In the constant ongoing saga of the new stadium there have been recent new developments and once again our patience has been stretched even further because the new Fratton Park that was scheduled to arrive this summer will be arriving much later than planned with the new East Stand scheduled to be finished by early 2008...
That stand, along with the new North Stand should bring the stadium capacity up to 28,000 people. Now from what I remember the finished project was going to be a stadium that could hold 35,000 people but there has been no news on that development so far. In fact I'm rather confused about the whole thing and I'm sure I'm not the only Pompey fan who still has unanswered questions about the whole thing but from what I gather, these are the facts:
- The knocking down of the North Stand and rotating the pitch 90 degrees will take place Summer 2007 and not Summer 2006 as was originally scheduled. This is due to "unforseen circumstances" outlined by a council document.
- The new North Stand will be built this summer after the season is finished.
- The new East Stand will be built in the summer of 2007 and will be ready by early 2008.
On a note of these "unforseen circumstances" I visited Fratton Park last monday and took a look at the board around The Pompey Centre and the "Phase 4: New Development" label only to find another label that said something along the lines of "Phase 4: More Land Required". If anyone can clarify what it said then please do but it did raise my eyebrow. This is only speculation though, the whole issue seems very complex but what we can't do is vent our frustrations at the people working day in day out to try and keep everything running as smoothly as possible. One thing I've learnt at University is that a project never runs 100% smoothly so all we can do is continue to be patient.
However, the bottom line is next season we will be in the same surroundings as always dreaming of the new stadium but the bigger picture will be having the team to match the stadium.
That stand, along with the new North Stand should bring the stadium capacity up to 28,000 people. Now from what I remember the finished project was going to be a stadium that could hold 35,000 people but there has been no news on that development so far. In fact I'm rather confused about the whole thing and I'm sure I'm not the only Pompey fan who still has unanswered questions about the whole thing but from what I gather, these are the facts:
- The knocking down of the North Stand and rotating the pitch 90 degrees will take place Summer 2007 and not Summer 2006 as was originally scheduled. This is due to "unforseen circumstances" outlined by a council document.
- The new North Stand will be built this summer after the season is finished.
- The new East Stand will be built in the summer of 2007 and will be ready by early 2008.
On a note of these "unforseen circumstances" I visited Fratton Park last monday and took a look at the board around The Pompey Centre and the "Phase 4: New Development" label only to find another label that said something along the lines of "Phase 4: More Land Required". If anyone can clarify what it said then please do but it did raise my eyebrow. This is only speculation though, the whole issue seems very complex but what we can't do is vent our frustrations at the people working day in day out to try and keep everything running as smoothly as possible. One thing I've learnt at University is that a project never runs 100% smoothly so all we can do is continue to be patient.
However, the bottom line is next season we will be in the same surroundings as always dreaming of the new stadium but the bigger picture will be having the team to match the stadium.