Photo credits: San Jose Earthquakes – Facebook official

It has been a while since we published an update on the works of some new stadiums under construction, but we will take you once more along the construction sites of some of the football stadiums of the future.

The photo on the top is of the new San Jose Earthquakes stadium, where were works have only recently started and there is therefore not much to see yet. That said, the stadium is scheduled to be finished within one year from now, so we’ll soon be able to show something more substantial.

Next up is a Brazilian stadium, but not a World Cup one, though it could easily have featured in it. The Allianz Parque – yes, another in the portfolio of insurance firm Allianz – is a completely private initiative of Palmeiras in partnership with entertainment group AEG. It is scheduled to be ready later this year, and apart from serving as Palmeiras’ new home, will also become one of Sao Paulo’s principal concert venues. The boys of One Direction have already been booked for two shows next May.

Photo credits: Allianzparque.com.br

Next up, we do have a World Cup stadium, though one that will feature in the 2018 edition. Spartak Moscow has long desired an own home, and will finally have one next year when the Otkritie Arena opens.

Photo credits: Otkritie Arena – Twitter official

It will take a little longer before Bordeaux can move into their new home, but right now they will most of all be relieved that works are in progress at all. After several long delays, these finally started earlier this year, and the new stadium is about to rise up from the ground.

Photo credits: nouveau-stade-bordeaux.com

Works aren’t progressing exactly according to plan either in Zabrze, Poland, but there is already much more finished of Górnik Zabrze’s new Stadion w Zabrzu. The expectation is that one of these days the first seats are going to be installed.

Photo credits: Stadion w Zabrzu – Facebook official

The excitement is also building up in Israel, where Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium is nearing completion. The below photo was taken a few months ago, and right now there are only a few last touches left. No official opening has been planned yet though, which may just make it before the end of the year or otherwise early next year.

Photo credit: Wikimedia user Oyoyo

Finally, we return to Brazil to have a look at one of the World Cup stadiums that is still under construction. Good news has been coming in from São Paulo, where the Arena Corinthians (or Arena de Itaquera) is on schedule to be completed well in advance of the World Cup. It will host the opening match featuring Brazil and one of the two semi-finals.

Photo credits: Copa2014.gov.br

Construction update – October 2013

In less than a week time, two brand new arenas opened in Europe. On Monday, Athletic inaugurated their new San Mamés with a match versus Celta de Vigo, and today it was the turn to OGC Nice to unveil their new Allianz Riviera in a match against Valenciennes.

However, if we compare both situations, there are few similarities. The case of Bilbao is one that makes many football fans bemoan modern day football as the old Estadio San Mamés was one of Europe’s most iconic stadiums. The oldest top-flight stadium of Spain made great fame with its patched-together stands, the arch over the main stand, and the fanatic home crowd right on the pitch. It got demolished just before it turned 100 years old.

Modern day football is not for the nostalgic though, and the case for a new stadium was easy to make. There is also not much wrong with the new San Mamés. Its exterior is outright stunning and makes for a splendid sight towering over the river Nervión. The interior ticks all boxes of what a modern stadium should look like with great sightlines, modern facilities, and the small middle tier that caters exclusively for the hospitality crowd. There are clear resemblances with the Emirates Stadium and Estádio da Luz, both examples of best practices in modern stadium design, not least because of the waving top line of the upper tier.

That said, apart from its exterior, there is little that distinguishes it from your average modern arena, and one remains with the feeling that Athletic’s fans deserved something a little more unique. 

One thousand kilometres east in the south of France, Nice fans will have no such feelings. The Allianz Riviera is a magnificent new arena: an impressive exterior and roof formed of one part, excellent facilities and stands right on the pitch, and a distinctive small upper tier just to give it something of a different touch. Compared to the old, mostly uncovered, and dilapidated Stade du Ray, this is a massive leap forward.

While it is always hard to say goodbye to a stadium that has been a home for many years, few Nice fans will find it difficult to make the move. If one must find any gripes, then it is that it will take a little longer to get to the out-of-town Allianz Riviera in comparison with the central Stade du Ray. The rather odd name Allianz Riviera is something to get used to as well, but simply the result of all logical combinations with sponsor name Allianz already being taken (Brazilian Palmeiras had to resort to Allianz Parque). 

