Rangers vice-chairman John Bennett has revealed that plans to expand the capacity of Ibrox are in the works as the Scottish Premiership club provided more details on its new multi-purpose Edmiston House facility.
The club, which recently lifted the Premiership trophy after going the whole league season unbeaten, has sold more than 44,000 season tickets for the 2021-22 campaign and Bennett confirmed that expansion of Ibrox is a priority.
The stadium, which opened in 1899, currently has a capacity of around 51,000. An expansion of the ground would see more seats fitted in front of the Argyle House hospitality suite at the back of the Sandy Jardine Stand and Bennett discussed Rangers’ plans on the Louden Tavern podcast.
When asked if the club has plans to expand Ibrox, Bennett said: “Yes there are. The most immediate one is something around Argyle House which will involve extra seating. There are longer-term plans that might be able to add more seating but I’m going to describe that as ‘mid-term’ as we want to do Edmiston House, we want to get that museum up and running.”
Edmiston House is set to open in 2022 to coincide with Rangers’ 150th anniversary celebrations. An official club museum will be the main attraction of the facility, which will also house a two-storey club store.
Edmiston House will also serve as an events space for use on match days and beyond. The space will host conferences, gigs, awards ceremonies and other occasions.
Rangers has this week launched official supporter packages for Edmiston House, giving fans the chance to have their name inscribed on an official supporters’ wall at the new museum. Packages will also include a model of Ibrox and Edmiston House, an opportunity to visit the museum, a priority window to purchase tickets for Rangers-hosted events at Edmiston House, and an official certificate signed by manager Steven Gerrard and chairman Douglas Park.
Bennett added: “I’m a real backer of the museum, I do think this is a real legacy moment for the club. We’re making this bridge from a recovery phase to a growth phase.
“When you see us putting in some new, premium seating and ally that with Edmiston House, the museum, I think you can see then that this club is putting the dark years behind us. It won’t be in one year’s time but I don’t think it’s as far away as five years’ time that you will see a bit more stadium expansion happening.”
Images: Rangers
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