Correct, it's just past the Albion pub on Liverpool road. It was the old ICI rec club that went bust last year. It's a massive piece of land that Ste O' Conner has bought.

Ste O'Conner has also rescued Widnes St maries club and has bought their club house and pitches and paid off the 40k debt the club had run up.

Not really stadium picture related, but looking at the season ticket brochure I could not help but notice that the capacities of the respective stands has changed somewhat since the last set of plans on the council website.

Overall capacity was 17984 its now listed as 17986

The respective stand capacities ignoring disabled for now are as follows:-

North stand seating was 4635 now is 4718
South stand seating was 5344 now is 5233
East stand terrace was 3949 standing now is 3899
west stand terrace was 3808 standing now is 3796
East stand seating was 46 now is 81
West stand seating was 62 now is 118

The respective wheelchair capacity was 140 and is now 141

Northstand Wheelchair was 42 now is 44
Southstand wheelchair was 58 now is 60
East stand wheelchair was 18 now is 5
West stand wheelchair was 22 now is 32

With regard to disabled provision, originally a significant proportion was pitchside. However for the final build the majority of disabled viewing will actually be in elevated positions. This offers a large improvement for those who are mobility impaired.

Get the feeling saints may get into a similar situation as Warrington have. The home end behind the goals will be full but a lot of the seats will be empty I think. A bigger terrace and a few less seats would have been better IMO.

Saints have 10k seats to sell, I think that is too many when most people are used to standing up at KR.

Again, I still don't understand why they havn't tried to emulate the popular side from the old ground, I can't believe Salford didn't do the same and make a 'modern shed'.

If we average between 13-14000 next season that will be good for St Helens more will be a bonus any less and we don't deserve to have a top 3 side in superleague

Why would you want to? Standing up is for chavs and ultras. Saints want to market the sport to families and encourage the blokes to bring the Mrs and the kids.

I don't get all this 'Saints won't sell any tickets for the new ground' nonsense. We are getting 6k crowds because it's in Widnes. Neither Wigan nor Warrington would have had better averages in the same situation. There seems to be a real buzz about the new ground and I reckon we're going to be set for a well attended future.

Knowsley Road was an absolute state. It was a filthy, horrendous mess. If you hadn't had it in your makeup since you were a kid you wouldn't love it. If you rolled up there to 'try it' you would walk away thinking about tetanus jabs and feeling like you've been thrown back to the 1900s.

I'd be amazed if we get less than 10,000 season ticket holders.

well said that man.

Not really sure what you are banging on about. Warrington don't have lots of empty seast at all. In fact they are adding more seats for the start of next season!

I didn't mean that. I mean the fact they fill the terrace and can't fit everyone in the terrace a lot of the time. A bigger terrace would be better. That is where the demand is.

Again, not really sure what you mean in terms of Warrington. The seats are almost always full (very difficult to get 2 seats together), the South Stand (home terrace) is often full and there is usually space on the West Stand (terracing). Generally, anybody who wants to stand at Warrington can do, apart from the sell out games against Wigan and Saints.

The balance at the HJ is for mine, perfect, and probably the same at Saints. The main stand at Saints was terrible, with shoddy seats and restricted views, they will see demand for the seating areas shoot up, guaranteed.

I am talking about the home terrace. I don't think it will be big enough at saints for most of the games. It will probably sell-out every game.

Same at Warrington. They need a bigger home terrace because that is where the demand is...

Understand? I realise I explained it wrong in the first place in relation to the seats...

Warrington's home terrace does not sell out most games. It has had an increase this year in sold out games, but generally you could get a ticket on matchday, and for many games pay on the door.

Clubs can charge more money for people to sit down, they will want to fill as many seats as possible, and Saints will see a shift in people who want to sit rather than stand. It's happened at Warrington, and tbh, many fans just don't want to go in that stand due to the people populating it.

For the Wire v Wigan game, more tickets have been sold for the seats than for the standing areas, so your point doesn't stack up at warrington at least.

Er, this is a thread about the SAINTS stadium. Thanks anyway.

I went to one of the season ticket forums tonight and took a look at the plans. Chatted with two of the staff about the changes.

I'd heard a rumour that the stadium wasn't going to be enclosed after all so I asked about this. Apparently Saints had to re-apply for planning permission to clad the North Stand due to concerns regarding wind resistance. Saints believe that the North Stand will be cladded by the handover date BUT it won't be totally enclosed. For safety reasons, there will be a gap of about one metre from the roof to the cladding. This is to allow the wind to pass through.

Unfortunately for those of us in the West Stand, and the same goes for the East Stand, we will not be cladded by handover date or indeed any time in the foreseeable future as the cost has become a problem. Ultimately it is hoped these stands will be cladded but there is no date as yet. There will be some wall behind, as there is in the photos, but that's as good as it gets for us plebs! I suppose something had to suffer for the reduced sale price of Knowsley Road and maybe that is it (or maybe it isn't!). Hopefully the open ends won't affect the atmosphere too much and hopefully the wind won't blow through too strongly! Should the day ever arrive when Saints are in a position to afford cladding to each end then there will be a one metre gap left at the top to avoid the wind blowing the whole thing down.

I can also confirm about the doors in one corner and the screen will be in the other corner. I forgot to ask whether those corners would be enclosed.

I have to confess that I'm really disappointed that the stadium isn't going to be enclosed. I'm not blaming anyone other than the banks for causing the credit crunch which no doubt has contributed to rising costs and limited available funds. But I'm still very disappointed about that. I was really looking forward to the atmosphere that would be generated in an enclosed stadium, and to the protection from the elements that an enclosed stadium would bring.