The big challenge for Nice lies in getting the Allianz Riviera to fill up. Their attendances at Stade du Ray were among the lowest of the league, but the Allianz Riviera had to have a capacity of 35,000 to be able to serve as a venue for the 2016 European Championships. Nice is a large city with a considerable amount of football tradition though, and that a new stadium can do wonders for attendances proved Lille when they moved into their new Stade Pierre Mauroy a year ago.

Athletic, on the other hand, will have no problems to pack their new San Mamés. The stadium is currently only two-thirds finished, which means a limited capacity of 35,000 for this season – about their average attendance at the old San Mamés. The new stadium will be a guaranteed sell-out in its first season and no tickets will go on public sale. In its second season, capacity will rise to 54,000, which will prove more challenging, but far from unattainable. 

Both teams got off to a good start at their new home with a 3-2 home win for Athletic and Nice beating Valenciennes with a convincing 4-0.

(Photo credits: San Mamés – Flickr user antxoa | Allianz Riviera – @villedenice)

Bilbao and Nice move into new modern homes

Some of you may already have noticed a gradual decline in the frequency of new posts. As is so often the case when a blog is merely a hobby, other commitments roar their head and and writing new articles moves down the priority list.

That’s why we have decided to turn the upcoming month (or two) into an official summer break and get back into the game when the new season kicks off in early August. The time we spend on stadiumguide.com in the meantime will then be fully dedicated to updating the ticket and travel details of the stadiums in our guide.

That’s not to say that it will be a summer without stadium news. We have said goodbye to Bilbao’s San Mamés a few weeks ago and are eagerly awaiting what the new San Mamés will look like.

Nice’s Allianz Riviera and Ghent’s Arteveldestadion are other stadiums that will be completed around the start or early in the new season, as is Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium.

Brazil has in the end managed to complete all stadiums in time for the Confederations Cup, but the rest of the World Cup stadiums need a good few more months to get completed. In fact, it is a non-World Cup stadium – the Palmeiras Arena – that is the next large stadium to open in Brazil.

Once Nice’s Allianz Riviera gets completed, eyes will move on the projects in Lyon and Bordeaux, where construction works have finally started. Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome already has one new stand and a roof, while works also continue of Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup can also record its first completed arena with the opening of a spectacular new stadium in Kazan. Stockholm’s new Tele2 Arena is neither too shabby, and fans of Poland’s Górnik will be getting a taste of what their new stadium will look like when the first new stands open.

We also promise you to give you the low-down on last season’s attendances in La Liga, Serie A, and some of Europe’s smaller leagues.

Overall, there is a lot to get excited about and we’ll be happy to get you the latest updates again once the new season kicks off.

(Photo via Skyscrapercity)

Summer break

For years the English Premier League has held a solid second position if it comes to average league attendances, trailing only the German Bundesliga.

However, in our Bundesliga review we concluded that German clubs had taken a step back in attendances, which brings up the question whether this means that the Premier League is catching up, or if English clubs are showing similar declines.

These are the findings of our analysis of the attendances in the 2012-13 Premier League season:

• It has been a good year for Premier League attendances with an impressive 3.8% growth to an average of 35,921 spectators per match.
• Part of this growth was caused by the promoted trio of West Ham, Southampton, and Reading, who recorded significantly higher attendances than the relegated teams. Still, if we leave this effect out of account, the increase still amounts to 1.4%, which is nothing to look down on considering that many clubs already pack their grounds and have limited opportunity for growth [chart 1].
• Only two clubs saw attendances decline, of which only Stoke City’s decline was significant with 1.8% less fans that made their way to the Britannia Stadium.
• Everton recorded the most impressive numbers with an almost double-figure increase, and the tense relegation fight boosted the attendances of Aston Villa, Wigan, and Sunderland [chart 2 and 3].
• The EPL clubs sold out an incredible 95.1% of all available tickets, handily beating the Bundesliga on that metric. Four clubs sold out every single home match of the season, but Sunderland and Wigan failed to sell out at least once [chart 4 and 5].
• With little free capacity to spare it is no surprise that the EPL is the least volatile football league in the world in terms of attendances. On average, attendances only moved up or down by 5% from one home match to the next [chart 6].
• But even the clubs that did have some free capacity left showed relatively little up and down movements. English fans are rather non-impressed when the big teams come to town if you compare with other countries. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man United attracted the biggest crowds away from home, but difference were relatively small [table “” not found /]
  
