Maidstone United co-owner Terry Casey says the club hope to expand the Gallagher Stadium
By Craig Tucker
Maidstone Football Club are already looking at expanding the
Gallagher Stadium.
Co-owners Terry Casey (pictured) and Oliver Ash want to
increase capacity, add a second bar and build more classrooms to
cater for extra academy students.
The club budgeted for crowds of 800-900 this season but have
averaged 1,650 at league games. Mr Casey said: "It’s gone so well
and given us the best problems you could possibly imagine. We’ve
got loads of different ideas – as many ideas as we have fans.
"We have a bit of a problem making sure everyone can see clearly
and it’s something we must try to address. We can extend the
terracing at both ends and also raise them by putting in more
steps.
"The big one would be to extend the main stand and add another
200 seats. It’s quite complicated and would cost about £500,000 but
it’s on the agenda. Another issue is the bar isn’t big enough for
the number of people using it so we need a second bar.
"The club shop has also been successful but has operated out of
a tent and then one of the classrooms, so we need to do something
about that.
"The other big problem is the academy. It’s proved such a
success that we need more classrooms. We’d like to accommodate 100
students (the club currently cater for 65). We’re looking at our
options but we don’t want botch jobs.
"We want buildings that will stand the test of time but when
you’re looking at permanent structures, it becomes expensive."
The New Year’s Day crowd of 2,291 for United’s match against
Sittingbourne was allowed to go slightly over the official
capacity.
But with big crowds expected during the promotion run-in, the
Stones are set to ask the local authorities to increase the
capacity. Mr Casey added: "I don’t think we’ll do any building work
before the end of the season as we need time to put the finance in
place and get planning permission."
24/01/13
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