Improvements to cost 'millions' at football club

Mark Ashton said the Premier League told Ipswich Town it must make "non-negotiable changes" to its ground

Major improvement works estimated to cost "several million pounds" have begun at Ipswich Town Football Club.

The Suffolk side were promoted to the Premier League on Saturday after securing 96 points in a remarkable Championship campaign.

Chief executive Mark Ashton said there was "a hell of a lot of work to do" to ensure the club's facilities met league standards.

He said a planning application for a "big build" at the Playford Road training ground was to be submitted imminently.

It followed Premier League officials visiting the club in January and handing over a list of work that would need to be done if it was promoted.

Jubilant fans stormed the pitch after Ipswich were promoted

Regulations show all top-flight teams need to have installed goal-line technology in order to compete.

They must also facilitate the installation of equipment that would enable the use of video assistant refereeing.

'Big changes'

"There's several million pounds worth of works to do," Mr Ashton told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"That's going to mean some quite big infrastructure changes at Portman Road over the summer."

The 52-year-old said builders had already been on site at Playford Road to plan the impending improvements.

"It's going to see some changes, it's things we have to do that are non-negotiable from the Premier League," he added.

"Once I've had time to breathe, I'll talk to the fans so they know what's going on."

Facilities enabling the use of video assistant refereeing will need to be installed at Portman Road

Portman Road, which has a capacity of 29,673 fans, was developed after Ipswich were last promoted in 2000.

The Sir Alf Ramsey stand, then known as the Greene King stand, was totally rebuilt to consist of the two-tier structure it is today.

The North Stand was demolished the following year and left a chunk of the stadium devoid of fans for most of the season.

Assertions were subsequently made alleging that the lack of the "North Stand roar" was partially responsible for Town's relegation that year, according to the club's website.

The project added another 4,000 seats to the stadium. The combined cost of the two developments was in the region of £22m.