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• Take care though not to read to much in the above analysis as it is tricky to only measure over one year – for example, Man United drops below Arsenal only because – inexplicably-  they were the 18th most popular team to visit Anfield.
• One league down, The Championship set an average attendance of 17,494 spectators per match, just beating the average of the 2. Bundesliga. Brighton topped the ranking, with Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County, and Nottingham Forest following at a decent distance [chart 7].

In conclusion, the Premier League can feel good about their season if it comes to attendances, and there is little to suggest that these numbers are unsustainable. The three promoted clubs will be a net-benefit, and while a more boring relegation fight and disappointing seasons of the likes of Everton and West Brom may dampen that effect a little, it is reasonable to expect that the medium-term average will remain around 35,000.

 If the league is going to take a stab at breaking the 40,000-mark, a further round of stadium expansion will be required though. The plans are there, and it looks that after years of relatively little action a few projects – think Swansea, West Ham – are finally getting off the ground so good times lie ahead.

Chart 1: league attendance average 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 2: club average attendances and ranking 2012-13

Chart 3: club average attendances 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 4: club fill rates 2012-13 (average attendance divided by stadium capacity)

Chart 5: number of sold out matches 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (sell out = fill rate of 97% or higher)

Chart 6: volatility of attendances (average attendance movement from one match to the next).

Table 1: appeal of clubs away from home (fill rate, position compared to other clubs, and extra spectator draw in absolute numbers)*

* read more about the methodology of above table here.

Chart 7: The Championship club average attendances and ranking 2012-13.

The 2012-13 Premier League season in attendances

Following up on our round-up of the Dutch Eredivisie attendances, we continue with the German Bundesliga. The Bundesliga had a record breaking 2011-12 season with an average of 45,116 spectators per match, by far the highest in Europe.

Have they been able to pull off a similar feat this season? Here is our summary:

• The answer to that question is a very resounding “no”. In fact, the decline in attendances has been significant with over 5.5% less visitors per match than last season, resulting in an average of 42,627 [chart 1].
• However, this decline was largely caused by the disappearance of three big clubs out of the league, with especially newly promoted Greuther Fürth bringing the average down. If we only look at the 15 clubs that played Bundesliga in both seasons, then the decrease is a more modest 1.85%.
• That said, things don’t look particularly well when we zoom in at club level. Twelve of the fifteen clubs saw attendances decline, with only Bayern (who added 2,000 additional seats to the Allianz Arena), successful Freiburg, and Dortmund the exception. Stuttgart, Hoffenheim, and Mainz noted the biggest relative losses [chart 2 and 3].
• There has been no sign of reduced interest at the big clubs though, with Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke playing (almost) every other week in front of a full house. Overall, less than 8% of all available tickets remained unsold this season, which was one percent more than last season [chart 4].
• There were less sell-outs as well, with the percentage of full houses dropping below 50% of the matches. The buzz of Bundesliga football and a new stadium seemed to have worn off at the likes of Hoffenheim, Mainz, and Augsburg, for whom a packed stadium was not as self-evident as a year ago. The hype of the Bundesliga was also lost on the inhabitants of Fürth.
• All clubs sold out at least two home matches though, which were the ones versus Bayern and Dortmund [chart 5].
• When free capacity increases, so tends to do the volatility of attendances, which we indeed see. On average, attendances moved 12% up or down from one home match to the next, with Nürnberg’s fans being the most fickle. Hannover and Stuttgart’s fans also turned out to be a lot less reliable in showing up than last season [chart 6].
• Nobody will be surprised to find out that Bayern and Dortmund were once again the most appealing guests as they drew the largest crowds away from home. Frankfurt, and to a lesser extent Düsseldorf, also proved to be welcome additions to the Bundesliga, whereas Hoffenheim, Augsburg, and Freiburg received the least enthusiasm away from home. Fürth saw their standing boosted by packing the Grundig Stadion of close neighbours Nürnberg, which is not done easily [table “” not found /]
  
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• The 2. Bundesliga recored a very respectable average attendance of 17,214 this season with FC Köln and champion Hertha BSC leading the pack. What stands out though is the inequality between the top and bottom clubs with bottom Sandhausen barely attracting 5,000 spectators per game.

