Portsmouth Planning Further £100,000+ Upgrade Of Fratton Park

Fratton Park's Safe Standing seats

Portsmouth F.C. intends to replace all the seating in their 4,700‑capacity stand and replace them with newer blue‑coloured ones, to match seating that has been installed recently.

It means the Club will eventually say goodbye to the mosaic of club legend Jimmy Dickinson and the club crest that since 1997 has proudly adorned the Fratton End seats.

Both decorative pieces have already been impacted by the installation of 1,500 safe standing seats in the top rows of the stand.

That has cost the Portsmouth £225,000 so far. And while the Blues are committed to installing more rail seating if there is demand, a £100,000 upgrade of the seats to have the Fratton End share the new look of the rest of the ground is something the club is committed to ‘over time’.

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Speaking on the subject of seating to those assembled for the October Tony Goodall Fans’ Conference, Pompey chief executive Andy Cullen said: “We’ve installed 1,500 safe standing seats [in the Fratton End] going down to row DD.

‘The current number satisfies the SGSA (Sports Grounds Safety Authority), who were very concerned about persistent standing in the Fratton End, and we are now in a position to progress with our licence application. To install the current set of rail seats in the Fratton End has cost £225,000. In time, if there’s demand, we could go lower down with rail seating, but for now we’ve satisfied the SGSA, nipped the problem of persistent standing in the bud and reduced the risk of future capacity cuts.

“The seats in the Fratton End will eventually all be blue. The Fratton End used to look modern compared to the ground’s other stands – now it stands out as in need of a refresh! It’s something we will do over time.

“An individual rail seat costs £150, a standard blue seat £35. To replace the other 3,000 seats in the stand will cost just over £100,000. There are several other competing capital projects. many requiring big expenditure both at the stadium and the training ground, so I have to work with the executive and the Board to plan these incrementally over the next few years, as would be the case in any business or football club.”