ADAMS PARK CAPACITY CHANGE
(Saturday 24th October 2015)
The Club issued a statement through the official site on Tuesday (20th October 2015) stating that the capacity of the Valley End terrace had been reduced. The statement read: "The capacity of the [Valley End terrace] at Adams Park has been reduced from 1,974 to 1,494 to comply with the regulations laid out by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA). The original capacity of the all-standing terrace at the stadium was calculated in 1992 and a review of the previous report revealed a miscalculation of both the measurements of the stand and the formula by which its capacity is determined." The statement concludes: "The new capacity of Adams Park has therefore been calculated to be 9,617".

The statement has caused confusion amongst fans familiar with the history of Adams Park. The ground was built in 1990 with three sides of terracing and the capacity limited to 6,000 in order to comply with planning regulations. The only seats at the time were approximately 1,300 in the 'Main Stand'. The capacity was gradually increased over the next four years to just over 9,000 by the addition of crash barriers on the three terraced sides. The ground saw a then record attendance of 9,007 for the FA Cup tie with West Ham United on Saturday 7th January 1995. The terracing at each end of the ground (indentical in those days) saw just over 2,000 fans from both Wanderers and West Ham taking their standing places, in addition to around 3,300 other standing places on the Woodlands terrace and the paddock area in front of the 'Main Stand'.

In September 1996 the Woodlands Stand was officially opened as a replacement for the Woodlands terrace. The all seater stand boasted a capacity of just short of 5,000. At the same, the away end terracing at the Hillbottom Road End was also seated but a capacity reduction of arouund 50% to 1,000 - a limit of 10,000 was made on the total capacity of the ground due to planning regulations. The Valley End terrace remained with a capacity of around 2,100, with around 500 other standing places allocated in front of the old 'Main Stand'.

In January 2000 the Club applied for permission to extended the 'away' end to an all-seater capacity of just over 2,000. In a statement from the Club at the time, they said: "To keep to the 10,000 capacity the Club will need to reduce its potential home capacity by 977 by losing all the 558 standing spaces currently available in the paddock area in- front of the [old Main] Stand and 419 standing spaces in the [Valley End terrace]. This will reduce the maximum potential capacity of the Syan Stand from 2,136 to 1,717. Planning was passed and the stand extension built in the summer of 2000.

Since those changes, Adams Park has reached capacity (or close to) on a Wanderers matchday on five occasions: Home to Chelsea in a pre-season friendly in July 2005 (the attendance of 10,000 is the official club record at Adams Park), home to Chelsea again the League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg in January 2007 (9,771), the FA Cup 5th Round with Wimbledon in February 2001 (9,650), the final promotion clinching game of the 2008/9 season at home to Notts County (9,625) and home to Wolves in the FA Cup 4th Round in January 2001 (9,617).

The new stated total capacity of Adams Park of 9,617 is a reduction of close to 400 from original limit of 10,000 is also believed to include a reduction in the allowed capacity in the 'away end' from just over 2,000 to 1,800. This restriction is understood to have been placed on the Club due to problems encontered in the final home game of the 2013/14 at home to Bristol Rovers.

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chairboys.co.uk
13 January 2000
Club statement - away end extension
chairboys.co.uk
11 May 2000
New Away end given the OK
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16 February 2001
The Adams Park sell-outs
chairboys.co.uk
20 August 2001
New stand raises concerns on the terraces
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21 October 2004
Capacity increase debate
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15 December 2005
Safe Standing match at Adams Park
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