Arsenal have submitted plans for a 60,000-seat new stadium to Islington Council. The £200 million project is for an area known as Ashburton Grove which is just five minutes walk from their current home at Highbury. The new stadium has been designed by HOK Sport, the same company responsible for the Sydney Olympic Stadium and will feature a spectacular four-tier structure. If given the go ahead, Highbury would be sold off and the listed East and West stands would be converted into luxury apartments, presumably with the marble hall entrance way as a major selling point.

AFC Bournemouth have been encouraged by the news that Bournemouth Council have agreed to financially support a 12,000 seat stadium in Kings' Park. The Council agreed to loan the club £250,000 and give the club a further £250,000 as payment for the valuable community work that the club undertakes. Together with funding from the Football Foundation of £3 million, this financial help from the council will guarantee that work will start on the new stadium this January. The club still has to find a further £2 million and the AFC Bournemouth Independent Supporters Association is calling on every fan of the club to dig deep to raise the necessary cash. The new stadium will be built on the site of the current Dean Court ground with the pitch rotated through ninety degrees.

Exeter City duly opened the new stand replacing the Cowshed side cover at St. James’ Park in August.

Watford have decided to drop any plans of moving to a new stadium with the announcement in September that the club cannot afford land prices in the area. The Hornets are now looking at ways of financing a new main (east) stand at Vicarage Road and improved access to the current ground from the Cardiff Road end (via the allotments). The club had originally hoped to move to a new multi-purpose arena within the town but land prices of almost £1 million per acre for a 25-acre site have priced them out of the market.

Blackpool currently only have two sides of Bloomfield Park in operation after the summer demolition of the Kop end and the gutting of the old main stand. Plans are for the realignment of the pitch and for new stands to be built in their place. (Pictured left is the façade of the doomed main stand - Tony Cunningham)

Poor old Barnet are still juggling with ideas to solve their current ground crisis that almost lead to them being expelled from the League last season. The local council have put forward a plan to rebuild their current Underhill site by realigning the pitch and constructing four new stands around it, giving a 10,000 capacity. Fans of the club are cautious about the new pans however as they don’t wish to enter another planning enquiry that could lead to another disastrous delay. The club chairman, Tony Kleanthous, is reportedly keen on a new site at Laing’s Playing Field, Rowley Lane, Arkley. A solution still seems no nearer.

Gillingham appear to be enjoying life in the First Division and the rebuilt Priestfield Stadium has been warmly greeted by visiting fans. The Gillingham End is the only part of the ground that has not been rebuilt in the last few years. The new Medway Stand opened at the start of the season although at the time it was far from complete with stewards checking tickets at entrances due to the lack of turnstiles. The new-look ground is now fully operational. (Pictured above is the new Medway Stand - Stephen Mumford)

Plymouth Argyle hope to submit detailed plans to the local council by the end of the year for a total rebuild of Home Park. At present the club are deciding on a contractor for the design and build of an 18,000-seat new stadium on the site of the current ground. The scheme is likely to cost in excess of £10 million and construction may start as early as next summer. It is likely that the ground will be rebuilt in phases with each part of the ground closed and re-constructed in turn.

Brighton & Hove Albion have installed another 960 seats at the Withdean Stadium to bring the capacity up to nearly 7,000. The two small structures are at the east end of the ground and are set in each corner. The larger of the two stands is in the north-east corner, holds about 700 spectators and is reserved for away fans. (Pictured above by Stephen Mumford)

As Southampton embarked on their last season at The Dell, the end also came for the Northlands Road Cricket Ground, the Saints’ home ground from 1896 until their move to the Dell two years later (pictured right by Vince Taylor). Hampshire County Cricket Club, whose home it had been since 1885 played their last match there in September and very soon afterwards the site was flattened in readiness for residential redevelopment. A football stand once stood next to the pavilion pictured, which had changed little since Southampton’s brief stay at the ground. Like the football club, Hampshire CCC are relocating to more spacious premises elsewhere in the city. In October the Saints announced that their 32,000-seat new stadium will be called the Friends Provident St. Mary’s Stadium. Work is progressing well with some of the concrete steps of the single tier stands already in place.

Preston North End have hit a hurdle in their quest to finish off the total rebuild of Deepdale. With two news stands complete, the plan was to start work on the new Town End stand in the new year and to replace the Pavilion Stand during the 2001-02 season. A share issue by the club failed to yield the expected £7.5 million target and the Pavilion Stand replacement may have to be put on hold. The club still hope to push ahead with the Town End as planned.

Despite objections from the local gypsy site, building work on the new stadium for Darlington is due to start soon. The new ground will house 25,000 seats and will be built on a site in Neasham Road in the town.

Leicester City have unveiled new plans for a 32,000-seat stadium at Freeman’s Wharf in the city. The scheme is now under consideration by the club’s shareholders and if approved will cost around £7 million.

Construction is well under way on the new Dr Martens Stand at West Ham United which will replace the current West Stand of the Boleyn Ground. The massive new structure is being built on land behind the current West Stand, which will be demolished at the end of the current season (see picture right). The pitch will then be moved 15 metres towards the new stand, thus allowing room for further extension elsewhere inside the stadium including a new East Stand. When all the new work is complete the capacity will jump from the current 26,000 to over 40,000.

Coventry City have completed the sale of Highfield Road to a firm of local builders but there is still no sign of any real work starting on the site of their new stadium, Arena 2000, at the former Foleshill Gas Works. The delay is, in part, due to the problems in re-housing a family that live on the site of the new development. The club are still sticking by their completion date of August 2002, but realistically this now looks unlikely.

A decision on the planning application for Shrewsbury Town’s new stadium is expected in December. Plans for a £14 million stadium, at present known as The New Meadow, were submitted to the local council in August but reaction from the planning authority has not all been positive. The main threat to the scheme is that it infringes on a Greenfield site and a government inspector has stated that the area should remain in agricultural use. If built, the stadium will contain 10,000 seats and will spell the end for one of the prettiest grounds in the League, Gay Meadow, which would make way for a supermarket development or housing. The current ground was recently under two feet of water after the flooded River Severn, which runs behind one goal, burst its banks.

Southend United have sent out glossy leaflets to residents in the town and surrounding areas in an attempt to win public support for its plan to build a new 16,000-seat stadium at Fossetts Farm (illustrated bottom of page 8). Plans for the £12.5 million scheme are with the local council and the Shrimpers hope to get some indication of their chances shortly.