Thousands of season ticket holders will lose out during expansion.
Thousands of Leeds United season ticket holders may miss out on live action during the projected seating extension at Elland Road once construction begins. Plans are underway to increase capacity from 37,645 to around 53,000 by “adding upper tiers on top of previous structures before updating lower tiers” to the West and North Stands at ER, similar to the renovations undertaken on Anfield’s North Stand. According to research, these works took over two years (September 30, 2021 to August 11, 2023), and 11,000 season ticket holders missed out on live action during that time!
The development of great sports stadiums requires a careful balance of global competence and local knowledge. The 49ers are not new to this. In 2014, they successfully oversaw the $1.3 billion Levi’s Stadium development. To keep Elland Road’s atmosphere intact, specialised consultants and local transport specialists are on board to help manage construction traffic and matchday travel for fans. The project has an excellent team of businesses, including KSS, recognised for their work at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, Buro Happold as structural engineers, and RISE, which has worked on high-profile projects such as the London Olympics in 2012.
According to Nancy Froston from ‘The Athletic’…
In 2014, the 49ers organisation handled the construction of Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, which cost $1.3 billion. Leeds has formed a consultation group made up of organisations with global experience in stadium building as well as those with local expertise to help generate the reconstruction designs.
These include professional acoustic specialists tasked with ensuring Elland Road’s ambiance remains intact before and after development. A local transport specialist has also been brought on board to assist with construction traffic and matchday travel for spectators, as construction will coincide with Leeds’ biggest fixtures.
A local transport specialist has also been brought on board to assist with construction traffic and matchday travel for spectators, as construction will coincide with Leeds’ biggest fixtures. Named organisations working at this stage include KSS (the company in charge of Anfield’s North Stand), an award-winning stadium architecture studio that has also worked on plans for Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park. Buro Happold has been appointed as structural engineers, while RISE is the project management team, having previously worked on projects for the 2012 London Olympics.
Plans have yet to be confirmed, but Leeds may attempt to complete the renovation in a similar manner to how Liverpool renovated their Main Stand and Anfield Road Stand. That entailed building new sections of the stands around existing seating by putting upper tiers on top of the previous structure before renovating the lower levels.
This type of stand update typically necessitates either a partial or full shutdown. Each home game, construction teams turn over control of the stadium to the club for the day before returning to work. For example, although they improved the Anfield Road Stand, Liverpool lost 11,000 seats. This impacted both match-going spectators and the club’s earnings.”
Coventry game labelled ‘must win’
Leeds United’s home game against Coventry City has been labelled a’must win’ by a sizable portion of the Elland Road crowd. The Sky Blues have had a disappointing start to their 24/25 season, sitting 19th in the standings with five points from a possible eighteen, having already lost to Stoke, Norwich, and Swansea. Their sole win this season was a close 3-2 victory over newly promoted Oxford United at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Expectations are usually high in West Yorkshire, and thus far, performances have been inconsistent. Eleven points from six games isn’t bad, but the playoffs aren’t an option this season! Leeds are the only team in the football league to have lost all six play-off tries, thus finishing in the top two is essential!
Leeds’ triumphs thus far have come against the division’s bottom three, who were previously known as banana skins. They are, however, working hard to break down better-organized defences from clubs comfortable with putting ten men behind the ball!
Read more at: https://sportupdates.co.uk
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