Falmer stadium: Work to start but opening delayed a year (From The Argus)

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Falmer stadium: Work to start but opening delayed a year

6:00am Thursday 2nd October 2008 in News By Andy Chiles

Falmer stadium: Work starts but opening delayed a year

Work will finally begin on Brighton and Hove Albion’s new Falmer Stadium within weeks - but its grand opening has been delayed for another 12 months.

The club made a major announcement to The Argus with mixed news about the long-awaited project.

They said:

• The project WILL go ahead and major work will start in December

• Contractors the Buckingham Group have been appointed to build the stadium.

• The opening date for the stadium has had to be put back until the start of the 2011/12 football season.

• Premier League giants Manchester City, who Albion knocked out of the Carling Cup last week, will return to play one of the first matches at the ground.

Club chairman Dick Knight said: “The delay is obviously disappointing for us and it will be for the fans but this is really good news.

“In a climate where major projects are being cancelled in this city and elsewhere we are in a position where the board has the confidence to proceed.

“Let no-one be in doubt. The stadium is going ahead and supporters will see us on site by the end of the year.”

Chief executive Martin Perry said the club officially took posession of the site on the outskirts of Brighton on Monday to start an anticipated 125 year lease from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Archaeologists have already been sent to make exploratory investigations.

Major work will start in December with the widening of the Village Way access road and then excavations to lower the stadium into the landscape and build a raised bund around it.

When the ground opens it will end a 12 year stay at their temporary Withdean Stadium home for Albion.

Mr Knight said the club decided to postpone opening Falmer until 12 months after the original August 2010 target.

He said the timescale had slipped by months because of changes to legislation which meant a new planning application had to be passed.

The board of directors decided that although the ground could be ready by around December 2010 they did not want to move mid-season.

Building work also has to be scheduled around term times at the neighbouring University of Brighton campus.

Mr Perry announced that the 22,500 seater stadium would be built by the Buckingham Group, the contractors behind Milton Keynes’ Dons ultra-modern new home.

He would not disclose the value of the contract, which the firm won against two rivals. Previous estimates have put Falmer’s price at more than £60million.

Mr Knight said the club was fortunate its finances were not reliant on the troubled commercial and retail sectors, which had caused delays to proposed stadiums for Liverpool and Everton among others.

Staff at Buckingham Group have also been involved with Reading’s Madejski Stadium and redevelopment of Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground.

Kevin Underwood, the firm’s director, said: “We are delighted to have been selected. We are very aware of the club’s struggle to get permission to build it and we understand how important it is to the fans.

“It is a fantastic design and we are very conscious of the responsibility that we have been given.”

Before the stadium hosts its first competitive game it will have to stage several ramp-up events with gradually increasing capacities.

Mr Knight announced yesterday that Manchester City had agreed to be opponents for one of those games.

Albion shocked City in the Carling Cup last week, winning the David and Goliath encounter on penalties.

He said: “I approached their chairman after the match to ask whether he would consider donating their part of the match takings towards our stadium fund. He said he couldn’t but offered to bring their first team to play us at the stadium instead and we’ve taken up the offer.”

The stadium news comes after a memorable eight days for Albion fans, including the cup heroics, club director Norman Cook’s Big Beach Boutique 4 and Welsh star Robbie Savage signing on loan.

Comments(36)

Spuddy says...
6:54am Thu 2 Oct 08

Blooming hell! Another year stuck in the rain in that lifeless hole Withdean. Whats wrong with moving mid season, surely its to the benefit of the club to get in as soon as possible? I'd love a quid for every soaking we've had over the years, it'd probably pay for Falmer.