Featured image credit: James Cracknell/CC BY-SA 4.0
Ipswich Town’s chairman and chief executive Mark Ashton has said that he would like to increase the English Premier League club’s stadium capacity to 40,000.
He also revealed that the club is considering an extension to the West Stand at Portman Road, which currently has a capacity of 30,014.
“The stadium has never been designed with an estate strategy in place,” Ashton told the BBC. “We need to give supporters the best matchday facility and the best matchday hospitality and experience that we possibly can.”
Last month, Ipswich agreed a deal in principle to buy a large lot of land that could potentially lead to an expansion of the Cobbold Stand.
The Cobbold Stand is the oldest section of Portman Road and dates back to 1971, but its redevelopment is not the main priority for Ashton.
“It’s on the to-do list. It’s not the top of the to-do list, I must be honest with you,” he said.
“Why? Because I’m certainly not going to take a stand down in the midst of a Premier League season. That’s just not the right thing to do.”
If the existing Cobbold Stand is demolished, it would leave 750 season ticket-holders and 3,000 away fans temporarily without a seat.
However, there is a possible solution to that.
“There’s a train of thought that says ‘no’, the next development there is the West Stand, which sees an increase in capacity in the West Stand, of surprise, surprise, circa 4,000 people,” he added.
“So, when you take down the Cobbold Stand people don’t lose their season tickets and they could move across.”
The club has already made changes to the stadium for this season, which is its first in the top flight since 2002.The West Stand corridor was extended to create new executive lounges, increase away fan capacity, and expand media facilities.
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