After years of breaking attendance record after attendance record it was only a matter of time for the Bundesliga having to take a step back, which seems to have happened this season.

It is hard to identify a clear cause for this, though contributing factors might have been that ticket prices are not as cheap as the common perception is, that visitors may have been turned away by incidents with various dissatisfied fan groups, or simply that there has been relatively little competition at the top and bottom of the table (until the final day).

Whether this means that attendances are set to drop further or to bounce back is impossible to predict. But with on the one hand little stadium development being able to boost further growth and on the other a still very positive vibe surrounding the German game, one expects that attendances will find their medium-term equilibrium between 40,000 and 45,000.

Chart 1: league attendance average 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 2: club average attendances and ranking 2012-13

Chart 3: club average attendances 2012-13 vs 2011-12 and growth percentage

Chart 4: club fill rates 2012-13 (average attendance divided by stadium capacity)

Chart 5: number of sold out matches 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (sell out = fill rate of 97% or higher)

Chart 6: volatility of attendances (average attendance movement from one match to the next).

Table 1: appeal of clubs away from home (fill rate, position compared to other clubs, and extra spectator draw in absolute numbers)*

* read more about the methodology of above table here.

Chart 7: 2. Bundesliga club average attendances and ranking 2012-13.

The 2012-13 Bundesliga season in attendances

The Dutch Eredivsie is the first of Europe’s major leagues to finish. We have once more collected the attendances and will present you our findings below.

We will be a bit more to the point than last year, when we presented our conclusions in an extensive article, and instead just keep to a few bullet points followed by the charts.

These are our findings:

• The Eredivisie recorded a modest attendance growth of +0.62% to reach an average of 19,636 visitors per match. This growth, however, was primarily a function of the promoted clubs adding more spectators than the clubs that relegated. The 16 teams that played Eredivisie in both seasons noted a decline in attendances of -1.35 % [chart 1].
• Things don’t look good at all at club level, where 12 out of 16 clubs recorded declines in attendances. ADO Den Haag, VVV Venlo, and, surpisingly considering their excellent season, FC Utrecht provided the worst figures with all declines in the double digits. Holland’s big clubs were the exception and did relatively well [chart 2 and 3].
• If it comes to filling up stadiums, the province of Overijssel is king. The three clubs with the highest fill rate, i.e. Heracles Almelo, FC Twente, and PEC Zwolle all come from this north-eastern province. Traditional always-sell-outs like Groningen, Heerenveen, and NEC have dropped the ball this season and witnessed increasing numbers of empty seats [chart 4].
• Overall, 87.9 % of all available seats were filled this Eredivisie season and 29.4% of all matches sold out, which is significantly lower than last year’s 37.3% [chart 5].
• With more free capacity becoming available, logic states that attendances should move up and down more, which we see has indeed been the case in the Eredivisie this season. Whereas last season’s attendances typically moved 8% up or down from one match to the other, this has increased to 9% this season. ADO Den Haag’s fans are the most fickle with typical movements of 20% up or down, ranging from a high of 14,009 versus Ajax to a low of 8,254 versus Roda JC [chart 6].
• Holland’s “Big 3” were, as usual, the teams that drew the biggest crowds away from home with hardly any other team causing notable attendance bumps on the road. ADO Den Haag followed up on previous seasons by once again being the least appealing club to come to town [table “” not found /]
  
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It is hard to draw firm conclusions from this data, but it is clear that the Eredivisie is in a bit of a rough spot if it comes to attendances. No wonder, of course, considering the continuing poor economic environment, which has also resulted in various new stadium projects and developments having stalled.

That’s not to say that the Eredivisie is in a bad place – their crowds are far superior to those in comparable medium-sized leagues such as Portugal, Russia and Belgium, and on a similar level as those in France.

