Burnley to reveal Turf Moor plans

Last updated : 21 July 2007 By Tony Scholes
Imaginative design from message board member Pretending_Ron

Chairman Barry Kilby and director Brendan Flood will finally reveal the full details with the main work expected to centre around the two oldest stands, the cricket field and Bob Lord stands.

The cricket field stand is now 38 years old and recent speculation suggests it could be completely replaced with a new stand whilst the Bob Lord, which opened in 1974 for an FA Cup tie against Aston Villa, is more likely to be the subject of a major redevelopment, perhaps similar to the one planned in 2002 had we won promotion.

It is the cricket field stand that is intriguing and with Brendan Flood already having suggested that the development should embrace the cricket club it could be no surprise to see a new cricket pavilion incorporated into the new building.

If there is to be a complete rebuild of the stand it will mean relocating the dressing rooms. Steve Cotterill and his predecessor Stan Ternent have both been vocal regarding the players' tunnel being in the away end, and for Steve there is expected to be some good news with the dressing rooms being relocated such that the players' tunnel will be between the current two stands, in the corner where the business centre is currently located.

The 2002 plans for the Bob Lord were to re-seat the stand, adding extra rows both at the front and the back, presumably bringing the stand back as far as the pavement on Harry Potts Way. There's been little speculation on what work might be carried out to this stand, but a hefty amount has been spent on it in the last year or so and any redevelopment is expected to embrace that.

What else? As if that isn't enough. Flood has already said it won't include any retail, but we can expect a new store to replace the current club shop whilst the club staff, currently placed in different parts of the ground, could be re-housed in one area.

There's potential for a hotel, and this is something that has been mentioned several times over the past few weeks with a potential for it being built either on the current Harry Potts Way car park or at the other end of any new cricket field stand.

For now though it is all pure speculation - by Monday we will know.