Southampton FC and the Southampton city council have announced plans to expand the club's St Mary's stadium and the surrounding riverside development for new homes and businesses.
The new plans are set to expand St Mary's stadium beyond its 32,384-seater capacity, though the exact number has not been confirmed.
Southampton FC, alongside the city council, will look to turn the area around the stadium into a ‘vibrant centre for sport and entertainment' as part of the new St Mary's waterfront.
‘Southampton Football Club and Southampton City Council are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a transformative partnership to explore the redevelopment of the St Mary's Waterfront area,' read a statement from Southampton FC on Friday evening.
Southampton stadium expansion moves forward
‘For the club to thrive and survive in the Premier League, we must increase our revenue streams, and developing the St Mary's Waterfront area is central to achieving that.‘ said Phil Parsons, Southampton FC chief executive, on Friday.
It's a familiar statement in modern football in the age of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). While Southampton are currently struggling in the Premier League, the expansion of the stadium would secure the club's long-term financial security.
Southampton City Council leader Lorna Fielker added, ‘This is an exciting first step in bringing forward a unified vision for Southampton's future.‘
Work on the project will commence in the coming years, though no official timeline has been revealed.
A positive step forward for a historic club
Southampton might be struggling to make it in the Premier League since they returned, but the club need to grow revenue streams for the health of the club's future.
We've spoken at length in the past weeks about the importance of staying at your current stadium, and it looks like St Mary's is going to be sticking around for a little longer.
St Mary's is currently the 11th highest capacity stadium in the Premier League, though with Stamford Bridge the next highest (with Goodison Park soon to be replaced), it would take a fairly sizeable increase for Southampton to move up the list.