When Todoroki Stadium was designed in the early-60's, there was no contingency in the plans for the various demands associated with hosting an increasingly popular 21st century J-League football team.
It's now come to the attention of the powers-that-be that not only is Todoroki struggling to contain the growing number of supporters coming to watch Frontale play, it's also becoming something of a safety hazard.
So the time has come to say goodbye to the old lady of Kawasaki and say hello to her younger, prettier sister (who also happens to have far greater capacity, better facilities and safer, easier access).
A new site has launched - http://love-todoroki.net - to build support amongst the local Kawasaki community for the new project (in the form of a signed petition). However, I believe they're also accepting signatures from supporters elsewhere.
If you want to lend your support, you can download a form here. (Just click on the PDF link and print out the form.)
It's all in Japanese, but from what I can make out you need to put your address in the first box, your name in the second and your seal (or signature) in the last box. (If this is incorrect, or if there's anything else that should be added or amended, please let me know).
Once you've filled in your details, just pop it in the post to the address below and then pat yourself on the back knowing you've done your bit to help Frontale take the next step towards footballing greatness!
Postal address:
「等々力陸上競技場の全面改修を推進する会」事務所
〒211-0063
川崎市中原区小杉町1-526-23-104
（川崎市サッカー協会事務局内）
Or, if you prefer:
Association to promote the full regeneration of Todoroki Stadium
〒211-0063
Kawasaki-shi, Nakahara-ku, Kosugimachi 1-526-23-104
(Executive Office of the Kawasaki Football Association)
9 Comments:
I have very mixed views on this as a Frontale fan and Kawasaki resident who will be off to the game later today with my family and a friend. I don't see Todoroki as dangerous in any way - I'll be taking my six year-old - and would like to know where that danger is supposed to lie. It sounds like the plan is going to rely on city money, i.e. my shiminzei, and I certainly don't think that building a bigger football stadium is top priority. If Frontale need a bigger stadium they should work out a plan to raise the money themselves. Anyone else have any information or views on this?
GJB
BTW, thanks for keeping a great blog going on Frontale
Good counterpoint there, GJB. Was there much evidence of the campaign at yesterday's game? Presumably there are others who have reservations about the prospect of footing the bill.
There are two issues here: 1) do Frontale need a new stadium?; and 2) who should pay for it?
Obviously a new stadium would be good for the club. More capacity = more supporters = more sponsors = more money. Hence the publicity shots of Kengo, etc. posing with local kids and their petition papers.
Then there's the safety thing. A lot of the safety issues mentioned seem fairly superficial - cracks in walls, wet floors, etc. But the main problem seems to be that the current design is wholly inadequate for evacuating crowds of up to 20,000 people in the case of an earthquake.
I don't pretend to know how things work from a financing perspective, but I'm fairly sure that (like most sports teams in Japan) Frontale don't own the stadium. Surely the financial burden should be on whoever owns the stadium and therefore stands to reap whatever financial reward awaits down the line.
If it's a municipal stadium, that should mean municipal money going into it. Of course, it would mean you'd have to trust the authorities to redistribute wisely whatever money comes back out of the new stadium (and, if done properly, it could be a real money spinner). But the tax payer system is based on that element of trust anyway.
And of course it would be beneficial for the community too. Better facilities and organisation for local sports events, not to mention a raised profile for the city through better run international athletics meets and the growth of Frontale's reputation.
Anyway, easy for me to say all this - I'm over the water in Ota!
I think you're right on the issues -
1) do Frontale need a new stadium?; and 2) who should pay for it?
Not sure it's quite as simple as this though -
More capacity = more supporters = more sponsors = more money.
Todoroki is rarely bursting at the seams. The capacity is supposed to be 25,000 though it does look fairly full once there are over 20,000 in there. I don't think it's a 'build it and they will come' scenario. There are plenty of stadiums with excess capacity, mostly post-WC 2002, that clubs can't fill.
I saw them talking about the safety issues on the little segment they had on the evening news last week featuring Kengo and the boys outside Musashi-Kosugi. Had to laugh at the 'lots of families come and it's dangerous when the floors get wet' comments. I'm sure there's some truth in the earthquake angle but I think a packed football stadium is just not the place you want to be when the big one hits.
If I understand it correctly, they're calling for the whole thing to be rebuilt and not just redeveloped which I don't think they'd even be considering if they were paying for it themselves.
Didn't see any petitions/campaign at the game Sunday.
Now I think I'll and go and post a comment on your game report - it's addictive!
GJB
Sure, the "more capacity = more supporters = more sponsors = more money" comment is grossly over-simplifying things, but the underlying fact remains that the club does stand to benefit from a new stadium.
I think you're right that the offical capacity of 25K is probably an exaggeration (don't know if anyone's ever witnessed a gate this size?). Chances are that it's probably been pretty much full on a couple of occasions this year. According to J-League stats, Todoroki saw an average attendance of just over 17K in 2007, and I believe the 2008 figure will exceed this.
Now, while you don't want a stadium that's only ever going to be half full, I think Frontale have a fairly strong argument that they could be attracting a bigger crowd than Todoroki currently allows.
P.S. Nice to have some debate on here!
Seems it's de rigeur to be talking up a new stadium right now. Gamba look to be in on the act too: http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168329235.html
Very similar stats at Gamba - 21K official capacity with an average gate of 17.5K in 2007.
The committee submitted their petition to the Kawasaki City council on Thursday (27/11/2008).
They've collected 92,565 signatures since the campaign started in mid-October and they seem to be happy with this level of response from the community.
The plan now seems to be to continue drumming up support for the new stadium, with a target of 150,000 signatures by the end of March.
They've now passed the 150,000 target, submitting a cumulative total of 159,179 signatures to the council on Thursday (19/02/2009).
Sure, the "more capacity = more supporters = more sponsors = more money" comment is grossly over-simplifying things, but the underlying fact remains that the club does stand to benefit from a new stadium.
I think you're right that the offical capacity of 25K is probably an exaggeration (don't know if anyone's ever witnessed a gate this size?). Chances are that it's probably been pretty much full on a couple of occasions this year. According to J-League stats, Todoroki saw an average attendance of just over 17K in 2007, and I believe the 2008 figure will exceed this.
Now, while you don't want a stadium that's only ever going to be half full, I think Frontale have a fairly strong argument that they could be attracting a bigger crowd than Todoroki currently allows.
P.S. Nice to have some debate on here!
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