Will it be at Stag Meadow?

[Tuffley Rebel]

Can the Stag cope with a large crowd. I think we could draw at least 2500-3000 for the first round but after todays game I don't think the Stag could hold much more than 2500 comfortably.

I believe we can't ask to switch grounds but the police could make us play at neutral ground if they feel they can't guarantee spectator safety.

I think we've got more chance of winning if its at the Stag.

If its moved where would we play, and when will Sky/FA/BBC confirm tv games, dates and kickoff times.

If it is moved where would you like to see it played. I think the Madejski is too big, Adams Park is the right size but it's Wycscum or is it possible for us to hire Wexham Park for a one-off game.

[Nathan]

I was thinking that if the thornes cared about the club they would offer Wexham Park, but then i thought, it'll be a lot of work in a short space of time for ground repairs ect., so there you go!

[Ian]

We were having this debate today. If we needed to segregate supporters, which I believe we would, it makes the game at Stag Meadow difficult. You could open the 'new' turnstiles in the corner and allow walsall fans along the covered side only but then you'd need to get in temporary catering and toilet facilities.

 

Wycombe would be the obvious choice if we had to switch it but I'd love to play it at Stag Meadow. Any switch to a league ground would not be in our favour. Some rapid decisions need to be made.

[Tuffley Rebel]

The Thornes don't give a [censored] about the club, I was just thinking comercially it would benefit the Thornes and for the club and supporters it would be a romantic return to our hometown for the biggest game of the season.

However, you have a fair point about ground work and we would probably have to get health and safety licences etc. Probably all to much hassle.It's a nice dream though, and would bring even more fans out of the wood work.

[GarySTFC]

To move it back to Wexham Park, there would need to be a ground inspection, working parties to get the changing rooms, terraces and the rest of the ground back into shape. It would basically wipe out any profit that we would make from even hosting the game.

 

Given the potential crowd and takings Windsor could accumulate, I would think they will be doing all they can to have us host it there, but given the problems of hosting a 1200 crowd today, it will be bloody difficult to host over 2000 at the ground.

[Tuffley Rebel]

Gary, where do you think the game will be held? Can we realistically have it at the Stag?

The turnstiles, catering, capacity, toilets and executive facilities are all very limited, plus no roofs.

It seems a fine line between the cost of moving it and the limited scope for making money at the Stag. I agree WP is out of the question, I'm only dreaming on that one.

[Matt]

If we're being honest, Windsor & Eton are not that long out of the lower reaches of the Ryman League and Stag Meadow is simply not used to big crowds, although it has been improved somewhat in recent years. Access, parking, and the capacity of the place are all pretty poor. But moving the game to a neutral venue would kill off any 'home' advantage and would severely dent our chances of being live on TV I would have thought (they tend to prefer non-league club vs League club, with non-league club at home). I reckon we should do all we can to get the game on at Stag Meadow with as high a capacity as possible.

[Chris]

I did hear some supporters talking about the possibility of the match being at Wexham Park if we got through last week at Chelmsford. It would fantastic to go back and say a proper goodbye to the Stadium for one last time. Can't see it happening though.

[Ted]

Wherever its held, I hope the tickets are put on sale first at next Sunday's FA Trophy game--this would help ensure a good turnout for that game.

[Matt]

Would going back to Wexham Park benefit the team though? They are used to playing at Stag Meadow and have a bloody good record there. I agree that it would be lovely to see one last match there though.

 

As others have said, it's probably not a viable option because of the costs associated with bringing the place back up to an acceptable standard.

[Tuffley Rebel]

The fire brigade and police will probably have a big say on capacity. We can do minor things to help but we won't be able to improve access and parking. Those two aspects will probably have the biggest influence on the capacity.

We could fit 10000 temporary seats if we wanted to but they couldn't be used if we couldn't safely evacuate the ground or segregate the fans.

I also think we've got more chance of winning at the Stag and I also heard that Walsall are yet to win away this season.

[Chris]

Yeah and I guareentee there will be a story about the residents around Windsor not being happy about all the noise and parking on Sunday!

 

It's a difficult one, depends on a lot of factors, ie sky, thornes, deaner, police, residents and costs!

[Tuffley Rebel]

Lets hope we get confirmation soon. I would imagine Sky will decide by tomorrow and the council, police etc will do an inspection asap.

Lets hope the local papers build it up.

[GarySTFC]

Quote:

Yeah and I guareentee there will be a story about the residents around Windsor not being happy about all the noise and parking on Sunday!

In which case, surely they will be the first ones to be signing a petition to get Slough Town FC back in Slough with a permanent home.

[Guest]

greetings and congratulations on reaching the 1st round. hopefully sky or bbc will show it live and that will save a lot of us travelling down,i think we could bring about 1500, which is more than we normally take but it is fa cup day, so we all crawl out the wood work. i must admit i dont fancy playing your lot, thats the beauty of the cup. dont worry about the hooligan element youve been hearing about, they re about to be nicked anyday now. [color:"red"] [/color] coming down the wednesbury road to see the walsall aces.

[Guest]

No chance of 1500 tickets at the Stag then? How many home fans do you expect???

[GarySTFC]

With it being a big game, there will be a 6-700% increase in home support for this single match. Between 1500 & 2000 tickets for home fans at least I think.

[Tuffley Rebel]

Had some ideas about how to help get the game staged at Stag Meadow.

To overcome the parking problem

1.Approach Legoland and a local bus company and see if they can run a park and ride free of charge in return for free advertising.

2.Trevelyan school nearby has a huge car park and sports field, unused on weekends. Approach them, offer to staff the car park and in return charge each car £2 and split the revenue between the club and the school.

Unfortunately I can't follow up these ideas because I live so far away, but maybe peoplwith connections to the club and the above organisations might be able to pursue this.

[GarySTFC]

I've spoken to Roy about hosting it at Windsor, and he's confident that it would go ahead. Should know more at the meeting tomorrow, but he was meeting with Windsor officials this evening.

 

As has been said elsewhere, the ground itself is capable of holding vast numbers as Bournemouth and another league team have been in the past ten years.