Town's new North Stand is close to receiving planning permission from the council. Council officers last night recommended approval for Town's plans which are to be discussed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile the model of the new look ground will be on display in the Centre Spot from this Thursday.

Town's unexpected success is likely to catapult the club to ever greater financial riches. At the beginning of the season David Sheepshanks told TWTD the turnover of the club would more than double due to our promotion to the Premiership, however this now looks a very conservative estimate.

If Town finish third in the Premiership they will receive £6,055,596 prize money and even if the finish a couple of places lower the cash is only reduced by £336,422 per place.

Then there is the increased TV money available. From next season all Premiership clubs will receive £6,297,500 at the beginning of the season and £570,000 for each live Sky appearance plus another £82,000 for highlights appearances, next year on ITV. Involvement in the Champions' League could be worth around the £8 million level.

Town could also receive a summer windfall if Kieron Dyer signs for Manchester United or Leeds which seems highly likely. When Dyer left for Newcastle, Town insisted that there was a clause in the deal whereby the Blues received a percentage of any profit on further transfers. Dyer left for £6m (rising to £6.5m), but the price now being discussed for any Dyer move is somewhere above £11m.

On the downside Town have to pay Wimbledon another £500,000 for Hermann Hreidarsson for avoiding relegation, but I reckon we can afford that, don't you?

Town chairman David Sheepshanks has spoken out against high Cup ticket prices in his speech at the Sport in Business conference. The conference looked at whether football's current levels of success are sustainable and Sheepshanks was a guest speaker.

Sheepshanks said: "I am very pro cup football, both the FA Cup and the Worthington Cup, and we have to protect it. In some games, even in the FA Cup, attendances have been down but that's more to do with the stretch of people's pockets than lack of interest. Cup football is very important in our calendar but it is stretching people's purses. Hopefully, that will even out over time."

He sees the Worthington Cup as an important competition providing funds for lower league sides but he feels that it needs slimming down.

The Town chairman was also critical of the Football League of which he was until recently the chairman. He said they were wrong to try to go it alone after the formation of the Premier League in 1992, prior to his involvement. He feels the Football League's decision to go it alone is responsible for the gap between the Premiership and the First Division. Had they negotiated TV deals along with the Premiership rather than alone he feels they would find themselves in a much better position, something he felt and expressed at the time of the negotiations of the last Football League deal back in 1995.

Over all though the Town chairman felt that football was in no danger overkill, which was the main theme of the conference. He said he feels football will become more accessible as it becomes available via new technologies like mobile phones and PCs. As soon as next season clubs will have highlights of their own games on their own websites 36 hours after games are completed.

Richard Wright has been in saving action of another kind. Wright stopped his car in Town's Berners Street to help a dog which had escaped into traffic. He then took the dog to the Orwell Vet Group.

Luckily the dog didn't bite the Town keeper and the both keeper and animal are now fine. Vets warn fans and goalkeepers not to approach stray dogs as they could be dangerous. Centre-halves can probably handle them though.

Photo: Action Images

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