Surrey CCC's proposal would increase capacity at The Oval to 28,000 by April '21.GETTY IMAGES
Surrey County Cricket Club submitted a planning application for the first stage of the £50M ($69.6M) redevelopment of The Oval. The proposals would increase the capacity of the ground by 2,500 to 28,000 by April '21 and come as the county announced record profits of £3.6M ($5M). Part one of the redevelopment will cost £26M ($36.2M) and result in the Peter May Stand extended to join the Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion, which will also have an extra wing added (London EVENING STANDARD, 4/26).
Netball NSW CEO Carolyn Campbell said that revamping the NSW tennis centre into a 10,000-seat stadium for netball is "more urgent than ever with news there is no guaranteed venue" for Super Netball clubs Swifts or Giants "if they win the right to host the preliminary final or Grand Final of Super Netball this season." Campbell on Thursday confirmed while the 3,200-seat Quay Centre is available for the weekend of the semifinal, "there are no guaranteed venues in Sydney for the following finals matches" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 4/26).
The campaign for safe standing areas at Premier League and League Championship grounds is "likely to be debated in parliament after an online petition gathered more than 100,000 supporters." Petitions that gain more than 100,000 backers are considered "suitable for full parliamentary debates." Jon Darch, who is leading the safe standing campaign, said, “A fortnight ago the petition had under 5,000 signatures, so to add 95,000 in just 14 days demonstrates that fans who support safe standing are not, as the sports minister claimed, just a ‘vocal minority’” (LONDON TIMES, 4/26).
Sports leaders are "clinging to the hope" that Christchurch, New Zealand, will have a separate stadium and metro sports facility ahead of Friday's "long-awaited announcement over the centre's future." After countless delays, Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods will "finally reveal how the sporting landscape in the city will be shaped for generations to come." The decision will "shed some light on what lies ahead for the multi-use stadium" (STUFF, 4/26).
Ten years after construction started on the League of Ireland side's new Finn Harps stadium in Stranorlar, Ireland, there "could finally be some good news" for the club. Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport Brendan Griffin approved the granting of further funding to develop the stadium. Griffin said that it was "a shame" that given the money already spent on the stadium, it remains unfinished (DONEGAL DEMOCRAT, 4/25).
