December 12 – Premier League Burnley have said that there will be no further ground developments to increase the capacity of Turf Moor until there is a greater demand for seats.
The club has committed to improve facilities for disabled supporters as part of an infrastructure spend of about £20 million over the past two years.
That spend includes new office space and a bigger Clarets Store (clubs shop) and ticket office at the stadium, as well as improvement of the club’s Barnfield Training Centre.
The infrastructure changes for the disabled supporters section will being in January 2018 and provide a number of elevated platforms for wheelchair access. These involve building projects filling in two corners of the stadium, and the relocation of the jumbo screen. The work will take six months to complete.
Burnley chairman Mike Garlick said: “Many Premier League clubs with older stadia have encountered similar challenges in how to logistically deliver on a commitment following this new Equality and Human Rights Commission ruling.
“We now feel we have a scheme that will finally offer disabled supporters’ facilities that are on a par with able-bodied supporters…
“The two new builds to provide disabled facilities will take our spending on infrastructure, both here at Turf Moor and at Barnfield Training Centre, to over £20m in two years.
“In addition, we probably only ‘sell out’ the stadium three or four times in a Premier League season, and you don’t need me to tell you who those games are against.
“I know, for example, Watford are looking at increasing the capacity of Vicarage Road by 3 – 4,000, but theirs is a different scenario. My understanding is there is a waiting list of 3,000 supporters for season tickets, so there is clearly a demand for an uplift.
“We don’t yet have that luxury, so we do feel the current capacity fits our needs at present. Should that change and we end up locking people out, then it would be remiss of us not to look at that scenario, but as it stands I feel Turf Moor’s current capacity serves us well.”
Burnley are currently enjoying their most successful season in the Premier League and are currently in seventh position, just two points off Champions League qualification after 16 matches.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734850425labto1734850425ofdlr1734850425owedi1734850425sni@n1734850425osloh1734850425cin.l1734850425uap1734850425