<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/manchester-city/" target="_blank">Manchester City’s</a> plans to extend the Etihad Stadium’s capacity to more than 60,000 have moved a step closer. The reigning Premier League champions have announced they are to share concepts with fans and neighbours as they seek to turn the ground, and its surroundings, into a leading global sports and entertainment area. Should a planning application be submitted and successfully approved, the construction programme would take place over a three-year period, with works staged to minimise disruption during the football seasons. City are proposing a new, two-tier North Stand (currently home to the Family Stand) with a large single upper tier increasing total capacity beyond 60,000. Concept designs also include a covered City Square fan zone with a capacity for 3,000 people. Currently this is an open air entertainment space where music, chat and big-screen entertainment are available free before games. There are also plans for a club shop, a museum, food and beverage outlets and a hotel — all fully integrated into the work. Fans and the local community have until Sunday, March 26, to comment on the concepts, which will be available to view at several places around Manchester. This latest stage of the process follows the club’s announcement in December last year that feasibility studies were under way. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2023/02/06/manchester-city-surprised-by-premier-league-rules-breach-allegations/" target="_blank">Recent financial charges laid by the Premier League</a>, and now in the hands of lawyers, have not derailed the ambitious scheme. The current champions are determined that it is business as usual. City moved from their much-loved, iconic Maine Road home in 2003 after an 80-year stay. The Etihad Stadium was converted from an athletics arena used in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games into a 48,000-capacity football ground. A previous expansion of the Etihad came in 2015, when 7,000 seats were added to the South Stand with a new third tier added behind the goal. The stand houses the away support alongside home fans. Since then capacity has been reduced slightly by the arrival of double-sized perimeter advertising boards. A larger match day capacity is seen as vital for City to keep up with rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs, who all enjoy bigger home grounds and have substantially more match day revenue as a result. Liverpool, too, are due to increase the capacity at Anfield. City’s Abu Dhabi owners have already put in excess of £700 million worth of investment into the wider Etihad Campus — home to the first-team training facilities for both men and women, a mini stadium with a capacity of 7,000, and the vaunted Academy — and the wider East Manchester area. Their money has supported thousands of jobs, with City Football Group and its partners delivering a range of non-football facilities, including the Connell Co-op College, the Manchester Institute of Health & Performance, and Co-op Live, the UK's biggest and most sustainable arena, which is currently under construction and on course to open in December 2023. In line with previous club development proposals, the North Stand initiative would ensure that training, recruitment and employment opportunities are prioritised for local people. Opportunities would extend beyond the period of development works, with plans being explored for a long-term “skills academy” programme designed to provide local people of all ages with qualifications to secure permanent jobs at the Etihad Campus. Detailed information outlining the club’s concepts are now available for fans and the local community to view at <a href="http://mancity.com/etihad-stadium-consultation" target="_blank">mancity.com/etihad-stadium-consultation</a>, where feedback and comments can also be submitted. Interested parties can also visit a temporary exhibition space in City Square at the Etihad Stadium, which will be open from Saturday, March 4 until Sunday, March 26.
