In a move bound to annoy traditionalists Ipswich Town are doing away with Churchman's. In a press conference held to give greater detail of the development to the stand the club announced that until a suitable sponsor is found for it the stand will be referred to as the South Stand, a name more synonymous with away trips to Carrow Road than ITFC.
As for the stand's development the club announced that the new Churchman's/South/Bird's Eye Stand will add an extra 4000 seats to the ground's capacity and excede the design requirements of the Football Task Force's Green Book. It will also have 48 spaces for disabled spectators, an audio loop for the visually/aurally impaired. There will be catering facilities for 500 people and a glass fronted restaurant facing the pitch. The stand will be designed to fit in with the look of the Britannia Stand and be made from a 'goalpost' style tubular construction. Building work will commence today and the upper tier will be partially completed by March 2001, whether spectators will be able to utilise this area has not been stated. The funding for the £5 million development will not come from any of the Sky money or from the club's other 'mainstream' incomes. The cash will come from Football Trust grants and from a long-term repayment scheme. The work will be carried out by Jackson Buil!
ding group and be completed by May 2001. The club has been keen to stress that minimal disruption to supporters has been one of its major concerns.
Aside from the development of the stand Town have announced that the practice pitch behind the Britannia Stand willl be astroturfed.
Town have officially resigned from the Combination League after more that sixty years as memebers. Harold Smith, a Town vice-president, has also resigned his position on the board of the League. He said: "Town's membership goes back to the time of Scott Duncan and our membership has been unbroken."