It was in a Q&A with the then general manager I did as programme editor early in 2011-12 and there's nothing there I disagree with now. Here's the whole thing and it's quite informative. (I remember Stan whining on here that it was my fault when he got wet one time.) It shows the level of thought, planning and hard work the club was putting in even before we were promoted.Stan A. Einstein wrote: May 19th, 2022, 12:09 pm So whose words are these?
For many of us, the installation of two demountable stands last season tipped the scales between Spytty Park being an athletics stadium hosting a football club and a football stadium which happens to have an athletics track...... which again give Spytty some of the best end on views Blue Square Premier....... Supporters were delighted.
[PT] For many of us, the installation of our two demountable stands last season tipped the scales between Spytty Park being an athletics stadium hosting a football club and a football stadium which happens to have an athletics track. General Manager Phil Morgan (left) took time out during a very busy pre-season to answer some questions about the stands, which again give Spytty some of the best end-on views in Blue Square Premier.
[Q] Supporters were delighted that Spytty Park could be transformed last season so quickly and impressively. Had this been in the pipeline for some time, or did the club just move fast when the right opportunity came along?
[A] We had felt for a while that we wanted Spytty to feel more like a football ground than an athletics stadium and previous experience of temporary stands, for the Blackpool and Swansea FA Cup games, had given us some idea of how much better the ground felt with supporters behind the goals. The catalyst was the requirement to raise the capacity for acceptance into the promotion playoffs if we were successful last season. We negotiated with the Council and the Harriers and Howard Greenhaf found a company (Harsco) that needed to sell off some stock quickly to make room for new seating, and we acted quickly to get a good deal for the club.
[Q] How many does each stand hold and what do they bring our total capacity to?
[A] The home end holds 1,197 and the away end 945, bringing the stadium capacity up to 5,058.
[Q] Is it true that the stands were originally used for the Ryder Cup?
[A] The stands were not used for the Ryder Cup and I'm not sure which events our particular seats have seen action at. Identical seating from the same company has been installed at Molyneux and we saw it installed before we decided to proceed with the purchase. We will look to hire out the seats over the summer period to recoup some of our expenditure and cost.
[Q] How long do they take to erect and dismantle? How many people involved and man-hours? Safety checks are very rigorous for demountable structures like this.
[A] We get a professional team in to erect them and cut the costs by supporting them with staff from Aspen Construction, Howard's company. It takes three or four days to erect the stands from start to finish and we then get them inspected and receive a safety certificate allowing us to use them from the date of the inspection. There is a significant cost in erecting and removing the stands each season.
[Q] Can they be roofed at some stage?
[A] We are looking at ways of roofing the stands and believe this can be done in the future. One of the conditions of entering the Football League is that within 12 months we would need provide a minimum of 200 covered, segregated seats for visiting fans so this has always been on our minds from the time we decided to purchase them.
[Q] Last season the visitors had the road end, but this has been reversed. What’s the thinking behind that?
[A] We have decided to reverse the away end this year, giving away fans the smaller of the two stands. The advantages of this are that fans have easier access to Baramber and this in turn cuts down the number of people walking in front of the main stand and restricting the view of supporters in the front few rows. The cricket end gives us good segregation for visiting fans. The one downside is that the club shop is more difficult to access for fans on the Shed, but there was always going to be a downside and we would encourage fans to still make the extra effort to visit both the shop and the Corner Post which provide essential income for the club.
[Q] The stands are being sponsored; is it feasible to spell out a sponsor’s name in the seats?
[A] The stands have both been sponsored and this season the home stand will be referred to as the Haasco/Kymin Stand and the away end (above) as the Sytner Newport Stand. We are very grateful to both sponsors for their support. There will be a name and advertising at the back of each stand, but unfortunately spelling out sponsors' names on the seats would be much too expensive.
[Q] Can either stand be erected at either end, or do they only fit one way round?
[A] Because we have to work around the athletics training requirements the stands will only fit the way they are installed at present - we have used every inch available to us. The height of the home end is to compensate for the fact that we had to make it more narrow than at the other end. Having sat at the back row of the home end when it was constructed I can honestly say that on a dry day it's probably as good a view as you can get at any football ground. Try it, it really is fantastic!
