‘The Posh’ all (posh) ed up for (posh) venue

Article posted by Coliseum, September 7^th, 2020

Image: Petersborough United

The English professional football club Peterborough United has confirmed that plans for the club’s new stadium are moving forward. There was a short delay in the same due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a moving in date jotted down into the schedule.

Peterborough United Football Club is a professional football club in Peterborough, England, which plays in League One, the third tier of English football. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and joined the Midland League, which they won six times, eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960.

Following a meeting at the Weston Homes Stadium (UK), the new stadium has been given the thumbs up to resume and the thrilled co-owners, Stewart Thompson, Jason Neale and Darragh MacAnthony, announced that the new ground should get off the (ground) in January 2023, provided the requisite planning permission, funding and construction timetables get the green light. The trio also confirmed that the club is now moving forward with the new stadium scheme.

The club had hoped to open a new stadium in time for the 2022-23 seasons to fit in 17,500 fans, potentially rising to 23,000 but this got delayed due to COVID-19 baring its fangs the world over and also pounding UK hard.

‘The Posh’ is working in close collaboration with the City Council on the plans, which will form part of the master development of the Embankment, which also includes the new Anglia Ruskin University, a technology center, pubs, restaurant and auxiliary entertainment venues.

In February 2020, Embankment Properties, which comprises three ‘The Posh’ co-owners, and Peterborough City Council (PCC), inked a key Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining a collaborative agreement and shared vision for a major, landmark development for Peterborough United FC and the people of Peterborough and the communities residing in and around.

Said Thompson, “Throughout this process, we have worked closely with the Peterborough City Council and shared our vision of the future and they have been extremely positive, and we have worked well together. Nobody could foresee how coronavirus would affect everything, but despite a pause in our progress, it is great that we now have the green light to continue down our path and look forward to moving into the new stadium, which will not only be fantastic for the football club but for the surrounding community too, in January 2023.”

The planned new stadium – which has taken a page out of the new Groupama Arena in Budapest (Hungary), the home of Ferencvárosi TC (Hungarian professional football club) – will stage large concerts and events as well as ‘The Posh’ matches. All of the owners have visited the stadium, which is a cost-effective and material-efficient venue. Its size would fit the club not just in terms of regular capacity but also corporate events. In total, the Posh are hoping to host up to 200 events annually.

The plans not only have new impetus, they now also have their own website at EmbankmentStadium.com, owing the interim name to the location where the ground is to be built. As the website confirms, new capacity goal stands at 19,500 (initial release from March suggested starting point at 17,500, with room for expansion) and the stadium is to be developed along with the Anglia varsity facilities, funding for which was announced recently.

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