Note to self.....make sure you built it big enough in the first place. Its costing Wire a cool £2m to increase their capacity from 13k to 15k. www.warringtonwolves.org/buildin ... future-405 Hats off for making the investment but cant help but think a bit of foresight (or increased budget) in the first place would have saved a lot of cash. Saints 18000 capacity is looking like a well informed decision.

Note to self.....make sure you built it big enough in the first place. Its costing Wire a cool £2m to increase their capacity from 13k to 15k. www.warringtonwolves.org/buildin ... future-405 Hats off for making the investment but cant help but think a bit of foresight (or increased budget) in the first place would have saved a lot of cash. Saints 18000 capacity is looking like a well informed decision.

Wire have gone about it the right way, in a different manner to us going about it the right way.

They listened to fans RE standing, but also set themselves an achievable capacity to aim for. Nothing worse than having a 1/3rd empty stadium every week. And how many times has it actually sold out.

Hopefully, we can aim twards a 15k average each week in a new home, with games against Wire and Wigan been sell outs.

thats it, wire were averaging about 7-8k at wilderspool, obviously a big upturn in their form has boosted crowds as well.

With them you have to applaud their decision to expand. Their original decision is hard to question really when the HJ was probably built at around 225% of their average at the time the decision making was done. They've come a long way as a club in general since that move.

Your bang on!!! Look at our place!!! We have average attendances of over 16000 now (highest in superleague) but our place still looks empty in spaces. I would love a ground like Wire and have the option to expand if necessary

Don't forget original capacity was set at 14,000+ but was reduced as the terracing became too cramped at that level.

With it being the same construction company being responsible for the design and build of your stadium you have to hope they have learnt from their mistakes. I would imagine that the calculations for arriving at the capacity will be based upon the same design standards but at Warrington I think it is the layout and spacing of barriers together with size of the going on the terrace being in-adeqaute that causes the problems.

You'll never know until the opening night whether the calculations are right of not.

The Wire were getting on average 5000-5500 per game at wilderspool. So they have added 60-70% growth since moving to the HJ

Think your being very generous there pal if you dont mind me saying.Wire use to get say 4.000 to 5,ooo on average as per home game depending on opposition of course 7,ooo to 8,000 would be the likes of wigan,saints,widnes.
When wires moved from wilderspool you could say we doubled our crowds all of a sudden!!
Yet wigan moved from central park to the DW and lost so many thousand!!strange but true.

well i only noticed the crowds when i was there!
and perhaps wigans crowds went down as there dominance did, like yours went up as your team got much better?

I may be wrong, but I think Wigan's attendances had already quite seriously dwindled before they left Central Park.

Funny you should write this, as when i found out Barr had got the job, my first thought was about Barr "manipulting" the stadium capacity figure when built, for the HJ in Warrington.

Looking at the projected terrace capacities at Saints new ground. They do look larger stands than at the HJ, yet have stand capacities approximately the same as your terrace behind the sticks. So hopefully we wont suffer anything like the issues you guys did when the ground opened.

Wrong, some were disenchanted by the move from CP, as everyone wanted CP redeveloped not turned into a supermarket. I know one of two that havent bought a season ticket since, a bit crazy if you ask me but its not my money to spend!

New Stadiums are the way forward, but its inevitable that some atmosphere is lost whilst in an all seater stadium.

I think its a difficult one,Wire fans fought tooth and nail to get a new stadium maybe we saw it as a way forward!
It was a bit different with with wigan and i have mates who watch or use to watch .Your new ground went on the other side of town,so lets say average joe use to get a bus to go and watch his beloved wigan,Now all of a sudden average joe had to get 2 buses to go and watch them play..
I know you say some were disenchanted by the move i would say it is down to shear stubboness.

You either support your team or you dont.

I think it has something to do with DW is all seated but HJ has a standing pop side, great for atomosphere.

can end that sentence there !

Surely that is what your gay Ultras are for?

havnt you got these two words the wrong way round?

thanks!!!

When they were skirting with relegation and their kit suppliers wouldn't supply any more kits through lack of payment and just before Warrington Borough Council bailed them out to the tune of £1.5M, the crowd was down to 4500.

So yes its a massive turn around for them. Hope we get a similar "new stadium effect".

Strangely enough the year we flirted with relegation was 2002, the year that the stadium got the go-ahead. The council actually bought Wilderspool for £1 million and the loaned the club £250,000. In 1998 we were actually a couple of hours from going bust, but we didn't and we're still here. As regards the stadium, the club actually asked the fans what they wanted. As a result, we got the South Stand as the popular side and for most matches it is a sellout or close to a sellout. I'm not saying that the HJ is perfect, but the layout should be a blueprint for RL stadiums. People want to have a choice between standing and seating and they don't just want to stand behind the posts.