Bournemouth put plans to increase capacity of Goldsands Stad

Bournemouth put plans to increase capacity of Goldsands Stadium on hold

• Premier League Bournemouth’s ground can only hold 11,700 fans
• Chief executive insists priority is to invest in Eddie Howe’s squad


Bournemouth players celebrate their promotion to the Premier League at the Goldsands Stadium which will not be expanded this season. 

Bournemouth will not be increasing the capacity of their Goldsands Stadium in time for their first season in the Premier League. The ground can only hold 11,700 people and it was widely expected work would begin to meet the need for rising ticket demand soon after their first promotion to the top flight.

But other obligatory improvements to the stadium’s infrastructure must be completed to meet with Premier League criteria and the club claim it will not be possible to increase the number of seats in time for the 2015-16 season.

“When all of the factors were weighed up it just wasn’t feasible to push ahead with expansion of the stadium,” the chief executive, Neill Blake, told the club’s website. “There are a vast number of demands for change behind the scenes placed on any club following promotion to the Premier League, and we have to ensure we meet those demands in time for next season.

“It will take a great deal of planning, time and hard work to meet the guidelines within the space of the next few months, and factoring in the expansion of the South stand as well was virtually impossible.

“There are also well-known complications with the land behind the South stand, due to it being a former waste tip.

“With intensive testing necessary before any building work can be done, something which can take months to complete, this was one of the major stumbling blocks in our proposed plans. In addition, our first priority is to invest in the squad and football staff infrastructure to support the manager Eddie Howe and his coaching staff, which we believe is the best strategy to maintain our Premier League status.

“If we are able to retain our place in the Premier League, stadium capacity will be a priority for the following season.”