In this article, we take a look at how Portsmouth’s new North and South stands will look as part of the £11.5m Fratton Park redevelopment.
The League One club announced plans on Tuesday the 14th of January 2020 to submit a planning application to Portsmouth City Council for approval on a redevelopment of the Milton End stand and surrounding areas, referred to as “phase 1” of the Fratton Park Stadium Regeneration & Development Plan.
The plans would provide an increased capacity in the stand, allow the stand to be safely sectioned to provide additional capacity to home fans where away ticket provisions are lower and provide increased disabled supporter seating, including for the first time providing away disabled supporter seating with their own fans.
On Monday the 14th of June 2021, Pompey announced a four-year long upgrade of Fratton Park that would see the ground rise above a capacity of 20,000 seats.
PORTSMOUTH STATEMENT:
Portsmouth Football Club are pleased to reveal the first graphics of how the North Stand and South Stand will appear once the Fratton Park redevelopment work is complete.
Work will begin in the North Lower from January, which will include the addition of around 600 new seats.
Season ticket holders in this area of the ground should click here to see how this affects them.
A reprofiling of the South Stand – which will transform the structure into one continuous tier – will get underway at the end of the current season.
Supporters sat in both stands will benefit from improved sightlines, consistent floor levels and increased concourse space.
There will be spaces for disabled supporters and their assistants at pitch level, while the North Stand will also feature spaces at mid-concourse level.
Concourses in the South Lower would no longer be in view of the pitch, allowing alcohol to be served in this area.
A number of additional measures are being implemented to ensure the club are in line with – and in some cases exceed – recommendations within the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds.
Meanwhile, work on the Milton End is scheduled to start in 2023.
This stand will also boast improved floor levels, sightlines, concession and toilet facilities, and spaces for disabled supporters.
The redevelopment works will help bring Fratton Park’s capacity back up to just over 20,000 and provide a more enjoyable matchday experience for supporters.
WORK ON MILTON END (AWAY)
Work on the Milton End will introduce an extra 400 seats, including 18-23 disabled seats, creating a capacity of 3,200, although the stand will remain at the same height.
At present, health and safety issues are restricting the stand to 1,800 seats in use.
The creation of more toilets and concession areas will also boost flexibility to split the end, allowing the potential for more home supporters to occupy it when visiting numbers are minimal.
Steve Cripps, PMC’s managing director, told The News: ‘The Milton End will offer a completely different fan experience to what it is now. It’s a very sad stand to go into at the moment.
‘If you are an away fan who has travelled down from the north to come to the game, you can’t even have a beer.
‘While visiting disabled supporters have to sit in front of the Fratton End, which can’t be that nice. We must improve those areas.
‘The stand will be multi-used, so it can house away fans, but also home – and home disabled – supporters. It offers so much more flexibility than at present.
‘As the away end, it does not use its capacity and provides the least return for value, yet the owners are spending significant numbers on this one.
‘Admittedly, you can be playing the likes of Morecambe and see very few fans in it, so it is a very expensive end to redevelop.
‘But the club are trying to create safety for all areas of the ground.’
MORE ON FRATTON PARK
Fratton Park is an association football ground in the English port city of Portsmouth in the UK. It remains as the original home of Portsmouth FC, who were founded on 5 April 1898.
Uniquely, Fratton Park is the only football ground in English professional football that is not located on the mainland island of Great Britain, as Fratton Park is built on Portsea Island, where the city of Portsmouth is located.
The ground was built in 1899 on the site of a market garden in Milton, a Portsea Island farming village. Milton became a residential suburb of Portsmouth in 1904 when Portsmouth’s boundaries were expanded to include all of Portsea Island.
Fratton Park was first opened on a public open day on Tuesday 15 August 1899. The first ever football match at the ground took place on Wednesday 6 September 1899; a 2-0 friendly win against Southampton FC, attended by 4,141 supporters.
Fratton Park is located in Milton, but named after Fratton railway station, which is one mile west of Milton in the neighbouring Fratton area. This peculiar misnaming of the football ground was chosen by the club’s founding directors to disingenuously persuade supporters that Fratton Park’s true location – in Milton – was within easy reach and walking distance of Fratton railway station.
