On target!

Athletic’s new stand: the end is in sight

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ATHLETIC chairman Simon Corney has issued a plea for fans to dig deep to help the club build success on the pitch.

Revealing a £400,000 profit last season as a result of player trading, Corney stressed it’s all systems go for the £6.5million new North Stand to be open for next season.

The club chief hopes more supporters will be willing to buy season tickets at a four-sided ground, with the financial benefits of the new build not forecast to kick in until the 2016-17 campaign.

“We are making good progress on the stand and are on schedule,” Corney said. “It will be tight, but we have our tenants in place. These are very exciting times for the club and it is really important that fans support us by buying up season tickets for next year.

“The revenue from the stand itself will be very important for the club’s future, but it won’t really be felt until after the first year. So we want fans to get behind us.”

Last season the sale of Jose Baxter and James Tarkowski helped to boost the bank account and with an FA Cup run that took in a trip to Liverpool in round three, Athletic went into the black by a considerable margin.

Funding the building of the stand has continued to be the priority across 2014-15 above all else.

Despite this, this morning Athletic sat 13th in the league, retaining an outside shot at making the top six.

“We made a very nice profit last year,” Corney added. “It has been very important in terms of helping us with the stand. There is a long way to go still.

:I know the board gets criticised by the fans — but to make a profit is very rare in the game and it shows we are a very well-run club. To be in a position to take funds to put into the stand and still be competitive on the pitch this season is a strong effort.”

Several major changes to the interior layout of the stand have had to be accomplished for commercial considerations, but over the next month major work will be done on the interior. The end is now in sight.

Twitter: @Matt_Chambers_