Chairman Mike O’Leary issued an update on progress on installing a new pitch at Portman Road, something which is planned for next summer.
O’Leary and CEO Mark Ashton have both previously cited a new Desso [a hybrid natural grass artificial fibre pitch] surface as a priority and speaking at this evening’s fans’ forum O’Leary said discussions have been taking place regarding a number of issues.
"We had a meeting about the pitch this morning, involving quite a spread of those involved, or those who will be involved, and that includes architects helping us to look at the alignments, the sizing, the levels of the pitch, looking at where the dugouts best fit.
"At the moment, our dugouts are too adjacent and could lead to interesting moments,” he said putting his arm around manager Paul Cook next to him.
"We’re looking to slightly realign the positioning of the dugouts. But the crux of it is that the most important first step that we have to take is to punch a hole in the corner of the ground here to allow trucks to get in and out because until we can do that, we can’t bri ng anything inside that we need to produce the new pitch or to put the undersoil heating in when we do that too.
"Of course, having decided that that was the first step, we then discovered that we couldn’t do it without planning permission.
"We have to first of all get planning permission and build regs approval for punching a hole in the corner of the stadium at the far end of the Cobbold Stand in the corner.
"Secondly, we’re planning where we will put a big screen in that corner. It’s got to be a suitable height for everyone to be able to see it and it’s got to be at a suitable height for us to get articulated vehicles in beneath it.
"We also have a challenge of dealing with a very high voltage cable that travels across that corner, which happens to feed the floodlights. So, we’ve got to be a little bit careful we don’t do damage to that.
"And we have to deal with drainage because the new generation pitches of the type that we’re looking to put in actually drain considerably more quickly than the traditional pitch that we have today, which gives us an issue of where the water run-off goes.
"So there’s lots of detail behind the scenes going on. Our intention is to meet again in about two or three weeks from today to look at where we are in a number of key steps.
"First of all approaching the local authority about planning approval. Secondly, appointing a contractor to lead the process for us and thirdly, starting to think about where the other peripheral pieces all fit in that overall plan.
"It’s possible that we won’t get all of this done in the close season that we’re coming up to in May/June of next year but that’s at the moment our goal. Our goal is to do the whole thing with many of the tasks being done in parallel rather than sequentially.
"We’ve made good progress and I’m very pleased to say I think the architects are doing us a very sound job in helping us to set the levels and get the pitch design done properly.”
When it was suggested it will be an unusually busy summer at Portman Road, he added: "They always are. It’s funny how you’d think football clubs would be really sleepy backwaters in May, June and July and the reverse is true. It’s always the busiest time of year.”