English Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers has announced that its Molineux stadium will return to full capacity with the reopening of the temporary Graham Hughes Stand for Saturday’s FA Cup match against Norwich City.
It was reported last month that Molineux would return to full capacity in February, with the club confirming the news today (Tuesday), placing additional tickets on sale for Saturday’s match.
The 800-seat stand, which sits between the Sir Jack Hayward Stand and the Billy Wright Stand, has been closed all season after structural issues were detected. The stand was initially closed for the opening two Premier League games of the 2021-22 campaign.
However, Wolves in September announced that Molineux would continue to operate at reduced capacity “for a number of games” after surveys found “severe structural deficiencies” to the Graham Hughes Stand.
Wolves said the stand would need to be rebuilt to make it safe for supporters. The West Midlands club had been working with event solution specialists Arena, which installed the temporary seating in 2018, and also undertook the regular routine inspections of the stand which flagged up the issues in July.
The Express & Star newspaper previously reported that the stand would reopen in February, with Arena out of the picture. Wolves was said to be unhappy with the company’s work and switched to a new contractor once the rebuilding of the stand commenced. The Express & Star today said the stand passed a safety inspection on Monday.
Saturday’s game is also set to be the first match at Molineux since considerable damage was caused to the stadium after a fire broke out in the early hours of January 23.
The fire caused damage in a hospitality suite at Molineux, as well as a number of adjacent areas in the Billy Wright Stand. The fire started in the Sir Jack Hayward Suite bar area.
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