Stadium Plans

[Lycaon]

If prices increase dramatically across the board then I doubt there will be a waiting list come the start of the season which will be ample justification for shelving any building plans in the short or long term.

 

[Minimalist]

Now, more than a year after the plans for the 500 seat Steve Bull / South Bank corner stand were approved, I’d like to see the club revisit that plan. If there is little chance of replacing the stands in the foreseeable future, then I’d like to see covered corner stands on both sides of the South Bank. Think this could be done relatively cheaply and quickly and with more seats that current / planned. A little more ambitious would be adding a matching quad to the corner of the NB and BW which would balance up the NB, add capacity. Combined with larger corner stands either side of the South Bank and we might have around 35k capacity.

Really don’t understand why they don’t do this. Would pay for itself in about 3 years , cause no disruption to match days and all fits into their supposed plans for finished redevelopment.

(Could add to that taking south bank roof off and extending it backwards . Which would then give about 40k, which realistically is ample for the foreseeable future and would leave a fairly balanced tidy modern looking stadium)

 

[thisisgil]

I really don't like that concept art for the outside of the stadium. Not enough black tbh - and West Brom would be delighted to see that it really does look like a 'Custard bowl'.

Seems that a lot of Wolves fans really like the way it looks though - what am I missing?

 

[Rhoswolf]

All that's needed is to develop the South Bank including corners and gut and reconfigure the Steve Bull.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Really don’t understand why they don’t do this. Would pay for itself in about 3 years , cause no disruption to match days and all fits into their supposed plans for finished redevelopment.

(Could add to that taking south bank roof off and extending it backwards . Which would then give about 40k, which realistically is ample for the foreseeable future and would leave a fairly balanced tidy modern looking stadium)

I agree completely. If the Steve Bull can be renovated to make it safe and fit for modern needs for both regular fans and corporates, then for me it makes sense to do a combination of that, expanding the South Bank sideways and backwards in a cost effective way, and completing the other North Bank quad. As you say, that would get us to 40k and provide improved facilities in the oldest stand, without breaking the bank. In a sense, it would take us to a similar point where the more established PL clubs were before some decided to move to entirely new 60k stadiums.

 

[SanFranWolf]

Hasn’t this all been done to death on the 310 page, 12,000 post other thread.

Molineux redevelopment

First of all this is very much second hand information, those that have passed this information on are not liars or attention seekers. I myself doubt the validity and accuracy of what I'm about to divulge. However this is what I have heard from two different sources, one works in construction...

www.molineuxmix.co.uk

 

[Leominster_Wolf]

Hasn’t this all been done to death on the 310 page, 12,000 post other thread.

Molineux redevelopment

First of all this is very much second hand information, those that have passed this information on are not liars or attention seekers. I myself doubt the validity and accuracy of what I'm about to divulge. However this is what I have heard from two different sources, one works in construction...

www.molineuxmix.co.uk

Apart from the recent Asda revelation from @Mardenboroughs Shoulder

which if I’m being honest may have legs.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Hasn’t this all been done to death on the 310 page, 12,000 post other thread.

Molineux redevelopment

First of all this is very much second hand information, those that have passed this information on are not liars or attention seekers. I myself doubt the validity and accuracy of what I'm about to divulge. However this is what I have heard from two different sources, one works in construction...

www.molineuxmix.co.uk

It has unfortunately

 

[wwbug]

.................and where do we get 30k extra fans, when a few thousand are probably going to pack it in anyway.

Have faith in our success please .

 

[greco wolf]

Isnt that the same with most things in life though? You can do most things cheaper at home than elsewhere (eat, drink, socialise, watch sports) but its just not the same.

Agreed. And a few games of going back etc people will get the bug again. It’s life

 

[Finch3d]

Read title.... thought there was an actual development.

there’s like a huge mega thread on this, done to death......

 

[wwbug]

I would like to see better drink and food first . It would be great to have a burger and a decent pint in concourses half an hour before the match.

 

[Berlin Wolf]

Hasn’t this all been done to death on the 310 page, 12,000 post other thread.

