Ground worries for Canaries

A NUMBER of devastating blows will cost Norwich City more than £700,000 as they look to redevelop Carrow Road, writes Derek Davis.

The Canaries are having to shelve plans indefinitely to build an in-fill between the new South Stand being constructed and the existing stand which houses away supporters.

That mean the ground capacity by the end of this season will only be 24,500, instead of the hoped-for 26,000.

A six-week delay in starting work on the new stand is also estimated to be costing the club £500,000 in lost revenue.

Five extra games will be played during the delay and more revenue will be lost if they get a home draw in the FA Cup third round at the beginning of January.

Work on the stand began on Tuesday and was supposed to have been completed by the end of November, but an unplanned archaeological dig prevented construction work going ahead as scheduled.

City also have to pay for the dig, which amounts to around £130,000, and have been told they face another hefty bill due to the discovery of contaminated soil from under the old stand.

Norwich City chief executive Neil Doncaster admits it will cost 'a considerable six-figure sum' to dispose of the soil safely, which has traces of lead and tin.

He added: "It is a fact of life that when you go ahead with building projects of this type sometimes things come out that you don't necessarily expect.

"Add all the extra costs together and the only prudent course of action is to go ahead with the in-fill in two stages. The first stage will be ready by the end of the season – the second will be constructed when finances allow some time in the future."

City hope to have the 8,200-capacity stand completed by mid-February, in time for the visit of West Ham, while Ipswich Town supporters will be able to admire the new construction on Sunday, March 7.

Town entertain City in their 30,000-seater stadium on Sunday, December 21, and both games are expected to be sell-outs.