Whether attendances will decline further in the upcoming years or bounce back up again is impossible to predict, but one expects attendances to keep hovering around present levels. Real gains can only be made again once Dutch clubs attract back the neutral football fans that have been scared away with club card and safety requirements and when renewed economic growth frees up the finances for another round of stadium development.

Chart 1: league attendance average 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (growth percentage in brackets)

Chart 2: club average attendances and ranking 2012-13.

Chart 3: club average attendances 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (growth percentage in brackets)

Chart 4: club fill rates 2012-13 (average attendance divided by stadium capacity)

Chart 5: number of sold out matches 2012-13 vs 2011-12 (sell out = fill rate of 97% or higher).

Chart 6: volatility of attendances (average attendance movement from one match to the next).

Table 1: appeal of clubs away from home (fill rate, position compared to other clubs, and extra spectator draw in absolute numbers)*

* read more about the methodology of above table here.

The 2012-13 Eredivisie season in attendances

While it is not uncommon for shiny new stadiums to get built in places where you would not expect them, there is something even more special going on in Iraq right now: an actual stadium boom.

The Arab country, still recovering from the war, has decided to put some of its oil money in a massive overhaul of its stadiums, resulting in a total of seven new stadiums under construction right now and many more planned. We will therefore take you on a journey through the country to see what is going on.

We start our trip in the southern city of Basra, Iraq’s second largest city with an estimated population of about two million inhabitants.

Over there, a massive new sports complex, Basra Sports City, is on the brink of being completed. The centerpiece is a stadium with a capacity of 65,000 seats, which is complemented with a small stadium with about 10,000 places, training facilities, and a few luxury hotels.

The complex was meant to serve as the venue for the 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations, but it was later decided to give Iraq a little more time to prepare. As a result the tournament was moved to Bahrein, and Basra gets to host the next version.

The project has come at the significant cost of $500 million, all financed by Iraqi’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The complex was scheduled to be completed right now in March 2013, but it will probably take a few more months for the last details to be finished.

This is what the almost-completed stadium looks like:

And the smaller stadium next door has already been completed:

These two stadiums, however, are not the only new stadiums that are getting built in Basra at the moment. There is one more: a 30,000 all-seater for Iraqi Premier League club Alminaa SC.

Construction of this new stadium started in 2012 and is expected to come at a cost of just under US$ 100 million. 

The new Al Minaa Stadium is scheduled to get completed in the end of 2013. It looked like this in the middle of 2012:

Up north, but still south of Baghdad, there are a few more stadiums that are in a similar stage of construction. First of all, there is the Holy Al Najaf Stadium in the city of Najaf.

Holy Al Najaf Stadium is another stadium with a planned capacity of 30,000 seats, has a similar price tag as Al Minaa Stadium, and has been designed by the same architecture firm that also designed both stadiums in Basra: 360 Architecture.

Whereas both Basra stadiums are equipped with a running track, a feature still very common in new stadiums in developing countries, Najaf’s new stadium will come without one.

In fact, the stadium had originally been planned to also hold a track, but after criticism following both Basra stadiums it was decided to go for a version without track.

The exterior of the stadium is of particular beauty, and is inspired by the city’s famous Imām Alī Mosque.

The stadium is expected to be completed early 2014, and will serve as the home of Premier League club Najaf FC.

Then there is a new stadium in the city of Karbala, again with a capacity of about 30,000, and again without running track, though it is not exactly clear whether the below rendering has been replaced by a more current one in the meantime.

Construction is well under way and expected to be completed in 2014. Karbala has a Premier League team as well.

Not far from Karbala lies the province of Babil, home to what is left of the ancient city of Babylon and the largest city Hillah. Here, works have just started on a new stadium that will get built with the help of Spanish architects and contractors.

This new 30,000 all-seater is going to look like this:

One thing all these stadiums have in common that they look like stadiums that could have gotten built in Europe. Instead of going the Chinese way and built an uncovered oval stadium with running track, the Iraqi stadiums are almost all completely covered and various come without athletics track.

We continue our journey to Baghdad as it would not be a proper stadium boom without the capital participating.

