The Latest On Craven Cottage Expansion

[White Noise]

A response from the club posted earlier on TIFF -


Hi David

There won't be any large scale building works or capacity increases over the coming close season, but we do continue to assess options for future stadium redevelopments.

Our CEO revealed earlier in the year at a Fans Forum that ideally we would look to increase the capacity once demand from home supporters starts to exceed our current limits. For us, this probably means looking to build our support in the Putney End in the coming years to ensure that we are in a position to maximise the benefits of any regular increases to matchday capacity. This continues to be one of our principal aims, and as such we very much appreciate your continued support .

Kind regards

Tommy
Supporter Relations

Incidently the permission granted in 2001 for expansion of the ground to 30000 will have expired by now>

[White Noise]

Tommy has also replied to a thread on the official board supporting a drummer being installed right at the back of The Hammersmith End Stand -

Reply by Tommy Guthrie 19 hours ago

I'm afraid this is most likely a non-starter.



Under the terms of the Grounds Regulations musical instruments are not permitted inside the stadium, although for a time there was special dispensation for a drum at the rear of the Hammersmith End.



As quite a lot of regular fans will know, the drum was 'kept up' as a personal tribute to a fan who passed away in very sad circumstances. Unfortunately its presence at games did generate a number of complaints from other fans in the area who were unhappy about the decibel level.



As a result of this, we looked into it in more depth and there were genuine concerns that the presence of the drum contravened health & safety guidance. This could have caused problems for supporters in the area and as a result, regrettably, we had to remove the dispensation.



Were we to add a drum (or indeed any other instrument) again then in order to satisfy regulations we would need to identify an area outwith the main seating deck of the stands. I think I'm right in saying this is currently the set-up at some other grounds, such as Bolton.



Unfortunately with space at the front of the stands and pitchside currently very tight, we really don't have an area at present that would be suitable for setting up an instrument.



I hope this helps to clarify the position.



Tommy

Supporter Relations



Read more: http://cc.fulhamfc.com/forum/topics/we-want-to-be-able-to-have-a?id=3232738%3ATopic%3A848085&page=3#comments#ixzz1LNpdqBg6

[Airfix]

Re: the drum.  To be honest, I have all but given up hope of them ever letting it back in.  I refuse to sit anywhere other than with my friends, I truly do not believe that Graham would have wanted me to compromise my enjoyment of games to accommodate the drum.  If the club truly want it back, they need to allow for it to be used within the crowd in some way.

:airfix: :drums: :airfix:

[The Equalizer]

I'd actually be surprised if demand wasn't exceeding capacity at the moment. I know that a lot of people aren't renewing season tickets next season for certain moonwalking reasons, but surely they are in a massive minority? Last season we sold out our season ticket allocation well in advance of the season beginning and our average attendances have been higher than ever in home areas.

Perhaps it's time to take that risk and expand a little?

Good words on the drum too. First official statement that I've seen, other than via Airfix's incessant ramblings in H6...

[epsomraver]

The sell outs are contrived with loads of deals with local schools for the lesser matches, for the big four we have loads or tourists, our fan base could never fill the cottage.

[ImperialWhite]

The sell outs are contrived with loads of deals with local schools for the lesser matches, for the big four we have loads or tourists, our fan base could never fill the cottage.

True - for games like Wigan, Blackburn, Hull of seasons gone by they have been practically giving tickets away.

I'd argue the true size of our match attending fan base is reflected in the numbers for cup games. This season - in an FA Cup tie against a Premier League side for a place in the quarter finals (Bolton, 0-1), the attendance was 19,571. Tickets were what, about £20 each?

Would love to see the return of the drum, incidentally. Airfix, do you know who was complaining? Sounds to me like bit of an excuse from the club tbh.

[White Noise]

What does exceeding capacity actually mean though?

At the fans Forum that WhiteJC attended they said we had sold 17,000 ST's - which I am fairly sure was up from 14k plus the season before this.

Given how many seats we have to make available to visiting clubs fans and also have to put on general sale to fans I would guess that we need to have achieved about 20k plus ST sales before the club would consider it.

If it were me considering adding in another 4-5,000 seats I would would want a ST waiting list of at least 2,000 people and plenty of frustrated posts on boards like this from fans struggling to get tickets before feeling the demand was there.

Tommy mentions above that their goal is expanding the Fulham presence (and I guess the Fulham ST presence) in the Putney End. Given that the Putney End probably holds about 6,500 plus supporters and probably only has maybe 1,000 ST holders at the moment, there is probably a fair way to go.

[TonyGilroy]

The best way of building support though is for there to be spare capacity so that casuals can attend matches and catch the bug.

If we're planning to be permanent members of the Premier League we need to expand capacity provided the cost is manageable. If we're just at this level for a while before reverting to a lower level then capacity as is is fine.

[jarv]

Sorry but, if I was sitting next to someone beating on a drum throughout the game, he would probably be wearing it as a necklace before the end. :005:

[LBNo11]

Sorry but, if I was sitting next to someone beating on a drum throughout the game, he would probably be wearing it as a necklace before the end. :005:

...a good point, but if you were told by the club on ordering your season ticket that it was near the drummer and where all the noisy fans are then you could go elsewhere - but as the club did not say so and so many tourists were given places in the noisy part of the HE then it was bound to lead to conflicts.

I would also suggest that those unfortunates who have stood next to me would realise that I was louder than the drum, and bigger than the drum, and just as badly out of tune!

Does that mean that the club should have banned me - or put me in the 'increased decibel corner'..?

[The Equalizer]

Sorry but, if I was sitting next to someone beating on a drum throughout the game, he would probably be wearing it as a necklace before the end. :005:

...a good point, but if you were told by the club on ordering your season ticket that it was near the drummer and where all the noisy fans are then you could go elsewhere - but as the club did not say so and so many tourists were given places in the noisy part of the HE then it was bound to lead to conflicts.

I would also suggest that those unfortunates who have stood next to me would realise that I was louder than the drum, and bigger than the drum, and just as badly out of tune!

Does that mean that the club should have banned me - or put me in the 'increased decibel corner'..?

My doctor has advised me to launch legal proceedings against you for damage to my rhythm.

[LBNo11]

...blimey Equalizer, I didn't realise you were Catholic..?

[Burt]

Tommy refers to "building support in the Putney End" - does this mean that the "neutral zone" will disappear?

[TonyGilroy]

Not entirely but they will have to sit on season ticket holders' laps.

[manxman]

Tommy refers to "building support in the Putney End" - does this mean that the "neutral zone" will disappear?

i hope so!!