League News
Main Stand
Plymouth Argyle hope to submit detailed plans to the local council by the end of the year for a
total rebuild of Home Park. At present the club are deciding on a contractor for the design and
build of an 18,000-seat new stadium on the site of the current ground. The scheme is likely to cost
in excess of £10 million and construction may start as early as next summer. It is likely that the
ground will be rebuilt in phases with each part of the ground closed and re-constructed in turn.
Brighton & Hove Albion have installed another 960 seats at the Withdean Stadium to bring the
capacity up to nearly 7,000. The two small structures are at the east end of the ground and are set
Withdean with the two new stands
in each corner. The larger of the two stands is in the north-east corner, holds about 700 spectators
and is reserved for away fans. (Pictured above by Stephen Mumford)
As Southampton embarked on their last season at The Dell, the end also came for the Northlands Road Cricket Ground, the Saints’ home ground from 1896 until their move to the Dell two
years later (pictured right by Vince Taylor). Hampshire County Cricket Club, whose home it had been
since 1885 played their last match there
in September and very soon afterwards
the site was flattened in readiness for
residential redevelopment. A football
stand once stood next to the pavilion
pictured, which had changed little since
Southampton’s brief stay at the ground.
Like the football club, Hampshire CCC
are relocating to more spacious premises
elsewhere in the city. In October the
Saints announced that their 32,000-seat
new stadium will be called the Friends
Provident St. Mary’s Stadium. Work is
progressing well with some of the concrete steps of the single tier stands already in place.
Preston North End have hit a hurdle in their quest to finish off the total rebuild of Deepdale. With
two news stands complete, the plan was to start work on the new Town End stand in the new year
Groundtastic
page 6
Issue 23