March 23 – English Championship club Fulham have been granted planning permission to extend their Craven Cottage stadium to 29,600. The building work will start in the Summer of 2019.
Fulham are currently in the play off spots for a shot at a return to the Premier League. Owned by American Shahid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, the club had previously sought to extend the ground while under Mohammed Al Fayed ownership, though those plans never came to fruition.
On the banks of the Thames in West London – just two miles from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, the new plans focus on the current Riverside Stand to increase its capacity from 4,689 to 8,650.
Works will include a new river wall to give the extra space needed to accommodate the two tier stand. This will see the creation of a new public riverside walk, while within the ground there will be new restaurants, cafés, bars, corporate hospitality and event space at ground floor level.
As part of the build there will be nine serviced luxury apartments.
Cost of the works was estimated at £70 million back in 2002 when initial plans were put forward. No clear estimates of current cost have been released for the current build plan.
Fulham have played at Craven Cottage since 1896. In welcoming the planning permission, Khan said: “Our goal for a brighter future for Fulham Football Club, the neighbourhood, our borough and all of London is now at our doorstep. Tonight’s news wouldn’t be possible if not for supporters and local residents who believed in our vision, so I hope they will join us in celebrating what will be a new and important chapter in the history of Fulham and Craven Cottage.”
Situated in one of London’s wealthiest residential boroughs, there has been considerable local opposition to overcome. The focus on the Riverside Stand takes away some of the impact of the building on the local community and will also see removal of four floodlight masts on the west and east sides of the Stadium, to be replaced by lighting under the new roof of the Riverside Stand, Putney Stand and Hammersmith Stand and two new floodlight masts on the east side. This should also improve the streetscape for residents.
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