I also asked whether season ticket sales were going well. The member of staff told me that they were, and told me that there were a lot of people renewing who had given Widnes a miss.

So much for the myth espoused by some that the reason for the low crowds at Widnes were due to financial hardship! More likely couldn't be ahsed.

Try reading the posts. They are about the seating:standing ratio at Saints' ground, with reference to Wire's ground as to how it will shift at the new ground and whether the split should have been different.

There have been many comparisons with other grounds throughout this thread, and they are relevant, just like the above posts.

I'm not interested. This thread is about the Saints stadium. Wigan and Warrington fans should compare theirs between themselves and not on here.

That's ridiculous! I'm not only disappointed but disgusted at this. I understand the financial constraints but that is farcical to say the least in terms of planning etc. The damn thing is gonna look half finished!

I'm not interested in your high and mighty attitude but don't go on about it. Read all my posts in this thread, from memory, every single one refers to Saints' ground.

There was not a single comparison between Wire and Wigan's grounds. Not one. Can you read properly?

Sounds horrific. If they've run out of money to clad the outside (Not a massive expense) then how are they going to finish the internals? Or are they not going to bother with that as well? And what about the seats? Are we actually going to have seats?

Surely to god Tesco could fork out for the additional cladding? Tell them if they don't, we'll take theirs.

Of course we are. Don't you see them? There are three: one for the Chairman, one for the CEO and one for the coach. Everyone else gets a new line in stadium seating, otherwise known as concrete steps.

Us in the West Stand are the posh lot. We get barriers to lean on!

Interesting to read about what you were told about the cladding of the East and West stands.

If you look at the official plans they never appeared to show any cladding on the West and East stands, only cladding on the North and South stands.

So from that perspective nothing has changed.

I might also point out that the original perimeter was supposed to be wooden posts with metal fencing.
Changing this to solid Blockwork is an upgrade in the actual build.
It also means fans in the West and East will have a reasonable amount of weather protection. A four meter high wall will pretty much protect you from wind and rain when combined with the large roof overhang. Certainly when i was there last week when it was chucking it down, all the concourses were dry.
This would certainly not be the case if we just had a fence around the edge of the ground.

So are we now saying the ends will be open at the back? So the vending outlets will effectively be outside? Seems bizarre? So how it looks now is basically it?

It can't be an expensive part of the build putting some cladding up surely?

I am only relaying what the member of staff told me. The club has planned and still does plan to clad the whole stadium but the money is not there to clad the West and East Stands at present. On the DVD the stadium was clearly presented as an enclosed stadium with cladding all around. The plans might not have shown that at the time but nor did they show the correct layout of the kitchen, the shop or the press room as all these have changed since the plans were originally drawn up. It is as has been suggested earlier a 'design and build' stadium which seems to translate as the original plans mean very little! I think quite a bit will have changed; it's whether the impact of the changes will be noticed by fans I suppose. No cladding on the ends will be noticed from the outside definitely; I think it will look a bit odd from the outside. But whether fans will notice it inside the stadium remains to be seen.

Incidentally, the two sticky out bits on either side of the curve (interrupting it's oval effect), where I think there are entrances, are also new. They too have something to do with wind resistence but also the one nearest Tesco has something to do with the proximity of the stadium to Tesco although the member of staff couldn't be specific about that.

Anyway, I'm over my disappointment. It was good to have the conversation and I renewed my season ticket which is great. I enjoyed watching old Saints Superleague victories, including the 70-0 match, while waiting patiently with others for over an hour to renew. Hopefully there will continue to be lots of season tickets bought!

Yes, but with cladding along the back wall of the North Stand including the corners. It will look odd from the outside I think but hey-ho, that's what it's going to be.

The venting outlets will also be above the cladding along the North Stand. There will be a one metre gap between the roof and the cladding. Apparently Eastlands soccer stadium is built the same way. And the Emirates. But since I don't watch soccer I have no idea what they look like! (But they have cladding all the way around, obviously, because they aren't poor rugby league clubs!)

Quote ="Saddened!"So are we now saying the ends will be open at the back? So the vending outlets will effectively be outside? Seems bizarre? So how it looks now is basically it? It can't be an expensive part of the build putting some cladding up surely?'" I am only speculating on the "final look" but what Saintsfan said, does make sense. As for the cost of cladding, It doesnt come cheap. The cladding for the Olympic stadium which is basically just a temporary plastic curtain, is costed at £7 million. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14385896 Someone worked out the cost as around £330 per square metre.

Quote ="Saddened!"So are we now saying the ends will be open at the back? So the vending outlets will effectively be outside? Seems bizarre? So how it looks now is basically it? It can't be an expensive part of the build putting some cladding up surely?'" I am only speculating on the "final look" but what Saintsfan said, does make sense. As for the cost of cladding, It doesnt come cheap. The cladding for the Olympic stadium which is basically just a temporary plastic curtain, is costed at £7 million. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14385896 Someone worked out the cost as around £330 per square metre.

Having a gap at the top, will let the stadium breath. When a stadium is completely enclosed such as Old Trafford or Wembley, it affects the ability of the pitch to grow. It can also make for a pretty stifling atmosphere as air circulation is impaired.

Many modern stadia such as the City of Manchester stadium are built with louvred panels that are opened electrically when the stadium is not in use.

This picture below shows the open panels in the far corner between the executive boxes and the third seating tier

Check out this pic showing what Leicester citys stadium is like at the rear www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhubbard/3077344768/ Wonder if Saints will do something like this and put big sponsors adverts between the posts

Check out this pic showing what Leicester citys stadium is like at the rear www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhubbard/3077344768/ Wonder if Saints will do something like this and put big sponsors adverts between the posts