New Stadium On Track

The countdown to kick-off at Swansea’s new sports stadium is going to plan according to council leaders. Work on the new £27 million stadium in Landore is continuing to push ahead.

Councillor Gerald Clement, the cabinet member for culture and recreation, said the new stadium was looking better by the day. He said: “Everything is progressing as we would have dreamed. “It is really going on at pace. Any sort of issues that there were some months ago have been happily settled and it is really coming together.” The stadium is expected to be ready in time for the 2005-06 football and rugby season. It will be the home for sport in the city with Swansea City FC and the Neath- Swansea Ospreys playing there. Work on the 20,000-seat ground began in October last year and has seen the Morfa Retail Park sprout from the ground alongside it on the other side of the River Tawe. When it is completed the site will boast a number of new stores including Boots, Next, TK Maxx, Sports World and Klausner Carpets. It is expected to open before Christmas. The developments are likely to draw large numbers of both shoppers and sports fans to the city. Discussions over sponsorship deals for the new stadium, the sale of seats and other commercial aspects are still continuing. Sponsorship of the stadium is expected to bring in around £800,000. Council bosses are hoping to find a big sponsor willing to take on the naming rights for the new ground. A firm of specialist consultants is now driving the search forward. The working title of White Rock was dropped two months ago to try to improve the chances of getting someone on board. Councillor Clement said he was very pleased with the progress being made. He said: “There are all sorts of things going on, it is all moving on very smoothly.”

SOURCE: SOUTH WALES EVENING POST