bit of live music before the games. Oh just to add, I think it would be a waste of cash filling the corners in as it wont guarantee more income and from what I have experienced from my club in the Hague, fans hardly ever sit in these seats.

I was at a game at Millwall last season. There was a warehouse type building on the corner of the street that approached the stadium (probably akin to St Clair St but not as big as that) that Millwall had taken over as a sort of fan zone. It got me thinking if that unit on the corner of St Clair St / Hawkhill Ave that is currently Wolselly ever became available whether the club would be interested in taking it over. Could have a fan zone, additional hospitality, offices or small museum, etc. and provide extra parking for staff and the media, etc.

[Hibs90]

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Two sure-fire signs that Hibs are currently good:

- The things being moaned about are trivial

- Threads about filling in the corners

Long may it continue

I remember threads like this from waaaaaaaaaay back in the day.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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Not sure I agree with a tent but certainly an extra building block or area like the below between the West and FF or the East & FF would be great.

You could give Sky/BT/Premier sports & Hibs TV the top area with a lounge like you see in many stadiums where the pundits sit and go over the game. The rest could be sold as hospitality or area's for fans/sponsors etc.

Would be perfect for the Southwest corner ...... but you would still need to leave clearance underneath it because that's the entrance for ambulances and the like in an emergency.

[itslegaltender]

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When the Euros were mooted for a UK bid around about 2000 a study was done showing how the east could be given another tier. I think it was a proposal for a temporary additional level, but it is possible.

It was for Scotlands own 2008 Euro bid that got broken when Jack McDonnell became FM and insisted we join up with Ireland despite UEFA at the time saying a solo bid was preferred.

[Ribs1875]

I would love to see the Gordons use that bit of land to build a hotel to lease out something similar to the village hotel, gym and spa complex.

[Since90+2]

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I was at a game at Millwall last season. There was a warehouse type building on the corner of the street that approached the stadium (probably akin to St Clair St but not as big as that) that Millwall had taken over as a sort of fan zone. It got me thinking if that unit on the corner of St Clair St / Hawkhill Ave that is currently Wolselly ever became available whether the club would be interested in taking it over. Could have a fan zone, additional hospitality, offices or small museum, etc. and provide extra parking for staff and the media, etc.

Would be brilliant.

That's a sizeable bit of land though, the cost to buy it then build something like that would be huge you would imagine.