Stadium news

[Bispham Seasider]

Most of the concrete stepping in the SW corner has now been installed. There is just one final section at the top, where the hospitality balcony will be, to be fitted.

The webcam now shows also the end of the SW corner, where it will join to the South stand. And from the image it does look as though the South will be at least one metre higher than the Kop, NW, West and SW.

Looking forward to seeing the place on Sunday on Sky Sports for the Northern Rail Rugby League Cup final.

[Bispham Seasider]

Now the egg chasers have been and gone, work has begun again on the stand and with the SW corner structure steelwork, concrete terracing, and part of the roofing in place, this week they the have now started on the South stand itself.

[Bispham Seasider]

It has been confirmed that the South stand has had some amendments made. The proposed hotel has now increased in size and will occupy the 2nd and 3rd floors and on both floors it looks like there will be rooms with balconies overlooking the pitch. The 1st floor looks likely to be office/retail space, while on the ground floor, the concourse will be a lot wider than the current concoruses in the West and Kop.

The club are in discussion with Blackpool Council about the possibility of opening at least part of the stand before the work is complete, in order to get some seats in use by the time of the visit of Newcastle United in September. The plan is to have at least 1,000 of the new 3,500 seats open for the visit of Newcastle United on 16th September, taking Bloomfield Road's capacity to about 10,650.

Chairman Karl Oyston has also revealed plans for season ticket holders in the Kop to move to the new stand, freeing up space for away fans to sit under cover in the Kop.

We have a third stand well under way and it went beyond the south-west corner on Monday. It will be completed as soon as possible and we hope to have seating online ahead of completion of the stand. We have talked with the local council and it could be (open) as early as mid-September.

The whole of the seating deck could be completely finished and able to be occupied by then. Whether we are able to fill it is something we are in negotiation with the council over because the concourse won't be finished by then – that would only be about a third of the way through.

So it is unlikely we would be able occupy the whole stand because of welfare issues. A phased introduction of those seats is probably best from a safety point of view.

Oyston added the opening of the new stand could trigger a game of musical chairs, with away supporters no longer confined to the exposed temporary East stand.


The sooner we can start moving season-ticket holders from the North Stand (Kop) to the south, the sooner the option opens up to get away fans in the North Stand (Kop).

Ultimately it is the intention to move away support into the North, depending on home demand. We would like to look after our visitors better.


He also confirmed that the seats in the South stand will be emblazoned with ARMFIELD. The stand will be known as the Jimmy Armfield South Stand.

Meanwhile the Gazette have a short video of work ongoing at Bloomfield Road from within the stadium -

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/South-stand-progress-video.5459459jp

[Bispham Seasider]

The latest from the webcam shows the SW corner in place, with the first section of the South stand also now started. And at the back of that first section can be seen where the two floors of the hotel balconies will be.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3598

[Bispham Seasider]

The steel for the next section of the South stand has started to be installed today. Also, more roof supports have been fitted. I'll add an image shortly.

[Bispham Seasider]

A webcam image from this morning showing how much of the roof support has now been installed over the weekend, as work continues 7 days a week.With two cranes working on the roof support. Also of course, the steel support for next section of the South stand concrete terracing has started to be installed. And in the South West corner the concrete flooring has now been installed at the back where the hospitality balcony will be.

The Travelodge over the road on Bloomfield Road has now all but gone from view on the webcam. And of course, there is also a lot of work going on "off-cam" at the back of the stands, installing for instance the stairs which will lead up to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors from the ground floor.

Any away fan who has booked into the Travelodge on a match day hoping to see the game from their room, which a number did last season, will see nothing on the pitch!

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3616

And since the above webcam image, timed at 10:46am, a lot more steelwork has been installed in the latest section, ready for the next bit of concrete terracing.

[Bispham Seasider]

Just a day after the next section of steel appeared and the concrete terracing is already in place in that section. They really are pushing on now. A webcam image from this afternoon showing the terracing in place and work going on to install the steel at the rear - the hotel area.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3624

[Bispham Seasider]

The latest news on the stand -

The club has increased the number of hotel rooms to 56 in the development, which will also include a ground floor Supporters Bar.

Space on the first floor has yet to be allocated a use, while the hotel will occupy the second and third floors, linking through to the function rooms in the West Stand. The changes also include enhancements to the external look of the stand in order that it will fit in better with the rest of Blackpool's "Central Corridor".

Chairman Karl Oyston said,

About half the hotel rooms will overlook the pitch. These will double up as hospitality boxes on match days and the hotel will be linked through to the function rooms in the West Stand.

The only undefined use is the first floor of the South Stand, which may be allocated to leisure or community use. The ground floor will be a Supporters Bar and a reception area for whatever goes in on the first floor.