Over there, works have just started on a new stadium in the Al Sadr area of the city. Again, capacity will be around 30,000, and again, the design seems to tick all boxes of what a modern stadium needs.

If all well, Al Sadr Stadium should be completed by 2015.

There are various more stadiums planned at the moment: another 30,000-seater in the Russafa area of Baghdad; a few other smaller ones in and around the city; four 30,000-seaters in Nasiriyah, Al Anbar, Diwaniyah, and Diyali; and a 20,000-seater in Al Kut. There are furthermore more tentative plans for new stadiums in the north of Iraq in the cities of Mosul and Erbil.

Iraq’s stadium boom goes further than just the top though as there is also much development on a local level, where new facilities are getting built, often with artificial pitches.

But the big flagship project has to become Baghdad’s Al Tajeeat Olympic Stadium. This project goes back a while, but now finally seems to gain traction.

First plans were made when normality returned to the country in 2009. On year later, in 2010, plans were presented for a stadium with a capacity of 100,000 spectators and a design competition was announced.

Then the Ministry of Sport decided to build three stadiums instead of one in Baghdad (we have mentioned the other two already), which meant that the proposed capacity of the Olympic Stadium was scaled back to about 60,000 seats.

The exact status of the project is not known at the moment, nor is the final design that has been chosen. Some preliminary works have been performed on the site though, which means that there might be something in the air.

This is one of the proposals that have made the rounds:

What all these projects have in common, big and small, is that they are financed by the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sport, which means with public money.

This leads to the automatic question whether this, right now, is an investment the country should be making. After all, aren’t there worthier causes than building new sports stadiums for a country that just suffered a war?

Probably yes, though one has to bear in mind that Iraq hardly has any decent sports infrastructure at the moment. Stadiums are small, basic, and often crumbling, which includes the present Al-Shaab national stadium (see photo at the top).

 The current upgrade will turn the stadium infrastructure of Iraq into one of the best of the Middle East, which will increase the attractiveness of the domestic league and make it a prime candidate to host more future international tournaments. The inherent potential the country has can therefore finally get fulfilled.

It also says something about the effectiveness of the Ministry of Youth and Sport, at least in this area, who have managed to simultaneously get this many large projects up and running. It has not only been words, but stadiums are actually getting built (with the caveat that they still have to get completed).

That said, whether this is worth an investment that is going to approach US$ 2 billion is another question, one that can only get answered in a decade or two.

The Iraqi stadium boom

Here’s the New York Times on the proposed new MLS stadium in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park in the New York borough Queens:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Major League Soccer officials are talking about a new soccer stadium, partly as a way to help rejuvenate the park.

The 25,000-seat stadium would replace a large, gummy pond once referred to as the Pool of Industry, and the league has promised to completely restore the park’s raggedy public soccer fields before it breaks ground on a new facility. One argument for having a major league team in Queens is that many New Yorkers who came from soccer-mad nations now live nearby and would presumably support a local franchise. Another is that it could provide a source of revenue to help fix up the park.

The assertion that immigrants will be keen to support a local team particularly stands out. It is something that was also mentioned at the time when Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium got presented, and has also come up in the New England Revolution’s new stadium debate.

Is this true though? Will immigrants adopt a new or extra home team to support in their new country? While I am not aware of any extensive research that has been done on this, I highly doubt this is the case.

London, for example, is another place with a large immigrant population, but few have adopted one of the London teams as their own and even fewer have bought season tickets for such team.

The typical audience at an English league match, even in areas with a large immigrant population, is still predominantly white British male, mixed up with some groups of tourists taking in a Premier League match.

Few football fans moving abroad change teams, and rather prefer to watch their home country team’s matches on television or over the Internet than head to the stadium to make a new team their own. Even second generation immigrants often stick with the team of their father or roots instead of finding a new team in the country they live.

In fact, in developing football countries it is not untypical that even locals support one of the European giants instead of their team around the corner. And even in parts of Latin America, which does have a long-standing football culture, many fans choose to support Barcelona or Madrid over their local club, regularly justifying this by their Spanish ancestry.

It is therefore highly doubtful that Queens’ immigrants will be flocking to the new stadium, which will likely instead cater for a more typical football crowd coming west from Brooklyn and Manhattan.

