Thomas says Cobblers will finish East Stand 'as quickly as we can' once council agreement is ratified

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas has vowed to complete the East Stand 'as quickly as we can' once the agreement with West Northamptonshire Council is ratified next month.

The club announced last week that they had reached a long-awaited agreement with the council which will finally allow the East Stand at Sixfields to be finished.

The agreement will go to cabinet next month and, if ratified, work can then begin, although Thomas was reluctant to put an exact timeframe on when the stand might be completed.

"We have already started the process and put plans in place," said Thomas. "It will then be about firming up those plans and speaking to contractors and getting things moving.

"We want to finish the stand as quickly as we can, as we have always said, but we want to make sure we do it right and do it properly.

"I know there was a bit of talk of it being three to five years but that's not when the stand will be finished, that was all about protecting the club and the council.

"That three to five years is not a gauge for when the stand will be finished, the commitment from our point of view as a club is to finish it as quickly as we can.

"We will keep people updated along the way and we will have dates and targets and we'll make sure the fans know that. I would hope in the New Year we would be able to give much more information."

The ratification process in early December should be a formality, though given the trials and tribulations to reach this point, Thomas is not counting his chickens just yet.

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement and I think it takes a bit of pressure of us," he added.

"Now we just need to make sure we get through the next stage, which is in December, and we've been told that should be a smooth process.

"I think it's fair to say that a lot of work has gone on in the background to ensure it will be a smooth process and I think the most pleasing thing for us is that independent report.

"We have agreed with the findings of that report and hopefully now we can move on. It has been a long time and there have been a few false dawns through this process but it would be very strange for things to change too dramatically at this point."

It has taken plenty of time and effort to reach this stage but Thomas insists that has been necessary to ensure there are no stumbling blocks.

He continued: "The negotiations themselves weren't actually that long because we were waiting for the independent report. Our hands, and the council's hands, were tied in that way.

"We supported the independent report but that's what took up a lot of time. We've not been sitting across a table from one another all this time, we've just been waiting for the report.

"Once that came through, we had a period of negotiation and then we came to an agreement."