Town CEO Mark Ashton says Portman Road will be ready to host Liverpool on the opening day of the season, despite 104 separate projects which have been ongoing throughout the summer involving more than 200 workers.

Promotion to the Premier League means the Blues have to upgrade numerous areas of the stadium, among them a new TV studio, media suite and press box.

The number of camera positions around the ground will increase from five or six to 46 or 47 with VAR now required.

The players’ dressing rooms and officials facilities are being upgraded, while mid-tier digital advertising is being added to stands.

Areas of the Cobbold Stand will have safe standing, while 800 fans are having to move seats due to the various works.

The floodlights are also being upgraded, there will be a new players’ lounge, new seating in the directors’ box, new bar and kiosk areas and the ground’s reception is being refurbished among the many projects.

“If it didn’t give me some anxiety, I’d be telling you lies, but I have a very dedicated, very professional team, who are working tirelessly and the stadium will be ready,” Ashton told TownTV when asked whether he had any concerns about the projects not being finished on time during a tour of the currently ongoing work.

“There will be some works that we need to go into the season and continue on with, that’s for sure. We’re in continued dialogue with the Premier League, they seem happy with the programme of works, but there’s a lot to do.

“I’m grateful to my staff and I say this to the fanbase, please understand, I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about the teams that run this business, are working tirelessly day and night to get this stadium ready and I’m so proud of them.

“I’m so grateful to the fanbase again because the support they’ve shown in season tickets, memberships, shirts [with 20,000 having been sold already], community activities in the summer, have been incredible.

“We have a helluva lot to do but we’ve talked about us being together and as long as we’re together as one, we’ll have the stadium ready, we’ll be ready on the pitch, we’ll be ready off the pitch for Liverpool and ready to open our doors to the world come 17th August.”

ITFC

BrockleyBlue78 added 21:47 - Jul 25 Top work Mark and team, thank you and good luck over the next three weeks.
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ashp19 added 22:26 - Jul 25 Great insight and welcome update. I have no idea how MA (and all) sleep at night with all that needing to be completed, my anxiety's literally gone through the un-complete roof!
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Edmundo added 22:57 - Jul 25 Good to hear him including fans in the acknowledgement of a team effort. 23 days to go....
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Gforce added 23:06 - Jul 25 Great to hear everything is on track for the big kick off. On another note, did Luton have this amount of work done last season, you wouldn't think so looking at their stadium.
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JewellintheTown added 00:10 - Jul 26 Amazing work going on from all involved. Makes us all so proud & supportive of the dedication & hard work put in for the coming season & many decades following. Such a legacy that'll be remembered long after those that have been involved. Couldn't ask for a better bunch from top to bottom throughout the club.
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Flight_of_Shefki added 06:03 - Jul 26 This video is brilliant to watch. Not sure about Andy W's inter-personality skills or interview technique myself, but MA powering through it clear and concisely as always. Our club is spending hella dosh to keep up with these PL standards.
1

BotesdaleBlue added 07:20 - Jul 26 After this work has been done there will be plenty of pure blue water between the quality, prestige, and overall look of our ground, compared to Carrot Road. That fact alone, makes me very happy indeed.
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Nomore4 added 07:44 - Jul 26 Unbelievable how this was filmed. No thought for H&S at all. No hard hats, safety boots, hi viz etc. H&S would have a field day….. Ashton rightly says a very big construction project, as he walks around in jeans and pumps. The construction workers not much better.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:56 - Jul 26 Wow! The extent of the work going on is nothing short of mind-blowing. Let's hope we can reciprocate all this positivity on the pitch. I have great hopes that we will.
1

Europa added 08:45 - Jul 26 I realise Portman Road is probably undergoing a lot more work than at Kenilworth Road, but watching this makes me wonder how the heck Luton managed to get everything done and where they managed to squeeze it all in.
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Bluemike31 added 09:00 - Jul 26 Is it just me that thinks there's not a cat in hells chance all that will be finished by 17th Aug, unless it was filmed a while back. Incredible stuff going on though.
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PackwoodBlue added 09:13 - Jul 26 This was such a fascinating video. Well done Mark and team for all your efforts! Mark's enthusiasm is infectious and we are so lucky to have him at the helm. The stadium looks better than ever. Amazing how subtle changes to paint colour here and there transforms and modernises the look. COYB!
1

bringmeaKuqi added 10:21 - Jul 26 Am I the only one not sure about the black exits? It looks smart on the walls, but the exits (or vomitories or whatever they call them) stand out like a sore thumb
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BlueMoon added 10:27 - Jul 26 Surely Kenilworth road had more work to do than PR. They built a new stand! Appreciate they perhaps didn't do some of the the upgrades for the longer term that we are no doing based on them looking to leave for a new stadium.
1

Bert added 13:49 - Jul 26 Ashton is a brilliant communicator and knows his onions. A huge amount of work to comply with PL regulations but it does make me wonder if it’s a bit OTT for what is mainly behind the scenes infrastructure . Bigger and better seats for visiting Directors, why ? All I wanted was new seat that is flat ! Well done Team ITFC and apologies for a slight moan about some of the stuff we are forced to do.

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Bert added 13:50 - Jul 26 Ashton is a brilliant communicator and knows his onions. A huge amount of work to comply with PL regulations but it does make me wonder if it’s a bit OTT for what is mainly behind the scenes infrastructure . Bigger and better seats for visiting Directors, why ? All I wanted was new seat that is flat ! Well done Team ITFC and apologies for a slight moan about some of the stuff we are forced to do.

0

Bert added 13:50 - Jul 26 Ashton is a brilliant communicator and knows his onions. A huge amount of work to comply with PL regulations but it does make me wonder if it’s a bit OTT for what is mainly behind the scenes infrastructure . Bigger and better seats for visiting Directors, why ? All I wanted was new seat that is flat ! Well done Team ITFC and apologies for a slight moan about some of the stuff we are forced to do.

0

Bert added 13:50 - Jul 26 Ashton is a brilliant communicator and knows his onions. A huge amount of work to comply with PL regulations but it does make me wonder if it’s a bit OTT for what is mainly behind the scenes infrastructure . Bigger and better seats for visiting Directors, why ? All I wanted was new seat that is flat ! Well done Team ITFC and apologies for a slight moan about some of the stuff we are forced to do.

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Van_Blue added 00:09 - Jul 27 Agree with all above comments and 1 extra thought is that with 200 contractors working all hours, so it seems, that must be pumping some money into the local economy as well as the salaries of the full time employees of the club.
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Grimsbyblue added 14:26 - Jul 27 Thank you soooo much for the amazing tour, great to see how much work is going on. Scary to think only 3 weeks to finish it all. Can we ask Mark to repeat it once the work is completed?
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