Molineux redevelopment

First of all this is very much second hand information, those that have passed this information on are not liars or attention seekers. I myself doubt the validity and accuracy of what I'm about to divulge. However this is what I have heard from two different sources, one works in construction...

www.molineuxmix.co.uk

Well almost SanFran.. hopefully, it will run for a bit longer.
Because I sent the club a question on Ask Wolves about stadium redevelopment.
Asking, if Wolves are STILL seriously intent on taking Molineux's capacity up to 50,000? Inline with Fosun's ambition to make the club one of the biggest and best in Europe.
I asked the question with the aim of getting a clear and updated answer on what the medium to long term plans really are.
To see if the plan and the will is still there, to gradually redevelop the stadium over say the next five years up towards that figure.
Bearing in mind, the OP's image of the redeveloped Molineux, and figures of 46k and 50k have come from Wolves and Jeff Shi himself.
I have a gut feeling, which I hope is wrong.. that Wolves are going to add the temporary stand in the SE corner bringing capacity up to 32,000, and that will be it.
As Wolves were asking fans to submit any question they wanted, that one was mine.

 

[Stourport wolf]

Yeah, 44k average attendance with very cheap tickets in the biggest city in the country. 12k empty seats and a dire atmosphere (not all because of that granted).

Lots of teams had much smaller average attendances, before they built bigger stadiums. We fill our stadium in the Premier League. We can't do anymore.
We have been keeping generations of young fans out of Molineux and not being able to see some of the best players we have had in 60 years.
I got hooked in the 70's,. Those fans that fell in love with Wolves in the 70's, fill many seats at Molineux now.

 

[Stourport wolf]

Well almost SanFran.. hopefully, it will run for a bit longer.
Because I sent the club a question on Ask Wolves about stadium redevelopment.
Asking, if Wolves are STILL seriously intent on taking Molineux's capacity up to 50,000? Inline with Fosun's ambition to make the club one of the biggest and best in Europe.
I asked the question with the aim of getting a clear and updated answer on what the medium to long term plans really are.
To see if the plan and the will is still there, to gradually redevelop the stadium over say the next five years up towards that figure.
Bearing in mind, the OP's image of the redeveloped Molineux, and figures of 46k and 50k have come from Wolves and Jeff Shi himself.
I have a gut feeling, which I hope is wrong.. that Wolves are going to add the temporary stand in the SE corner bringing capacity up to 32,000, and that will be it.
As Wolves were asking fans to submit any question they wanted, that one was mine.

And it was an essential question.

 

[Stourport wolf]

Problem is, it is really hard to justify redoing the ground. Match day revenue is such a small piece of the pie, and the return on investment will look extremely poor for an investment fund. Especially given our limited potential for corporate revenue

It depends if the owners are only looking at the short term, or if they are thinking about the future of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

 

[RosehillWolf]

Isnt that the same with most things in life though? You can do most things cheaper at home than elsewhere (eat, drink, socialise, watch sports) but its just not the same.

I totally agree it’s just not the same. I really do. But when it’s a question of affordability and economics it becomes more of a balancing equation.
In my case I have grand kids I love to look after and treat. There will be thousands of my fellow wolfs who don’t get that and I understand why that is
All good things come to an end

 

[Highlandwolf2]

I totally agree it’s just not the same. I really do. But when it’s a question of affordability and economics it becomes more of a balancing equation.
In my case I have grand kids I love to look after and treat. There will be thousands of my fellow wolfs who don’t get that and I understand why that is
All good things come to an end

Sad but true. Hope we enjoy what the future holds for our team.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Lots of teams had much smaller average attendances, before they built bigger stadiums. We fill our stadium in the Premier League. We can't do anymore.
We have been keeping generations of young fans out of Molineux and not being able to see some of the best players we have had in 60 years.
I got hooked in the 70's,. Those fans that fell in love with Wolves in the 70's, fill many seats at Molineux now.