That’s not to say that building a new stadium in Queens is a bad idea, but do it for the right reasons.

(Photo credits: © Flickr user CaptainKidder)

Will immigrants flock to Queens’ new stadium?

Oh, how times can change. Let me give the word to Peter Storrie, ex-chairman of Portsmouth FC:

Portsmouth is moving into a new dawn with the backing of owner Alexandre Gaydamak and these are very exciting times for the club both on and off the field.

The new stadium, along with plans for the club’s new training ground at Titchfield, is proof of where we want Pompey to be – playing at the highest level and in a stadium that is reflective of a top Premiership side.

This was April 2007, said during the presentation of one of Pompey’s many stadium plans, though arguably the most ambitious of all.

The announcement came off the back of a two-year-long silence, which had fans anxiously await whether the previous set of plans were going to be realised.

These previous plans did not envision a complete new stadium, but a relatively modest redevelopment of Fratton Park.

Fratton Park had been the home of Pompey since they got founded in 1898. The stadium got further developed in the 1920s and 1930, which included the construction of the present main stand designed by Archibald Leitch. It, like so many English stadiums, reached its peak in the early 1950s, from where is was a slow slide downhill toward the 1980s. In contrast with so many other English stadiums though, it hardly got redeveloped in the 1990s, with only a new all-seater stand at the Fratton End to show for.

First plans for a new stadium had been made as early as 1970 when Pompey chairman John Deacon wanted to build a new stadium on an old airfield. The 1970s were no good times for building a new stadium in England though, and nothing came of it.

Chairman Jim Gregory was the next chairman to have a go at a new stadium, this time in the more stadium-friendly early 1990s. He set his eye on the site of the St. John’s playing fields in the north of the city, but later learnt that building a new stadium and breeding Brent Geese do not go well together.

Things got more serious though, when Milan Mandarić took reign in Portsmouth, and in 2003 plans were presented for a massive overhaul of Fratton Park. The redeveloped stadium was matched with and financed by a residential and retail development dubbed Pompey Village.

The pitch of Fratton Park would get turned 90 degrees, two new stands built, and the existing main stand and relatively new West Stand redeveloped. This would result in a capacity of about 35,000 seats.

This is what Mandarić said at the time:

We wanted to create a development that was modern, stylish and impressive to complement the new stadium and I believe that is exactly what we have achieved.

…

But for our wonderful football fans we are creating a magnificent stadium accompanied by a lovely development that will be eye catching and thoroughly modern.

He furthermore added:

And the wonderful concept behind Pompey Village means that the club will be able to stand self sufficiently on those two feet without in later years being crushed under a [debt] burden that cripples it.

Turned out they did not need a new stadium to achieve that.

The project was generally well-received, and while initial hopes of works starting in early 2004 were unrealistic, the club did obtain planning permission in the end of 2004. Works were scheduled to begin in the next year, but then the two-year-spell of silence set in, broken occasionally by meaningless statements like:

At this time there is nothing more to add. The club is aware that fans are keen to know what the latest is. As soon as we have any more details we will inform the fans.

Then, in January 2006, French businessman Sacha Gaydamak arrived at the club, and a few months later became the sole owner. This prompted the hope that things would speed up, which in turn proved to be in vain.

This led a commenter on a Portsmouth bulletin board to remark:

This subject is become more long winded than the Spinnaker Tower.

If only he knew how much more long-winded the subject would become.

Suddenly, in April 2007, everything changed when Peter Storrie made that announcement that Portsmouth would be moving to a new stadium. Off were the plans for Pompey Village, and instead some spectacular drawings were shown of a new stadium in Portsmouth’s city centre at a location called The Hard.

Gaydamak had assigned renowned architects Herzog & De Meuron, who had just completed the Allianz Arena, with the task to design a state-of-the-art stadium on a site that would get dredged up from the harbour, and which lay squeezed in between the Naval base and the regenerated Gunwharf Quays.

The stadium would be able to hold 36,000 spectators and the £600 million project was to get financed by 1,500 luxury apartments on the site and the development of the old Fratton Park land.

