Portsmouth chief addresses Fratton Park expansion latest amid booming attendances and 2,200 waiting list

Yet he has warned it could be a ‘year or two’ down the line, with the Fratton Station bridge feasibility study not expected to be completed until the end of 2025.

With Pompey on track to record their highest average home attendance over a league season for 57 years, it once again raises the issue of increasing capacity.

Following the culmination of Tornante’s £20m Fratton Park development programme, the Blues can now cater for 20,927 supporters on a match-day. Although, once segregation is taken into account, that figure naturally dips.

Pompey have once again capped season tickets at 15,000 for the 2024-25 campaign, while an additional 2,200 fans are on a waiting list.

And Cullen has reiterated that a potential North Stand development is the only way to meet rising demand.

The Blues chief executive told The News: ‘To get the volume of seats we need, we would have to extend the North Stand. That is the way to increase capacity.

‘We can’t do anything with the South Stand, because you are landlocked by houses behind. You can’t do anything behind the Milton End because you are again landlocked by houses and there are other issues with infrastructure and residents.

‘The North Stand needs space behind it. It’s an area you can build up and build back, which would give you extra capacity and is the obvious area to do.

‘The Fratton End is difficult because there isn’t enough land behind it, while you need to ensure you still have space and an access route for emergency vehicles.

‘Then there are the corners - and there is certainly scope to do something there. But it has to be cost effective because of the amount of debt versus the investment required. It’s also not as strong as doing something properly in the North Stand.

‘To make the North Stand work, however, it needs to be an enabling development, which is why the overall site is of such importance to this project.’

460 homes and a hotel to fund development plans

Portsmouth City Council’s pre-submission Local Plan, which was published last year, details development plans for the entire Pompey Centre area.

In terms of Pompey, it states a North Stand expansion would increase capacity to between 26,000-30,000. This would be partly funded by owners Tornante through the construction of 460 homes and a 145-room hotel.

Nonethless, a potential new Fratton Park footbridge remains a long-standing issue. Although a feasibility study is underway, having been commissioned by Pompey, Portsmouth City Council, Network Rail, South Western Railway and Pompey Centre owners M7 Real Estate.

Cullen added: ‘You have to bring everything into place and develop the whole site, so it’s not something which is going to happen in a year or two. The local plan allows that to develop at some point over the next 10 years - I would love for it to be sooner.

‘It’s about making sure we can resolve all these different factors, some of which are outside our control. For instance, the feasibility study on the footbridge is progressing.

‘We have a feasibility development group led by Portsmouth City Council, who have the expertise. There are a number of potential routes the bridge can go, yet all come into different challenges in terms of where they land.

‘If you are going to build 710 homes and add more commercial properties across the area, then you need something which will work every day of the year, not just match-days. It’s not a football problem, it’s about the overall area.

‘The feasibility study will be completed in the autumn or end of this year. It will tell us whether it can be done - and, if so, how much it will cost.’