Gigg Lane Major Works

With a new artificial surface in place and in use every day of the week, and new LED floodlights ready to be installed, we are now moving into the next phase of preparing Gigg Lane for the decades ahead of us.

We are exploring ways to make the stadium more usable during the week and on a matchday, and new technologies which will make it more energy efficient.

However we also have more prosaic matters to attend to which are a requirement of our safety certificate.

The most significant project we are faced with is the treatment of the steel beams and columns around the stadium to make them more fire retardant. The current paint on the steel has deteriorated over the years and has been in need of treatment for many years. This is something which has been ignored by numerous previous owners but not something we can or will avoid.

We will now begin a programme of works over the next five years which will eventually bring all stands up to standard for 10-15 years into the future.

We will start with the Main Stand, which is the stand most in need of attention and the most costly.

Over the next two off seasons, starting next summer, the steel throughout the stand will be blasted clear of all existing coating and dirt and then coated with specialist paint which will prevent fire from easily spreading throughout the stand. We will work through the summer to avoid any interruption to the use of the stand during the season.

The work is yet to be finalised but the estimated cost for the Main Stand alone is £132, 500 plus VAT. This is specialist work requiring specialist materials, and we will pay a significant amount up front to secure the materials at the best price now given potential variations in price over the forthcoming two years. 

We are fortunate to be in a position to take advantage of our healthy cash reserves and commence with these essential works now.

We appreciate this is a significant amount of money to spend on something which does not,on the face of it, add a great deal of excitement to the matchday experience. However, it highlights the hefty ongoing cost of maintaining a football stadium and why maintaining a healthy balance sheet is so vital for the club.

We know there will always be a sentiment that football, especially at the level that we play, should be as affordable as possible. We are only able to meet these costs because we charge what we believe is an appropriate price to put a competitive team on the pitch and maintain a famous old stadium which needs a lot of care because of its age. 

There are always competing demands for resources at every football club, and we know not everyone will agree with the decisions made along the way. Exceptional costs such as these illustrate why we sometimes make difficult decisions in the long term interests of the club.