Stockport County has launched a public consultation for fans and local residents to view the clubs plans to ‘expand and improve’ their historic Edgeley Park stadium.
With the Greater Manchester team having secured their place back in the English Football League after 11 years following the title-winning 2021/22 campaign, the nearly 140-year-old club is now plotting a return to the Championship.
That being said, part of the rebuild includes “investing in infrastructure” through developing the stadium, the sporting facilities they need to compete at a higher level, and hopefully sending a “ripple effect reaching further into Stockport itself, boosting the town and its economy”.
More seats and facilities
These are the words of County’s non-executive chairman and Vita group director (their primary sponsor), Ken Knott, who revealed in a statement that ownership is now proposing to “deliver new stands in phases, culminating in a final capacity of approximately 20,000 seats”.
Credit: Stockport County
For context, Edgeley Park’s current capacity is just over 10,000. Not only are these plans looking to double the number of matchday seats and tickets but they also intend to update the existing hospitality facilities and a new ‘flexible workspace’ covering around 30,000 square feet.
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As the proposal goes on to explain: “The vision for an expanded Edgeley Park includes brand new East (Railway) and South (Together/Popular) Stands, bringing each roughly in line with the height of the existing Cheadle End, and an expansion to the North (Danny Bergara) Stand to run the full length of the pitch.”
While there are currently no plans to expand the Cheadle End itself – currently the biggest stand – fans will likely have a clearer picture of what the ground could look like in the near future, with the Railway End the first to be addressed starting summer 2023.
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Public consultation period
As part of the first phase of consultation, public drop-in sessions are due to be held on the following dates:
Wednesday, 28 September: 10am – 1pm and 4pm – 6.30pm, held in the 1883 suite
Thursday 29 September: 2pm – 7pm, held in the 1883 suite
Saturday, 1 October: 11am – 2pm
The October date concludes just an hour before kick-off in their scheduled fixture against Walsall, where higher-ups promise to be outside greeting and speaking to fans.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
22nd September 2022 
