Stoke City Still Unsure on Britannia Expansion Date
May 1, 2013
Stoke City are still undecided on when the Britannia Stadium will be redeveloped and any work will only happen once the club is confident they will continue to sell-out.
Talk of expanding the stadium to 30, allergy 000 seats has been mentioned for some time and the club do have the planning permission to begin the work when they are ready.
Fans of the Potters have been known to create a raucous atmosphere at the Britannia, which is said to be a huge factor in the club’s continued presence in the Premier League.
Speaking to iSportconnect, Tony Scholes, the club’s CEO confirmed that they are still undecided on when the stadium would be expanded.
Scholes said: “We have looked at expanding the stadium and we’ve got the plans in place to do so, but we will not jeopardise the sell-out atmosphere and mentality that exists here at the moment.
“We will expand the stadium and that will probably take us to a capacity of around 30,000, when we are confident we will continue to sell-out for every game at that capacity.”
One problem that Scholes faced when he joined the club in 2004 was an aging fanbase. Talk of expanding the stadium shows that Stoke have addressed this issue.
Scholes added: “We now have over 25% of our crowd under the age of 21, which has been achieved through a number of initiatives, be they direct community engagement, our flagship City 7s project and our pricing policy.
“That along with our general pricing policy for adults, which can work out at £18.10 a game, has allowed us to play to sell-out crowds.
“They play a significant part in the atmosphere at the Britannia and many would argue that the atmosphere has helped the team considerably.”