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Wanderers plan to increase the capacity of their Fanzone next season to celebrate its second birthday.
Opened in August 2022, the popular stadium venue has proved a big hit with supporters looking for pre and post-match food and drink, and has recently opened its doors for England’s games at Euro 2024 too.
The Fanzone was initially granted temporary planning permission by Bolton Council, and this summer the club has sought to make it a permanent fixture at the Toughsheet, also expanding the number of fans it can cater for from 1,000 to 1,200.
Paperwork submitted a few months ago hit the public domain and was picked up by reporters – with even the BBC carrying a story about an “improved” site this season.
The extra attention came as some surprise to the club – but chief executive Neil Hart insists there are no plans to significantly alter what has been a winning formula.
“It’s just a case of when we put the Fanzone in place we had a temporary license but we are now going to full planning application to make it more permanent,” he told The Bolton News.
“The communications have suddenly gone into the public domain and people have started to write stories about it.
“We are making it more permanent, in terms of a legislative point of view, going through the planning process, but we are trying to increase the capacity of Fanzone from 1,000 to 1,200. We are having discussions with the council about that at the moment.
“There were a handful of games last season where we had to turn people away because by 2pm it was full, so we have space to increase that slightly and make sure we can cater for the demand at every game.
“And we’re working with our current vendors, so there will be some different suppliers and beverage offerings in there for next season.
“But we have been really pleased with the way it has worked so far, so we’re looking forward to offering fans the chance to enjoy themselves again this season.”
Wanderers are open to ideas on how to improve the Fanzone and have regular dialogue with the Supporters Trust on the subject.
“We want to continue to evolve it because it has been a really important offering for the supporters and a lot of people have enjoyed it,” Hart explained.
“Credit to the Supporters’ Trust because they were the ones who brought it to us and said: ‘Can we do this, can we help to drive it and make it a success?’ “They have helped to make it a real success. We have regular meetings and it is always on the agenda, seeing how we can improve it.”
Hart added that the Fanzone has also started to pay its way beyond matchdays for the club, with recent England games being shown live.
“It has been great to broadcast every game in there and supporters have come out to enjoy it,” he said. “The whole thing has been additive to the club.
“Our partners have also started to use it for staff gatherings and BBQs, because it is a space for hire, with really good rates. Get in touch with our events team if anyone fancies using it.
“Bottom line is that the whole Fanzone has been a success financially, it has been great for the supporters, it has ticked boxes all round.”
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Wanderers plan to increase the capacity of their Fanzone next season to celebrate its second birthday.
Opened in August 2022, the popular stadium venue has proved a big hit with supporters looking for pre and post-match food and drink, and has recently opened its doors for England’s games at Euro 2024 too.
The Fanzone was initially granted temporary planning permission by Bolton Council, and this summer the club has sought to make it a permanent fixture at the Toughsheet, also expanding the number of fans it can cater for from 1,000 to 1,200.
Paperwork submitted a few months ago hit the public domain and was picked up by reporters – with even the BBC carrying a story about an “improved” site this season.
The extra attention came as some surprise to the club – but chief executive Neil Hart insists there are no plans to significantly alter what has been a winning formula.
“It’s just a case of when we put the Fanzone in place we had a temporary license but we are now going to full planning application to make it more permanent,” he told The Bolton News.
“The communications have suddenly gone into the public domain and people have started to write stories about it.
“We are making it more permanent, in terms of a legislative point of view, going through the planning process, but we are trying to increase the capacity of Fanzone from 1,000 to 1,200. We are having discussions with the council about that at the moment.
“There were a handful of games last season where we had to turn people away because by 2pm it was full, so we have space to increase that slightly and make sure we can cater for the demand at every game.
“And we’re working with our current vendors, so there will be some different suppliers and beverage offerings in there for next season.
“But we have been really pleased with the way it has worked so far, so we’re looking forward to offering fans the chance to enjoy themselves again this season.”
Wanderers are open to ideas on how to improve the Fanzone and have regular dialogue with the Supporters Trust on the subject.
“We want to continue to evolve it because it has been a really important offering for the supporters and a lot of people have enjoyed it,” Hart explained.
“Credit to the Supporters’ Trust because they were the ones who brought it to us and said: ‘Can we do this, can we help to drive it and make it a success?’ “They have helped to make it a real success. We have regular meetings and it is always on the agenda, seeing how we can improve it.”
Hart added that the Fanzone has also started to pay its way beyond matchdays for the club, with recent England games being shown live.
“It has been great to broadcast every game in there and supporters have come out to enjoy it,” he said. “The whole thing has been additive to the club.
“Our partners have also started to use it for staff gatherings and BBQs, because it is a space for hire, with really good rates. Get in touch with our events team if anyone fancies using it.
“Bottom line is that the whole Fanzone has been a success financially, it has been great for the supporters, it has ticked boxes all round.”
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