Keith provides a comprehensive update on the projects taking place at Woodside Road ahead of the 2025/26 season.
For more videos and information on all the latest news and more, visit the club’s official website https://worthingfc.com.
Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@worthingfc
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worthingfc
Follow us on X/Twitter: http://www.x.com/worthingfc
Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/worthingfc
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@worthingfcofficial
so we’re here with Chief Operating Officer Keith Mitchell keith of course despite it being the close season there’s still plenty of stuff going on around the ground please can you provide an update on the work and explain some of the projects that are going on yeah sure i mean as some people will think you know as soon as the the season finishes everyone downs tools puts their feet up and goes on holiday but that’s not how football clubs work certainly not at our level so yes there’s lots of things been been going on around the ground since then um one is fans will be happy to know that the long awaited fan zone um is well and truly underway and it will extend out the back of this lovely new 1886 lounge that you know we finished recently um so fans can look forward to that a nice covering over the top of the stand bar um giving a different dimension to what we can offer in terms of that fan experience um in addition to that um we’ve got the new reception area um and that will be extended out to create a nice opening a proper reception entrance it will feel like a proper football club entry when you come in um the familiar red gate fans will also note will have been moved out two or three meters to create and accommodate the new turn styles so that will be again something new something different as we start to develop that area of entry and exit into the ground um and in addition to that you know we’ve got the further development of the northwest kiosk um now that the north stand has been completed the kiosk um was going to be fully operational and be able to give a a new dimension to what we can offer fans on a match day experience so yeah lots of lots of really good stuff going on well on the topic of projects of course recent planning permission has been granted for our new scoreboard sound exciting yes i mean as you go around um the grounds um throughout the course of the season you see what others have got um whilst we’re very proud of what we’ve got and our facilities and what we’ve achieved and how we’ve developed there’s always a few things that you leave thinking it would be great if we could look at the opportunity for one of those so um scoreboard um a lot of fans have sort of said it’d be great if in particular now that we’ve got so many fans being able to be accommodated on the north side of the ground um looking across to the other side now what is the south side it’d be really nice to be able to put an all singing or dancing scoreboard in there um which will actually enable threequarters of the people in the ground to to see sort of live update scores times clocks and possibly even some other media bits such as instant replays and so on and so forth the game so yeah very exciting um another dynamic and something else that shows the progression of a football club 100% and with so many projects gone on around the ground and knowing you of course you’re someone who always thinks of customer experience what can fans expect how will these changes sort of positively impact their experience well let’s go back for example to the Northwest kiosk i mean we mentioned you know about the development of the north stand that’s cover on three and a half sides of the ground now which is something which you know as little as two seasons ago we didn’t have at all so you know to to be able to accommodate that is brilliant um the ancillary of that for example the Northwest kiosk there’s going to be a a new food offering exciting new menus things that we can’t offer in other parts of the ground so that’s going to give a different dynamic um to how we move around and feel around the ground so less movement potentially required for fans on a match day um things on more on your doorstep if you like so my favorite space is here i can get something to eat and drink here i can use toilets there and I’m undercover so straight away there’s three or four tick boxes that we wouldn’t have had um previously and certainly um we’re quite excited by possibly some of the new food offerings that people would be able to get 100% and are there any other sort of changes that fans can expect to see before the start of the season um I think so um we’ve got we we’re always constantly looking about how we engage um with our with our fans about how we make people feel part of something so we’re going to be potentially looking at new club membership um I think there’s going to be some quite exciting details to follow on that um and people can sort of become members of the football club and there’ll be some bolt-on benefits not just at the football club but out with um around the community um in association with other key partners where they can actually see the benefit of being a member of the football club um and it’ll also include um such benefits as we know um over the last few seasons with playoff matches and FA Cup games getting some sort of um benefit through the priority windows of booking tickets as well as other bolt-on benefits and and a newsletter potentially as well every month where they’ll give sort of up to dates updates on the football club what we’re doing what’s upcoming things to look forward to um so in terms of the engagement in terms of making our fans feel continued to be part of something going forward um that’s something which we’re really keen to to maintain and develop and that’s the the sort of train of thought going into that area and finally building the north stand not only benefits the customer experience like you mentioned but also was expected to increase the capacity of the ground has that been achieved yes I mean we’re nearly there on that one i mean as you rightly mentioned um there was twofold really around the development of the North Stand first and foremost was the customer experience that we just talked about giving it you know 1,891 fans an area to to um to be undercover and to vocalize it changes the dynamic of it anyone that came to a game in particular the last few games towards the end of last season would have experienced seeing the North Stand in full effect and the volume that comes from there and creates a different feel from uh from what we’d had in previous seasons um so yes it creates that customer experience Ben increases that that customer experience um as we mentioned but the second part of that of course which is still the intention to continue to progress and play national league football um the requirements to comply with 4,000 capacity in the ground is obviously something else that we would need to achieve and by doing that um creating the extra thousand people in the ground through the through the north stand we would need to um make sure that can be facilitated through exit and entry so we are looking at ways and finalizing ways now really of just creating another exit point um for um to keep the for officer happy um and to make sure that we can move fans around the ground safely and quickly as and when we need to um whether that’s through an evacuation or through a segregation match various options that we’re looking at um to enable um the fans to have a better and more fluid movement around the ground whether that’s an emergency or not but certainly in terms of the new access towards the or potential new access towards the um northwest corner where we can get fans swiftly and safely out the ground if ever we needed to from an emergency perspective so there’s all elements being considered at the moment um but certainly um you know I would like to think the fans when they come back they’ll see what’s been going on in the close season and be happy what they see well keep it all sounds very exciting thanks for your time you’re welcome thanks
3 Comments
well done KM, enabled so much thus far in the old ground for the club, hard work but achieving things is never easy
11 years ago we had a tired main stand and bars, odd terracing, a grass pitch that was mostly a mud bath or frozen solid at points, since then: new seating in main stand ✅ railings in main stand ✅under stand bar ✅Pitch ✅ floodlights ✅eastern end ✅ north stand ✅main turnstiles ✅ north east turnstiles ✅ north east loos / food and bar ✅ north west loos / food and bar ✅dugouts ✅ scoreboard ✅ new access ✅ reception area ✅ 1886 lounge ✅ first aid room ✅ club shop ✅
Won’t have to ask someone what the score is…….it all sounds great . Not easy at all on a site such as Worthing lots of headaches but achievable. Great stuff.