Anyone who thinks we can fill a 60k ground is in cuckoo land

 

[SanFranWolf]

Well almost SanFran.. hopefully, it will run for a bit longer.
Because I sent the club a question on Ask Wolves about stadium redevelopment.
Asking, if Wolves are STILL seriously intent on taking Molineux's capacity up to 50,000? Inline with Fosun's ambition to make the club one of the biggest and best in Europe.
I asked the question with the aim of getting a clear and updated answer on what the medium to long term plans really are.
To see if the plan and the will is still there, to gradually redevelop the stadium over say the next five years up towards that figure.
Bearing in mind, the OP's image of the redeveloped Molineux, and figures of 46k and 50k have come from Wolves and Jeff Shi himself.
I have a gut feeling, which I hope is wrong.. that Wolves are going to add the temporary stand in the SE corner bringing capacity up to 32,000, and that will be it.
As Wolves were asking fans to submit any question they wanted, that one was mine.

What was their response?

p.s. Good to hear from you mate, hope you’re alright.

 

[S G Wolves]

Anyone who thinks we can fill a 60k ground is in cuckoo land

40k max would be about right...

 

[Deleted member 9202LYK]

No company, not even one as rich as Fosun, would waste probable tens of thousands on Architect's fees to produce those designs just to pay lip service to fans.

I doubt there's any conspiracy, the plans were probably in place but got canned due to Covid-19. Remember they were much closer to the initial action and probably had a better understanding of how everything was going to go much earlier than anyone in Europe did.

They were never going to invest a few hundred million in a spanking new stadium for us when nobody really knows what impact this whole thing is going to have on the social landscape surrounding football.

More likely they are waiting to be 100% sure there won’t be a closed shop ESL.

 

[Berlin Wolf]

What was their response?

p.s. Good to hear from you mate, hope you’re alright.

Likewise SanFran, I'm fine thanks.
No reply yet, as the deadline for Ask Wolves questions only expired two days ago.
Could be Wolves receive a number of stadium redevelopment type questions, so will give a general update in relation to all of them.
I wouldn't expect the club to answer each question sent individually, they will probably group similar questions together with a reply.

 

[GV Wolf]

I really don't like that concept art for the outside of the stadium. Not enough black tbh - and West Brom would be delighted to see that it really does look like a 'Custard bowl'.

Seems that a lot of Wolves fans really like the way it looks though - what am I missing?

I thought it was just me who didn’t like the plans of the proposed stadium! The external appearance looks like buff brick central and in my view little architectural merit. Let’s have something exciting, innovative and cutting edge not an extension of the visually bland north bank that already looks dated.
Also look at the concept plans for the south bank in particular the roof. I suspect where many of us are now dry in the SB we would now be wet.

 

[RosehillWolf]

We could always get Legomasters involved. Mind you , that wouldn’t be cheap either

 

[Chris H]

We could always get Legomasters involved. Mind you , that wouldn’t be cheap either

Other issue with that is you’d have 30,000 people hobbling around swearing because they’ve all stood on odd Lego bricks left lay around as is customary with any use of Lego!

 

[lostwolf]

It's a shame because once again we're failing to capitalise on an upturn in level / hope locally. Reminds me of the 90s when we could potentially have done a Sunderland and pulled in loads of younger lads and families but missed the boat, people never got the habit and the support stagnated.

All I wanted from Fosun was to consolidate our position in the PL and build a massive new Steve Bull next to the pitch (plus an expanded South Bank if they were offering). 45k, a permanent place for away fans and a ground that was unique and works well. For me that would've been a great legacy; sadly the latter ain't looking likely now.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

It's a shame because once again we're failing to capitalise on an upturn in level / hope locally. Reminds me of the 90s when we could potentially have done a Sunderland and pulled in loads of younger lads and families but missed the boat, people never got the habit and the support stagnated.

All I wanted from Fosun was to consolidate our position in the PL and build a massive new Steve Bull next to the pitch (plus an expanded South Bank if they were offering). 45k, a permanent place for away fans and a ground that was unique and works well. For me that would've been a great legacy; sadly the latter ain't looking likely now.

