League News
Main Stand
Sunderland have
completed the extension to the Stadium of Light
(pictured left by Owen
Pavey) bringing the
capacity up to
48,300. The Black
Cats also have
outline planning
permission to further extend their
new stadium’s capacity to 55,000 in
2002.
A decision on the
planning application for Shrewsbury Town’s
new stadium (see illustration) is expected in
December. Plans for a £14 million stadium, at
present known as The New Meadow, were
submitted to the local council in August but
reaction from the planning authority has not all
been positive. The main threat to the scheme
is that it infringes on a Greenfield site and a
government inspector has stated that the area
should remain in agricultural use. If built, the
stadium will contain 10,000 seats and will
spell the end for one of the prettiest grounds
in the League, Gay Meadow,
which would make way for a supermarket development or housing. The current ground was recently under two feet of water
after the flooded River Severn,
which runs behind one goal, burst
its banks.
Southend United have sent out
glossy leaflets to residents in the
town and surrounding areas in an
attempt to win public support for
its plan to build a new 16,000-seat
Groundtastic
Groundtastic
page
page88
Issue
Issue 23
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