Brighton and Hove Albion’s stadium may soon be able to hold more fans – inside and out.
The club has been given permission for extra capacity at the American Express Community Stadium in Falmer, including a fan zone outside the stadium.
Brighton and Hove City Council has granted permission for an uplift to a total capacity of 32,500 although it may a while to get there.
The club said: “In line with the government’s plans, all clubs are hopeful of being able to open stadia at full capacity from the start of the 2021-22 season.
“And if this is the case, Albion fans will benefit from more ticket availability at the Amex from August when a newly increased capacity of 31,800 seats will be available.
“The latest Amex stadium expansion plans, which include permission being granted for an exciting new external fan zone area, including kiosks, external toilets and a giant screen, on Station Approach, further underlines chairman Tony Bloom’s commitment to the club.
“The works, some of which are already completed and others of which will be phased over the short to medium term, are also set to include an extra stairway leading from the external concourse to the coach park and a new gatehouse in Village Way.”
Chief executive Paul Barber said: “This is a really positive move and fans will benefit from an even better matchday experience at the Amex in the future.
“We pride ourselves on delivering the best experience for fans and this as yet another significant investment from Tony Bloom to help us further our facilities and open the stadium up to even more Albion supporters, hopefully from next August, and also further into the future.
“These plans have been in place for some time and initially we would have hoped to have seen supporters benefiting from them much sooner.
“Additional stadium seating was our priority and the majority of this is now in place, taking our capacity to just under 32,000, but the pandemic means we will phase other parts of our planned stadium work over time.
“We are now looking ahead with cautious optimism to next season when we hope we can welcome back fans and begin to enjoy the Amex experience again.”
Won’t need 32,500 when they are playing in the championship season 21/22