Would Wello look faster with them NRL markings

Oh don't start Saddened! on Wello! Please!

Yeah it made viewing of a grounded ball hard, especially from little kick throughs.

Bad Idea

your somewhat wrong re the open concourses claim. I never said they were genius, just that on a pleasant summers day it would be better than a stifling concrete box, or words to that effect.

I did say the following though

"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."

Now this was based on what i had seen in summer. However having spoken to builders/security guards in September/October when the weather was worsening they confirmed that the concourses, particular the West stand concourses were getting very wet under heavy rain and wind. Clearly i was wrong and the concourses needed more protection.

The club have therefore themselves identified this and come up with an innovative solution re the perforated cladding. This in itself may prove to be a great move or just window dressing that wont really solve the weather protection issue.

With regard to Turnstiles, it seems purely a British thing to hide them away. In other countries they make features of them.

Stade Gilbert Brutus has a very impressive entrance



San Siro, less so but still a feature



The USA in particular likes to impress people as they enter a palace of sport.

They all look like shopping centre entrances though

and why would shopping centres opt for grand entrances?

Couple of things. Firstly, on your concourses point earlier in the therad, I actually agreed with you about it potentially being a pleasant experience.

My main issue is that when you praise something on this ground, you then often feel the need to criticise other grounds, as though this is a revolutionary build and that even things that don't necessarily look great are much better than other grounds. IIRC you have criticised enclosed concourses and enclosed turnstiles in this way, when in fact I expect they are built like this in this country due to the weather!

On the many examples of grounds you highlight, well you look to have selected the main entrances of most, and the couple you haven't look pretty terrible.

I feel that picking US stadia for comparison isn't a great source either.

Looks very good from the air..

It looks even better now as the cranes have gone and the landscaping has all been finished.

How often do they update the aerial photos?

Not often enough for me! But I want to see one every week and they must cost a fortune to take. I would imagine we'll get another one before the year's out. We've had three versions I think so far.

We need to get Bartonflyer from the Salford board over to St Helens, he takes a pic of the new Salford ground everytime he goes flying!

I know it might seem a bit premature to ask this, but has the stadium been designed in a way to easily build extensions to the capacity of the stadium?

Your new place looks very good.
Are Saints fans going to have your own version of the "Eamon McManus Stand"?
There won't be anything official like that but if you produced banners and flags and decided which part of the ground to "name" it could have a positive effect for the club and your chairman.
From outside of St Helens it seems that none of what has been built and now handed over would have happened without EM.
Just wondered if you'd thought about giving the bloke the credit that, IMO, he deserves by giving part of the ground his name!
As I mentioned, the club won't do it but the fans could!

Like calling one of the family stands "Eamon corner"

Showing your age?

Will the road in front of the South stand be the only area accessible to the public on a non match day?

I'm not sure, but it's pretty tight round the actual stadium, we could possibly build up, but that would be about it.

two corners could fit some in

Well here are my first set of pics from the completed stadium, (phase 1 anyway)

Lets just say that up close it just blows you away. Especially when looking in the direction of Keirons statue from the Western side.
The stadium then becomes a thing of beauty, and well you just start to feel a bit like a kid in a toy shop.

I would advise any self respecting Saints fan to make the pilgrimage and go for a walk round the stadium. The Tesco's which opens on Monday makes for a perfect parking spec. It really will take your breath away.

Today there was a steady stream of people walking or cycling up past the south stand, i spoke with many and all were very very impressed.

Anyway enjoy.


Paragons portacabins have been fitted in the East stand



A close inspection of the East stand turnstiles shows the shuutters down to prevent the incursion of undesirables



The South stand with a car parked in front of it. One of the many admirers of OUR stadium.



I managed to get some pictures inside the stadium, sorry about the reflections however it was unavoidable due to sticking my camera against the glass.

This is the community facility showing on the left between the double doors, the moveable partitions.



The main entrance. You need to go through two sets of doors to get inside. This should ensure the receptionist doesnt get cold from drafts. The floor is beautifully tiled in grey. In the background can be seen the reception desk.