We have also made this application in order to improve the external appearance of the stand so that it will sit better with the improvements that have been made to Bancroft Park and Central Corridor. We will continue to work closely with the council in order to try and make Central Corridor look as appealing as we can because it's currently the main gateway into Blackpool.


Revised plans have been submitted to Blackpool Council for the £8.5M South Stand development. The application to the council is not expected to delay the building of the stand, which is already well under way.

The £8.5m investment will include £2.5m to fit out the hotel and around £500,000 on the new Supporters Bar.

The head of development control at Blackpool Council, Ian Ward, confirmed the new application was aimed at enhancing the appearance of the stadium. He said,

We have been in continuing discussion with the club about the South Stand and the fact that they have wanted to make some changes. We have been aware that they have needed to commence building before getting permission for the changes.


The latest phase of the "Central Corridor" which is the main route into the resort has seen a £1.8m upgrade by ReBlackpool which includes a new pedestrian plaza alongside the stadium. And of course in March 2008 the Football Club unveiled the 124-room Travelodge Hotel on Bloomfield Road following a £6.3m investment.

[Dynamogal]

Any idea when these rooms at the new hotel will be ready? Cost to rent on game day? Just wondering. ;)

[Bispham Seasider]

Any idea when these rooms at the new hotel will be ready? Cost to rent on game day? Just wondering. ;)
They haven't said yet who will be running the hotel, just that it will have 56 bedrooms (on two floors) with 28 rooms (14 on each floor presumably) overlooking the pitch! No doubt they won't be cheap! Hospitality match tickets now cost about £100.

Since the last webcam image above from the 21st, work has begun on the next section, installing the steel supports for the terracing today.

It is looking likely that the structure of the stand will be in place in about 4 weeks time. It will then be a matter of finishing fitting it all out and hopefully at least some of the seats in the South West corner will be ready to be used by some time in September.

The rest of the stand, including the hotel, Supporters Bar and the rest of the seating is still due to be ready by late October/early November time.

[Bispham Seasider]

The latest fan pictures, taken yesterday.

The first one, from Bloomfield Road, looking at the rear of the stand, shows how the South stand roof will be slightly higher at the back to accomodate the additional floor.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3698


The following two pictures show the SW corner, with netting in place ready for installation of the roof, and then the first three sections of the South stand (which now has another section of the concrete terracing installed since the last webcam image posted in this thread on 21st.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3700


http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3701

[Bispham Seasider]

More sections of the concrete terracing have been installed. Also another time lapse video on YouTube shows the how quickly the stand is rising. The first time lapse video was nearly 8 minutes long, with very little activity. Whereas this is just under 3 minutes long and shows the stand rising superbly. This goes up to 28th July, last Tuesday - and since then another section of the concrete terracing has gone in and more of the roof supports -

YouTube - Bloomfield Road - The South

[Bispham Seasider]

Forgot to add that work is continuing 7 days a week, and weekdays starting often at 8am and going on to up to 7pm.

When BBC Radio Lancashire interviewed Ian Holloway inside Bloomfield Road on Friday, discussing the new transfer fund, there was a point where it got very noisy with the work on the South. And in typical Holloway fashion he just had to have a go at the worker making all the noise, shouting, "Oi mate, give it a rest for a minute, I'm trying to do an interview here!"

[Dynamogal]

Very impressive video! When is it expected that the stand will be completed?

[Bispham Seasider]

Final completion is still expected to be late October/early November!

And at last we have a picture of a game being played with the stand rising in the background! Looking at the picture, there is still quite a way to go yet. The section which has just the suporting steel has now had the concrete terracing installed on it. It looks like there probably another three sections (maybe four) to go. Still starting to look good.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3807

[Bispham Seasider]

Since the last picture above which has 5 sections with the concrete terracing in place with the steel supports ready for the terracing in the 6th section, the stand has reached virtually into the corner, and is now nine sections in total, with the terracing now being installed in the 9th and presumably last section.

Once that is in place, it will then be a matter of fitting out the stand. The club are still hopeful of having 1,000 seats available in time for the home game against Newcastle United on Wednesday 16th September.

[Bispham Seasider]

A picture taken at last night's home game. Starting to look good.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=3903

[Bispham Seasider]

All of the stand steel structure now seems to be in place. It doesn't seem that long ago now when they started on the SW corner. All this rapid development after so long where the most action on the south was watching the weeds grow.

With work still going ahead seven days a week, the seats at the far end of the West stand were taken out on Sunday, in preparation for the new seating arrangement which will be slightly different. And today the great sight of new seats being installed in the SW corner.

[Bispham Seasider]

There is a new set of pictures on the BFC official site, mostly taken from within the new stand, as they now push on with fitting out the stand -

http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/Gallery/0,,10432~1790020,00.html

[Bispham Seasider]

A picture taken at last nights reserve game. Most of the seating is now in place, with just the A from ARMFIELD to go in.

http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=4057