Bristol Rovers have plans in motion to expand the capacity of the Memorial Stadium for next season as supporter interest continues to grow in line with the club's fine form on the pitch.
The Gas have decided to remove the seated family stand in the North East corner of the ground, with season ticket holders contacted about relocating in the past week. The removal of the temporary structure will see the area revert to terracing. The South West Stand is set to become the new designated family enclosure.
The Gas hosted their second sold-out home crowd of the season on Saturday against Bradford City, but the capacity of the Mem has reduced since the return from the COVID-19 pandemic. Safety Advisory Groups have a bigger influence and rules are being policed across the EFL that standing at pitch level is forbidden.
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As a result, the capacity of terraced areas has been affected. All tickets in the home end were sold for the weekend's win, but the attendance was just 9,186, significantly less than some of the five-figure crowds hosted in BS7 in previous seasons, including the 11,750 in attendance for the clash with Millwall on the final day of the 2016/17 season. A crowd of 9,689 watched the 1-1 draw with Exeter City in February.
Supporters with season tickets in the South Stand have also been informed that they will be moved next season. Season tickets will no longer be sold for that area of the ground, giving the club more flexibility over how they accommodate away supporters to maximise the number of tickets that can be sold for high-demand games.
"The first change will see the removal of the Family Stand on the east side of the stadium from next season with the South West Stand becoming the new Family Stand," CEO Tom Gorringe explained in his programme notes on Saturday. "When this stand was first installed, it occupied a space within the terrace that was rarely utilised so it didn't affect our operational capacity.
"However, following the recent changes to capacities and the loss of the area at the front of the stands, the lost space may now be required. There is ample space to move everyone across to the South West at the same price point, and alongside the people that they sit with if that is requested."
The changes affecting the South Stand will see the away terrace in the South East corner of the ground occasionally opened for home supporters against teams with few travelling fans. Gorringe accepts the changes will be disappointing for some supporters – Bristol Live has been contacted by fans expressing frustration that they will have to give up their seat – but the CEO says it is for the good for the matchday experience for supporters and the club's ability to sell tickets.
"Within the South Stand, there is currently a very small number of Season Ticket holders in there and they are spread thinly across the right side of the stand; due to this, we are limited in our options to utilise the space," Gorringe said.
"Therefore, the rationale behind not selling season tickets in this area is to allow more home fans to purchase tickets for games. This will occur because at the moment both seated and terraced tickets are offered to the visiting team regardless of the size of their support; in some instances, there may only be 50 fans in each area. The league rules state that we must allow the visiting team the opportunity to purchase at least 10 per cent of the tickets for the stadium capacity.
"By moving season tickets out of the South Stand, we can decide on a game-by-game basis how to manage the allocation to maximise the number of tickets we can sell. In some instances, this will mean seated tickets only which will unlock the East Terrace for home supporters.
"For other games, it might be a small number of seats which unlocks the East Terrace and the remainder (which may be a larger number than we currently have) of the South Stand seats for home supporters. For a handful of games, we may allow the visiting team the full South Stand, however, I expect this will be rare.
"The purposes of any changes are to maximise the number of fans we can get in the stadium and improve the experience as best we can."
Rovers' average attendance this season is 7,185, third in League Two behind Bradford (15,228) and Swindon Town (9,194).
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