Portsmouth are set to end more than a century of football at Fratton Park after announcing plans for a new 36,000-seater stadium.
The new ground, which the club want to build on a 13-acre site adjacent to the city's naval dockyards, will be part of a £600 million project also involving the construction of approximately 1,500 apartments, as well as restaurants, cafes and other amenities.
The plans involve the demolition of the 20,000-capacity Fratton Park, with around 750 homes being built on the site.
Applications for the proposed developments will be submitted in the autumn, following consultation with stakeholders. If given the go-ahead, work could get under way by summer 2008. Construction of the new stadium would begin the following year, with the aim for it to be in full use by 2011.
The plans look incredible, have a look at the artists impression in the pdf link in this site: http://www.quayradio.com/page.aspx?id=128
bad news:
RIP Ballie.
Two magic memories - Fratton Park, 17 Feb 1998, Pompey 1.0 Stockport. 8,000 people screaming Alan Balls Blue and White Army so loud it sounded like 80,000 - I've never experienced an atmosphere at a game like it before. We were shit, going down and all we could do was make noise, so we did. My hands and throat were bleeding at fulltime. Everytime Stockport dared to attack the volume went up, like a sonic boom to keep the ball away from our goal. Stevie Claridge nicked a goal early on and the Great Escape was on - 8 points adrift from the team above, we stayed up.
Selhurst Park the following season - lost 4.0 and completely outplayed by Crystal Palace, the fans answered criticism of Ball from Fenwick and Venables (the Palace management team who had been at Pompey) by singing Alan Balls Blue and White Army for over an hour after the game until the man came out, thanked us for our support and asked that we left before we got in trouble with the police. You could still hear it from the surrounding streets when i left as it took another 30 mins for them to clear the ground.
Playing wise, the nearest modern comparison would be Paul Scholes. Legend and top bloke by all accounts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6591385.stm
