A PREMIER LEAGUE chairman has admitted that he hopes to raise his club’s stadium capacity to 40,000.
Their current ground houses 29,673 supporters.
Ahead of this season, the former FA Cup winners made some promising improvements.
They upgraded media facilities upon their return to the top flight.
While they introduced new VIP executive lounges.
Among their next goals is to significantly increase the stadium’s capacity.
Ipswich Town have been planning to redevelop the Cobbold Stand, which was built in the 1970s and houses away fans, as well as home supporters.
During an appearance on BBC Radio Suffolk, chairman Mark Ashton was asked about the Cobbold Stand by Town fans.
He said of the stand, which houses 750 season ticket holders as well as the away end: “It’s on the to-do list – it’s not the top of the to-do list, I must be honest with you.
“Why? Because I’m certainly not going to take a stand down in the midst of a Premier League season, that’s just not the right thing to do.”
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Ashton has instead thought of a solution that would prevent those 750 season ticket holders being left stranded during a redevelopment.
He added: “There’s a train of thought that says ‘no’, the next development there is the West Stand.
“Which sees an increase in capacity in the West Stand, of surprise, surprise, circa 4,000 people.
“So when you take down the Cobbold Stand people don’t lose their season tickets and they could move across.”
While the expansion of Portman Road is on the radar, Ipswich are instead prioritising making improvements to their Playford Road training facility.
They are set to submit a planning application for the training ground upgrades in the next fortnight.
On the pitch, Kieran McKenna‘s men are yet to win in 10 Premier League matches this season.
They have been competitive, however, collecting five draws thus far.
This weekend they will seek their first Prem win in more than 22 years when they take on McKenna’s former side Tottenham.
The contest will take place in North London on Sunday afternoon, with Spurs first travelling to Istanbul for a Europa League clash with Galatasaray.
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