Fratton Park reached a maximum capacity for 58,000 supporters in 1935 after the North Stand and North Terrace were rebuilt. However, Fratton Park’s highest home attendance record is 51,385 supporters, achieved on 26 February 1949 in an FA Cup Sixth Round match vs Derby County. Since the introduction of an all-seated stadium policy in 1996, Fratton Park’s capacity has been reduced to its present capacity.
On 26 July 1948, Fratton Park hosted a Netherlands vs Ireland first-round football game in the 1948 London Olympics, one of only two grounds outside London to host matches in the Olympic football tournament. The game at Fratton Park was attended by a crowd of 8,000, with a 3–1 win to the Netherlands.
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On 22 February 1956, Fratton Park became the first English football ground to stage an evening Football League match under artificial light, in an evening game against Newcastle United. The original 1956 floodlights were positioned at opposite ends on top of Fratton Park’s South Stand and North Stand roofs, however these were replaced in 1962 by floodlight tower pylons in the four corners of the football ground.
Fratton Park was used as part of the 70-day long London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route. The Day 59 relay route began on 16 July 2012, with Portsmouth FC steward and D-Day veteran John Jenkins as runner number 001, carrying the Olympic flame onto Fratton Park pitch. The Day 59 torch relay route then set off from Fratton Park, through Portsmouth and eastwards to Brighton & Hove.
Fratton Park’s four corner floodlight towers could be widely seen for miles around and became well known in Portsmouth – and also as a useful landmark for visiting away supporters. However, since 2015, the four towers have gradually been replaced by modern roof-level lights. One floodlight tower – from the north-west corner – was renovated and relocated to Fratton Park’s main car park on 15 July 2019 for preservation, albeit without its lighting lamps which were not required and removed. The preserved floodlight tower now also acts as a telecommunications antenna tower.
Since its 1899 inception, Fratton Park has become affectionately nicknamed “The Old Girl” by Portsmouth supporters. Fratton Park has been visually branded in-house as “Fortress Fratton” in recent years; the ground has grown a reputation for its high attendances and powerful footballing atmosphere, attributable to that of many larger capacity stadia.
The ground is also located within the Anglican parish of St. James’ in Milton, Portsmouth.
Fans reacted after seeing how Portsmouth’s new North and South stands will look as part of a redevelopment…
@kevypiow: Quick quick we’ve had a bad week with PR feed them with some good news! 🤣
@WrightingWayne: Excellent upgrades without losing the traditional look, those grizzling about posts. They can only go when a NEW stand is built, not during a renovation. Well done @eric_eisner & @Michael_Eisner. Investment as promised. PUP 💙
@FosterAdrian: New South stand looks fantastic. 👏👏👏. Could’t the same be done with north stand? Either way give me this over a soul less modern bowl of a stadium.
@c_p_mcgreal: Long term plans are to make the north stand larger so think the work their doing atm is necessary but minimal in preparation for the larger works
@PapaBoubaDave: Like it 👌
@BlueArmyAlex: Looks so different, can’t imagine how that’s gonna look in person
@LukeHurrenpfc: Has to be said, credit where credits due, I like it. I like a lot. Providing there’s scope to expand and increase capacity I think this ticks a lot of boxes.
@bpay12: This has to come first and should have been done years ago. Class stuff
@pfc_harry: Pretty cool tbf
@harrison__pfc: beautiful that
— Jake Meyers (@jakemeyers2015) November 12, 2021
Not sure how I feel about the 1 tier south stand but probably makes sense
Not sure who made the model but did find this amusing, not quite sure how that staircase will work https://t.co/FZLUL009Uh pic.twitter.com/0VcUGb0cee
— Tom N-M (@tomnm2001) November 12, 2021
Gives me Ipswich vibes this https://t.co/4BdKukwrJJ pic.twitter.com/3zjKti3Awj
— RV MARX (@HarvMarksy) November 12, 2021
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