Saints to revamp St Mary's? (From Daily Echo)

Saints to revamp St Mary's?

11:25am Wednesday 20th June 2012 in Sport

SAINTS have released artist’s impressions that appear to show possible plans for a St Mary’s Stadium expansion.

The drawings were contained on a DVD given to fans who have renewed their season tickets.

They look to show extensions to the Kingsland, Northam and Chapel stands, with a fresh frontage on the stadium.

A new building is also attached to the back of what appears to be the Chapel end in the drawings.

The designs are included on a DVD which features a review of the last three campaigns, as well as a selection of interviews.

Fans shouldn’t get too excited yet, though.

Rumours of a possible St Mary’s expansion have been circulating since Markus Liebherr’s takeover of the club was completed in 2009.

But no plans have been lodged with Southampton City Council, and Saints themselves have not so much as mentioned the artist’s impressions on their website.

The drawings were also featured under the hardly-definitive heading “our future?” in the DVD.

Saints are unlikely to consider putting any expensive plans in motion unless they can safely establish themselves as a high-flying Premier League club.

They would also need to be confident of a season ticket base that is both big enough and loyal enough to warrant the initial costs and sustain the necessary crowds to make an expansion viable.

While attendances last season were impressive, Saints’ average St Mary’s crowd was still nearly 6,000 below the ground’s current capacity.