Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp has signalled its intention to start work on a new temporary stand at the Bosuilstadion.
The Tribune 2 stand will be demolished and replaced with the new temporary structure, with construction to begin in mid-May. The stand will be funded by the club and will cost around €12.5m (£10.6m/$14.2m).
It is hoped the stand will be ready by the international break in November. The capacity of the stadium will increase from 16,000 to 21,000, and once the temporary stand is in use there will be discussions over expanding the capacity further to 34,500.
In recent weeks, Royal Antwerp has been working to finalise various technical permits and practical matters to enable the club to begin work on the new stand.
Season ticket holders will be given priority once the new stand opens, and fans will be given the option of staying in their current seat or moving elsewhere. There are currently 8,500 fans on the club’s season ticket waiting list.
The club first applied to construct the temporary stand in October last year. The Tribune 2 stand has been dilapidated for several seasons, and the club hopes the temporary structure will eliminate the waiting list of fans wishing to attend matches.
Back in 2018, the club announced plans to renovate the Bosuilstadion and increase its capacity to 23,000 by rebuilding three of the stands, making the ground fully enclosed. Development work did not progress due to disagreements between the respective owners of the club and land, but work on the temporary stand is now finally set to begin.
Royal Antwerp finished the 2024-25 regular season in fifth place.