Ipswich Town go-to-‘town’ home expansion plans

Article posted by Coliseum, November 21^st, 2024

Image: Portman Road Stadium, James Cracknell, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Premier League team Ipswich Town F.C.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Ashton has said he would love to increase the club’s home venue – the Portman Road Stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England (UK) – capacity to 40,000.

‘BBC’ stated that Ashton also revealed that the club was considering an extension to the West Stand at Portman Road.

The Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, East Anglia, England (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.

The 30,014-capacity Portman Road Stadium is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England (UK) which has been the home ground of the Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884.

‘BBC’ further stated that ‘The Blues’ have already agreed to buy a large parcel of land to potentially expand the Cobbold Stand on the opposite side of the ground.

Observed Ashton, “The stadium has never been designed with an estate strategy in place. We need to give the supporters the best matchday facility and the best matchday hospitality and experience that we possibly can.”

Ashton was responding to questions about the proposed redevelopment of the Cobbold Stand which dates from the 1970s and is the oldest section of Portman Road.

He added, “It’s on the to-do list – It’s not on 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.”

If the existing Cobbold Stand is demolished then 750 season ticket holders and 3,000 away fans would temporarily be without a seat –but the club has a potential solution.

Continued Ashton, “There’s a train of thought that says ‘no’, the next development there is the West Stand. This 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.”

The Portman Road currently has a capacity slightly above 30,000.

Ashton insisted there was no timescale on extending the either stand, partly because rebuilding the club’s training ground was the top priority.

The Town have already made changes to the stadium for this season having extended the West Stand corridor, created new executive lounges, increased the away fan capacity, and expanded the media facilities.

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