League News
Main Stand
and to replace the Pavilion Stand during the 2001-02 season. A share issue by the club failed to
yield the expected £7.5 million target and the Pavilion Stand replacement may have to be put on
hold. The club still hope to push ahead with the Town End as planned.
Despite objections from the local gypsy site, building work on the new stadium for Darlington is
due to start soon. The new ground will house 25,000 seats and will be built on a site in
Neasham Road in the town.
Leicester City have unveiled new plans for a 32,000seat stadium at Freeman’s Wharf in the city. The
scheme is now under consideration by the club’s shareholders and if approved will cost around £7 million.
Construction is well under way on the new Dr Martens
Stand at West Ham United which will replace the current West Stand of the Boleyn Ground. The massive
new structure is being built on land behind the current
West Stand, which will be demolished at the end of the
current season (see picture right). The pitch will then be
moved 15 metres towards the new stand, thus allowing
room for further extension elsewhere inside the stadium
including a new East Stand. When all the new work is complete the capacity will jump from the
current 26,000 to over 40,000.
Coventry City have completed the sale of Highfield Road to a firm of local builders but there is
still no sign of any real work starting on the site of their new stadium, Arena 2000, at the former
Foleshill Gas Works. The delay is, in part, due to the problems in re-housing a family that live on
the site of the new development. The
club are still sticking by their completion
date of August 2002, but realistically
this now looks unlikely.
Above - Torquay United and the
new Babacombe End at Plainmoor.
Right - The still unfinished Lorne
Street Stand at Port Vale.
(Both pics by Owen Pavey)
Groundtastic
page 7
Issue 23