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Echoed Airhorns and Empty Seats

Echoed Airhorns
By November 20 2006
Questions must be asked why on earth Cardiff Blues want a stadium of such capacity, but what about Cardiff City?

Dave Jones, Cardiff City’s manager, has stated this week that he is amazed by the lack of support he and his table-topping city side are getting. Despite leading his side out against QPR tonight, in a match that would see them 6 points clear of their closest rivals, their total support figure is expected to be around 13,000.

 

Now I was never the best at maths, but basically that means City would need to more than DOUBLE that amount to sell-out their new stadium.

 

Of course there are reasons for the low attendance, such as Wales’ clash with Canada kicking of quarter of an hour prior to their own, the fact their game is being covered by Sky Sports, and that Friday night games, as we well know, are often difficult to get to for fans who work.

 

The other thing in the Bluebirds favour is that next season they do aim to be playing a higher standard of opposition, should they achieve promotion to the Premier League.

 

But even the most die hard fan wouldn’t expect City to be anything more than relegation candidates in the top flight.

 

So whether more fans turn up more to see a losing Premiership side or a leading Championship team remains to be seen, but the point to note is that maybe 30,000 is too high even for the football side to entertain.

 

In the long run, there are even plans to increase the capacity to 60,000!

 

Perhaps this should be reviewed.

 

Of all the arguments against the proposed ground share, my biggest concern is the lack of atmosphere for a match like Saturday, a prime example of an unattractive fixture in the Blues calendar.

 

How empty will a Magner’s league clash with Connacht be, especially during Wales’ Autumn internationals?

 

Ninian Park currently holds about 17,000. They rarely sell-out. It’s run down and almost dangerous in its structure, much like the Arms Park if we’re being honest. City do need a new stadium, and really so do we. But a ground that size is the very last thing we need. If it were to be reduced to say, 20,000 then the majority of my fears would be eased.

 

However this isn’t the case. But it’s just a wonder where that figure came from, and will be intriguing to see how many sell out’s they get in the second and third season of the new ground, once the honeymoon period is over.

 

Things still have not become official as yet, but it’s my own view that there is nothing we can do as fans to sway this from happening.

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