From the architects:

Portsmouth historic asset is its Docklands, they formed the city, they were its foundation and still sustain its economy. The wateredge is the heart of the city. It’s more recent but other great asset is its football. It too provides its own energy for the city and the community. With this project these two existing ingredients are combined to create a new contemporary icon for Portsmouth. The energies of the past are joined together in order to make the future city attractive for its residents and visitors. Waterfront, football and housing converge to form a unique public space, moving the city and its people back to the water. This is a contemporary move but one which is born from tradition, the English tradition of a Football Club being integrated within its neighbourhood.

The accompanying renderings:

It, however, seemed as if Portsmouth had forgotten to talk with local council members as these were little enthusiastic about the project. They even managed to come up with a list of 40 concerns, including the impact on the city’s skyline as the beloved Spinnaker Tower would have to share this with the new stadium.

It came therefore as little surprise that only six months later the club announced to opt for a different site instead, this time at Horsea Island further toward the north of the city.

Herzog & De Meuron kept their job though, and described the new project like this:

Portsmouth’s historical asset has traditionally been its connection with the water, and more recently football has become the other great asset of the city. Horsea Island will allow the football stadium to become a visual icon at the gateway to the city, creating a new identity for both Portsmouth and Pompey. It is perfectly situated on the water next to the confluence of the main access roads, allowing a dramatic first view of the stadium with the city behind.

They even dared to mention the earlier deal-breaking Brent Geese:

The site is recognised as being rich in biodiversity, and of particular interest are the Brent Geese that currently use the site to nest and rest. To foster and encourage this use two green corridors are provided connecting the new urban park with the water.

The design for the The Hard site had been purposely asymmetric due to its location, but this was not necessary for the new site and shortly after some new drawings were presented:

While not being presented with another list of 40 concerns, council members were still not overly convinced of the reshaped plans. In particular the inclusion of retail development worried council members, who feared adverse affects for the retailers in the city centre.

Then the credit crisis set in and financing of the £100 million project turned out too difficult for the now debt-stricken club. New exits from the M275, necessary to reach the stadium by car, also proved to be a problem point.

So in March 2009, two ambitious new stadium projects later, the club went back to the start when they announced to shelve the Horsea Island plans and instead focus on redeveloping Fratton Park. Exactly, the same plans that Milan Mandarić had announced in 2003.

We all know that it went from bad to worse for Pompey since then, and presently nobody is even considering any form of stadium redevelopment. After all, Fratton Park is still reasonably adequate for League One football.

But these stadium sagas never end, and when the day comes that Portsmouth inevitably bounces back and new plans are presented, people will look back at the 2000s and wonder what might have been if things had gone a little different.

(Photo credits: Fratton Park photo by www.bbmexplorer.com)

Pompey’s broken dreams

The Chinese are expanding their influence in developing countries by offering them investments in infrastructure in return for access to their raw materials. These infrastructure projects regularly involve building new stadiums.

From Frank Dikköter’s review on a book about China’s dealings in the developing world:

From the copper mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the natural gas holdings of Turkmenistan, a giant octopus extends its tentacles, trading finished products for natural resources. In South America 90 per cent of exports to China are unprocessed or barely processed natural resources. The proportion is about the same for Africa. China not only extracts, it also constructs. In what the authors call ‘stadium diplomacy’, dozens of ‘friendship stadiums’ are presented as gifts to countries around the world. Critics characterise them as Trojan horses used to conquer local markets.

Various stadiums have been built this way in Africa, but also, for example, Costa Rica’s new national stadium. The designs seem to have a lot of similarities. Check for example Mozambique‘s and Togo‘s new national stadiums.

While beneficial for local sports fans, the projects offer little benefits for workers:

‘They fed us rotten rice. We were working for fourteen hours or more each day. They didn’t pay us the salary stipulated in our contracts. We were slaves. That’s what our boss told us and that’s how we felt.’ These are the words of Chinese labourers recruited in Gabon to work for a Chinese construction company. Local workers generally fare no better. While the sign over the entrance of the Maputo National Stadium proclaims that ‘friendship between China and Mozambique will prevail like Heaven and Earth’, the Chinese companies pay their local employees too little to meet even their basic needs.

China is building new stadiums abroad