A major expansion of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is on the cards with possible plans to switch their home matches temporarily to Wembley Stadium.
The Telegraph said detailed work has gone into a potential overhaul of the north London stadium that would increase Arsenal’s current 60,700-capacity to beyond 70,000.
It would restore the club’s standing as the biggest ground in London, overtaking West Ham United and arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Holloway, North London, England (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.
The Emirates Stadium is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England (UK). It has been the home stadium of Arsenal since its completion in 2006.
Arsenal set up a working group last year to examine the feasibility of any redevelopment.
A number of options are understood to have been looked at, including changing the gradient of the stands to allow the addition of thousands more seats, or a much smaller upgrade that would mean less disruption.
The outer bowl would remain similar in appearance as the majority of developments being assessed would come inside the ground.
As well as adding tens of millions in annual revenue, an enhanced capacity would go some way to satisfying a season ticket waiting list that now stands in excess of 100,000.
The plan has gathered pace this year but is complex in that it is likely to involve adding to almost every part of the stadium rather than just one stand and would cost hundreds of millions to complete.
It is understood that Arsenal did not apply to host matches at Euro 2028, with a potential redevelopment of the Emirates Stadium in mind, while the co-chair Josh Kroenke said in July that an upgrade was being discussed.
He said, “It would be premature to talk about any plans in depth, but the internal conversations are starting to occur about it. It is not an easy renovation, but we see the possibilities of what’s there.”
Arsenal stayed at Highbury when the Emirates was built just a few streets away but going ahead with an expansion would likely require a temporary home, possibly at Wembley Stadium.
The 20th anniversary of the move from Highbury to their then state-of-art new home comes next August.
Arsenal are restricted by what is a 17-acre site in a largely residential community, with the Victoria and Piccadilly Tube lines and several stations nearby.
Great Northern train lines also run alongside the ground. Discussions with architects have been positive about the potential to expand within the existing footprint.
The aim at Arsenal would be to also produce a multi-functional and digital-first stadium.
The Kroenke family have just recruited Kelly Blaha, Dave Steiner, Otto Maly and Ben Winston onto their board.
Maly is a commercial real estate and development expert who was involved in KSE’s construction of the 100,000-seat SoFi Stadium – home of the Los Angeles Rams American football team – and could play a role in any expansion of the Emirates Stadium.
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