Portsmouth to reap the benefits after £15m+ Fratton Park news
Former Portsmouth midfielder David Norris has backed the ownership’s £15million-plus investment into improvement works at Fratton Park.
Refurbishment at the stadium has been ongoing throughout the summer, with Pompey’s request to the EFL for their first game of the new Championship season to be away from home granted.
John Mousinho’s side will travel to face Leeds United at Elland Road on 10 August for the season opener, allowing the club more time to finalise the renovations before hosting Millwall the following Tuesday in the Carabao Cup.
Norris, speaking exclusively to Pompey News, is a huge fan of the identity of the stadium as well as the pitch but admits it needs refurbishment to keep with the times, something the Tornante Company have done by injecting over £15m into the works.
“It’s needed an upgrade for years now – it 100% needs to be done,” the former Blues midfielder said.
“It’s got that old-school feel to it, but all stadiums need updating.
“The improvements will be great and it’ll be interesting to see what it does in terms of attendances.
“The pitch always looks good to be fair, a nice surface to play on.
“But the ground itself needs updating and should be much better for it.”
Portsmouth moving with the times
A very satisfying spectacle for the Portsmouth supporters is being able to witness the proactive steps being taken by the Eisners, running the club.
While stadium renovations have been needed for a long time, the club were previously unable to afford to get the necessary work carried out.
An added boost for Pompey fans is that CEO Andy Cullen confirmed the millions being spent in other areas of the club, including the professional evolution of the women’s team, will not affect the transfer budget for incoming players ahead of the Championship season.
Pompey have so far signed four players – Jordan Williams, Josh Murphy, Jordan Archer and Reuben Swann, and have tied captain Marlon Pack and defender Connor Ogilvie down to new contracts.
With the refurb works including a mezzanine, new toilet blocks and a TV gantry, the club are looking to re-establish themselves in among the top ends of the pyramid both on and off the pitch.
In other Portsmouth news, John Mousinho has reacted to the signing of goalkeeper Archer.
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