Kelvin Thomas confirms timeframe and cost for completion of East Stand

Cobblers are hoping to have the East Stand completed within the next 12 months at a cost of ‘around £5million’, chairman Kelvin Thomas has confirmed.

The club released their proposed plans for the stand earlier this week in the form of several computer generated images, which showed pitch facing hospitality, 100 new parking spaces, an accessible viewing platform for supporters who use wheelchairs and a concourse area with kiosks and screens.

GRS Group are expected to be on site in the coming weeks with the aim of potentially completing the stand by the start of 2025.

"As with any big construction project, it’s not easy to put a date on it and that’s out of our hands now,” Thomas told the Cobblers Show on BBC Radio Northampton. “We aren’t fully in control of the timeline but I think we’re looking at the first quarter of next year so maybe around February or March.

"I don’t like to overpromise so hopefully we can do it a bit sooner but we’ll see. It’s a big project and we’ve been pushing and asking ‘OK, when it’s built, when can it be operational?’ but they are all working hard and I think it’ll have a dramatic effect on the whole ground once it’s completed.”

On the total cost of the project, Thomas said: “We think it’ll be around £5million. It’s a big commitment and a big investment but we think there’ll be a return there. We will try and make savings along the way but we’ll only do that if it doesn’t impact the quality.

"The cost has gone up and down over the years. It’s probably more now than what it was but with COVID and Ukraine, costs have gone up significantly, but things have settled down again. The cost is what it is. We spoke to other people but we picked the one that would give us the best quality and the most value for money.

"We think it’ll generate extra revenue in that £250,000-£300,000 sort of range. We have some ideas on sponsorship of the stand and we’ve run the numbers and we have a good idea that it’ll be around those numbers.”