North Stand return for Stags fans could be big promotion booster believes Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough
The spiritual home of Stags supporters, the stand was given over to away fans many seasons ago.
But on Saturday the club will try an experiment of allowing 577 home fans to use blocks A and B with a view to using those blocks whenever away support is likely to be small like on Saturday when Forest Green Rovers visit.
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Hide Ad“I think it's great,” said the Stags boss. “In an ideal world you want your home supporters behind both goals.
“The noise coming out of the Main Stand is incredible but if we could get our supporters behind both goals I think that would be great going forward.
“When we first came we were getting 3,500-5,000, so to be getting in the 7,000s and 8,000s I think is testament to, I think, people wanting to come and watch how we play.
“Momentum is building we hope.
“Everybody knows our aim this season and hopefully we are building towards that.
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Hide Ad“It's a bigger picture as it's all throughout the club too. The Academy are doing well at the moment and it's getting the club on really good footing to make progress in the future.”
The move to use parts of the North Stand comes following a remarkable rise in home attendances, which has led to an average crowd of 7,523 at One Call Stadium so far this season.
In this latest development, the club is endeavouring to maximise the capacity of One Call Stadium for Stags’ supporters as part of its ambitions to continue to increase revenue and maximise the support for Clough and the players.
The club will use Saturday as a trial-run and, depending on its success, will look to make available the same blocks to home supporters for future games where the number of travelling supporters is anticipated to be low.
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Hide AdThe conduct and behaviour of supporters is therefore paramount to ensuring the success of this trial and for future prospective home games.
Tickets for these blocks are available to purchase online via www.stagstickets.co.uk or by visiting the ticket office at One Call Stadium or by telephone (01623 482 482, option 1).Due to the logistics involved, the transferring of current season ticket holders from either the Quarry Lane Stand or Ian Greaves Stand to the North Stand cannot be facilitated.Supporters who acquire tickets in the North Stand for the match should enter One Call Stadium via gates 16/17 of the Ian Greaves Stand. Before being escorted by stewards to the North Stand, there will be a secondary checkpoint for tickets, which will be conducted in between the Ian Greaves and North Stand.
Home supporters in the North Stand will have access to portable toilets as well as an additional refreshment kiosk.
Alcohol will not be available, however, home supporters in the North Stand can access the kiosks in the Ian Greaves lower tier and in the Fan Zone area outside Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen, at half-time.
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Hide AdTo segregate home and away supporters, netting will separate the seating areas while barriers will be in place at the rear of the stand.After the match, home supporters in the North Stand should exit via gate 12 and then through the Ian Greaves Stand car park and onto Quarry Lane.
The gate in between the Ian Greaves Stand and North Stand will be closed as normal and therefore, exiting the stadium via Portland Retail Park for home supporters will not be accessible.