Football club plans 50% extra stadium seat capacity

The chief executive of a League One football club said he wants to increase its stadium capacity to 12,000.

Alex Tunbridge said Cambridge United had already "doubled" the crowds to just over 7,000 in the past few years.

His comments follow a new sponsorship deal that has seen its ground renamed The Cledara Abbey Stadium.

"We've already invested a lot of money in the matchday experience and we want to go one step further in the next few years," he said.

The stadium's current capacity is nearly 8,000.

Mr Tunbridge said the club's "ambition" was to redevelop the Habbin and NRE stands, and upgrade supporter facilities.

"The facilities here at the Abbey are very old and we really want to develop that.
"We're already competing in a very difficult division. Eight clubs here have played in the Premier League - we've got clubs that get 25,000 to 30,000 [spectators] every week," he said.

He hopes a "4,000 NRE terrace, which could be retrofitted with safe standing, and a 3,500 seater Habbin stand" would make Cambridge United "a sustainable League One club".

Asked about the renaming of the ground, Mr Tunbridge said: "One of the non-negotiables on this journey was to include the Abbey stadium in the name.

"I think it will stick. It's not just about the verbal use, but digitally and on multiple assets across the world."

Brad van Leeuwen, co-founder of Cledara, said it was key for his software management company to "respect what's important to the fans".

"Cambridge united is a very, very well run club in one of the world's most important cities, and they've got a platform to do well as a team, and so of course we want to be part of that," he added.

Cambridge United are away to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup.

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