See I'd rather they focused on on field success rather than just becoming another 40 points and we are sound type team with a bigger stadium. I'd argue that if we just became another also ran then that enthusiasm of the newer fans would wane quickly as well

 

[Mr Sizzle]

Well almost SanFran.. hopefully, it will run for a bit longer.
Because I sent the club a question on Ask Wolves about stadium redevelopment.
Asking, if Wolves are STILL seriously intent on taking Molineux's capacity up to 50,000? Inline with Fosun's ambition to make the club one of the biggest and best in Europe.
I asked the question with the aim of getting a clear and updated answer on what the medium to long term plans really are.
To see if the plan and the will is still there, to gradually redevelop the stadium over say the next five years up towards that figure.
Bearing in mind, the OP's image of the redeveloped Molineux, and figures of 46k and 50k have come from Wolves and Jeff Shi himself.
I have a gut feeling, which I hope is wrong.. that Wolves are going to add the temporary stand in the SE corner bringing capacity up to 32,000, and that will be it.
As Wolves were asking fans to submit any question they wanted, that one was mine.

Think you are right unfortunately. I’ve never been fully convinced they had serious appetite to spend heavily on the ground despite what was said.. with the recent blips In performance and COVID I can’t see much happening for many more years. I hope I am wrong..

 

[Minimalist]

Think you are right unfortunately. I’ve never been fully convinced they had serious appetite to spend heavily on the ground despite what was said.. with the recent blips In performance and COVID I can’t see much happening for many more years. I hope I am wrong..

I think they originally genuinely had a notion of a 60k stadium with a total rebuild on a slightly adjusted footprint. However they clearly realised that 60 was massively over ambitious and wouldn’t get filled.
Problem now is the cost of rebuilding Steve Bull stand for a few thousand more seats doesn’t really make financial sense.

 

[yateleywolf]

If prices increase dramatically across the board then I doubt there will be a waiting list come the start of the season which will be ample justification for shelving any building plans in the short or long term.

Get quoted how many on ST waiting list.Easy to tick a box but than committing to it when given the chance.

 

[rincewind]

Get quoted how many on ST waiting list.Easy to tick a box but than committing to it when given the chance.

Yes true. On the other hand I know people who aren't on the list themselves, or haven't put family on, because they don't think they will ever get a ST.

 

[Staffordshire_Wolf]

Could of done that when the pandemic started. If we can make the ground nearer 60k prices will be cheaper attract better players

It beggars belief to me that somebody can think developing a football stadium is this easy.

 

[Manic88]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1128374995070140416

Two years since this was unveiled. Am I right in thinking these plans changed 12 months later to not demolishing the other stands?

Why would you invest in a stadium these days when the Government can force you to close it at any time with no notice?

put stadium expansion to the back of your mind for a long long time

 

[JayStringer]

If the club had known exactly how long the stadium would be empty, and to plan around that, I'm sure we would have seen some work done this year as and when allowed. However, crystal balls aren't a real thing and there was no way for them to plan ahead on it. And now the priority needs to be stabilising finances following the pandemic and improving the squad. Any redevelopment needs to wait a number of years.

 

[Lycaon]

If the club had known exactly how long the stadium would be empty, and to plan around that, I'm sure we would have seen some work done this year as and when allowed. However, crystal balls aren't a real thing and there was no way for them to plan ahead on it. And now the priority needs to be stabilising finances following the pandemic and improving the squad. Any redevelopment needs to wait a number of years.

That’s exactly how I see it, good post!

 

[Lycaon]

Another aspect to all of this is the fact that Molineux is a relatively “new” stadium, ok it’s been added to over the years but it’s not like Goodison Park, an historic English football ground and possibly past it’s sell by date?!

 

[WillenhallWolfie1980]

Another aspect to all of this is the fact that Molineux is a relatively “new” stadium, ok it’s been added to over the years but it’s not like Goodison Park, an historic English football ground and possibly past it’s sell by date?!

I wouldnt say its new as such , The steve bull is over 40 yrs old , The stadium rebuild finished 1994 i think and then the new northbank 2013 ?

Take away the new north bank ...

 

[chignalwolf]

Anyone who thinks we can fill a 60k ground is in cuckoo land

Who are you calling a Cuckoo Cuckoo, Cuckoo Cuckoo, Cuckoo Cuckoo,Cuckoo Cuckoo

 

[wallisdan]

Being discussed in tomorrow's AskWolves 10am