The ticket office caters fully for wheelchair bound spectators, featuring a lower level ticket booth



The club shop and museum area is pretty spartan at present. Note on the right of the first picture what looks like a set of rugby posts. This is were the shop counter will i think go, as its linked by a doorway to the ticket office.
The club shop looks like it will be significantly larger than the shop in the town centre.





The cafe bar area is long but narrow. It currently has a classy looking wooden floor in need of a good clean and polish



end of part 1

Nice to meet you CM , these are what we came up with

Mrs G and I went for a walk around the stadium, all we could say was WOW!!! , the whole time we were there we couldnt stop smiling, it is superb close up , and a credit to Mr McManus and the board who have produced it

we started walking past Tesco`s , this is the view you will get coming from the McDonalds end




then we came across the mysterious red glass panels we have heard about , they dont seem to be in any kind of a pattern





they still look very stylish

as you can see you can now get quite close to the stadium



Mrs g couldnt resist touching the stadium (her first chance)



and a look at the bridgeworks




a section of the walkway


OK I will own up I couldnt resist hugging the stadium either !!icon_surprised.gif()icon_smile.gif



Ticket office looks really nice



as does what i think is the cafe bar



the mysterious hologram turns out to be a projection of some kind , i like the "Ex Terra Lucem" under it though



between the lift doors in the main reception is this plaque



stairway to heaven from the top



se turnstiles



and a couple of pictures of KC

Now onto "THE KINGS CORNER"

Magnificent.





THE KINGS CORNER features a wonderful open space with a rich red crushed glass surface. It looks like a giant red carpet.
I can imagine this being a place to congregate and meet up pre match. A place for small scale open air exhibitions, or just a performing space for street performers.



After being somewhat overwhelmed by the above, i decided i needed to be brought back down to Earth a bit.

For the first time i got a close up view of the West stand area.
The gap between Tesco's and the new stadium is indeed small but is still large enough to drive a bus between if need be.





The West and North stands look somewhat naked, utilitarian and lacking in the pageantry of their more illustrious Southern neighbour.
Its like coming from the Hermitage, to visiting a tower block.










end of part 2

All that greyness was depressing me, i needed more colour, so back i went to THE KINGS CORNER.



I decided to take a walk down the BOULEVARD OF SAINTS and followed a BMW that decided that the footpath would make a nice road to drive down.



The driver of the car was lucky that one of the "Sleeping policemen" was actually asleep.



walking along this path one comes across another carpet of red



note the wooden benches on the gabions. I just hope this is designated a no alcohol area, so that it remains a family friendly area on matchday.
Otherwise i just see see chav's galore descending on Tesco's for cheap Ale, before using this area to drink, urinate and fight in. I suppose the red floor would then hide the pools of blood.



Looking back at the stadium from just beyond this point however is a joy to behold

Seems as though a few of us was around about the same time taking pics. These are my contributions
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6291791961/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6291791961/StileKing_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

Looking down the South Stand

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6292313274/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6292313274/SouthStand_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

Now onto the bridgework

From the Tesco's you can see the ramp and preparations underway to lift the bridge stanchions into place. This pic also gives a good idea of how close the new stadium will be to the town centre, which can clearly be seen in the background



The footbridge rests on the back of a lorry, while Mr and Mrs Gruntfuttock are snapping away



The bridge supports look like a giant set of ribs, lets hope they help breath new life into the town centre of St.Helens.



close up of the footbridge, magnificently resplendent in red and white.





Bridge works ongoing






Finally i must end with a brief snagging report

This lamp post seems somewhat worse for wear, missing not only a lamp but being bent and buckled






I noticed while looking inside that there is exposed wiring still were electrical sockets have not been fitted.
Some of the white walkway also looks of poor quality as well.

Worst of all though was this abomination



Just look at it. How dare such an affront to Saints be placed close to the main entrance. Have people not learned from when Pilks hoisted the pie petard on one of their chimneys. Get this repainted at once.