Exclusive: Kevin Phillips says how West Brom could expand The Hawthorns
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips believes that West Brom would look into expanding the capacity of The Hawthorns once they manage to re-establish themselves in the Premier League.
Albion chief executive Mark Jenkins revealed earlier this year that any plans to expand the stadium would remain on hold until there is a larger demand for tickets.
West Brom fans have regularly discussed the possibility of making the Halfords Lane stand bigger so that it matches up to the other three stands.
There has been talk of expanding the Halfords Lane stand so that it goes over the road and Phillips believes that adding an extra tier to it could be an option for the Baggies in the future.
“I think they would [expand the capacity],” Phillips told West Brom News.
“The three sides, when you come out of the tunnel, they’re nice stands. It’s probably the Halfords Lane stand [that needs expanding].
“I know they redeveloped it after I left. There was talk about whether they could put another tier on top of Halfords Lane to make it a lot bigger, which could be an option. But I think with planning and listed sites etc, there was a bit of an issue with that.
“I know Watford did it down at Vicarage Road with the old stand when you come out of the tunnel, they managed to redevelop that.
“I think that’s the only stand you could possibly do at The Hawthorns because, with the others, it would take a mega expansion to put another tier on them.
“Maybe they could do what Liverpool did. Maybe you could build up while football is still on. That could be an option.
“But first and foremost, getting into the Premier League and sustaining one or two seasons there and then maybe you can look to redevelop.”
Phillips is right to say that West Brom need to be established back in the Premier League before they think about anything like expanding the stadium.
It would be very costly to expand the stadium and the road behind the Halfords Lane stand makes it difficult.
Other options could be filling in more seats in the Woodman and Millennium corners of the stadium but they are usually the areas of The Hawthorns that have a lot of empty seats.
In other West Brom news, Albion have been linked with a Croatian centre-back who Bilic handed his international debut.