With the Swans looking to expand the stadium and our fanbase constantly growing, are there other measures we could take to improve the matchday experience at the Liberty?
Tony Sharpe makes his TSW debut to look at what could be done to improve the stadium, the surrounding area and to improve the match day experience at the Liberty
Firstly, and purely for safety reasons, why is there not a subway or a bridge over the dual carriageway by Rossi’s? If there was a subway or bridge there would be no need to close the road, thus averting a lot of the traffic chaos that's currently experienced, and given there's ongoing talk of expansion it's something which could definitely do with being looked that. Also, how difficult would it be to put a sign by the roundabout by the tennis centre to say "Bridge closed after a game" - not everyone is aware when there’s a game on, and I’ve witnessed the guy that puts the cones across (the current method of road closure) take loads of abuse on numerous occasions.
Next, the two units in front of the West Stand. These bring absolutely nothing to the club in terms of match day experience; why can’t there be a supporters bar located there? It could open at 10am on a Saturday for breakfast, put Soccer AM on and show the lunch time game live on Sky. Season Ticket holders in the West Stand could then go straight through into the stadium. Fans in the West Stand pay more for a season ticket and they don’t have a bar like the Riverside in the East; it could be called "The New Harry Griffiths Bar" and hopefully it would stay open until late like the old Harry Griffiths bar down the Vetch (maybe rename it for Ospreys games...), and for Wales games maybe it could be called the John Charles Bar?
It could also be open in the week as a coffee-bar, doing basic pub grub and showing live matches, and there could also be a bookies in the other unit (or perhaps in the ticket office, with that moving to the other unit). I’m sure Coral or Ladbrokes would jump at it as there isn’t one close to the stadium, and you could fill it with pictures of both clubs successes since being in the stadium. Team pictures since being there, pictures from concerts and other events & Wales team photos from games played there.
The South Stand. There was talk recently of McDonalds wanting to purchase the land behind the South Stand. Sorry but in my eyes this is a missed opportunity - stadium officials should have struck a deal with McDonalds and had them help fund the building of an extended South Stand, and they could have gone in the back of the ‘McDonalds Family Stand’. Obviously the drive through would be closed on a match day but that would become a "walk through", and having seen this in Cardiff when going to Wales games at CCS they must make a fortune as it is rammed pre & post match.
You could then give McDonalds the food contract for the stadium as a whole too, obviously keeping pies etc available through the bar side. There is ‘wasteland’ behind the South Stand - as a temporary measure why not fence it off (at roadside), level it and create a ‘fan zone’? You could have games for kids, burger bars, beer trucks - I have seen Barclays do similar things at other Premier League grounds - and it would be a great opportunity for local food/drink outlets to promote their products (eg Joe’s/Tomas Watkins etc). Cyril & Cybil could be there, perhaps even a stage with a local band performing, and injured/not used players doing signings in the buildup to the game.
The North Stand (away end) was not built to accommodate various amount of visiting fans, in my opinion, and I would love to see a two tier stand with boxes in middle, and away fans in top tier which could then be safely halved if away teams don’t take up full allocation. Funded by a hotel behind the North Stand, boxes could be connected to the hotel and be changed to hotel rooms. Also two tier parking whether going underground or another tier on top of what’s there. This would obviously need to accommodate coaches too, but I think it's something we could definitely look at.
As for the East Stand - personally I’d like to see a freestanding tier over the existing stand and the current stand joined up into one (no middle standing area) - this would mean a bigger concourse area like CCS, steps walking up to the stand where the grass bank is and also improving the riverside path.
Lastly, transport. Surely having trains stopping just before the bridge would help decrease the amount of cars heading to the stadium, while putting on some double decker buses which go to town and Morriston seems like a very sensible idea. When I went to Sunderland last season there was a double decker bus that went from a pub to the stadium, and it only cost us £1 each. Theirs did two trips, and with double-deckers and bendy buses both holding around seventy people I'm surprised no company has looked at doing this. Especially considering our dedicated bus line from the city centre.
Thanks to Tony for taking the time to put down some thoughts about things which would improve the stadium and area in general on matchdays - you can follow him on Twitter @SharpeyTheJack. Agree? Disagree? Do you have any ideas as to ways we could improve the matchday experience at the Liberty? Get in touch via the comment section below