Arsenal’s Emirates expansion plans could potentially stall as ‘really tricky’ issue emerges

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Arsenal are looking at a possible expansion to the Emirates Stadium, but it won’t be easy for the hierarchy to do it.

The Gunners have plans to become the club with the biggest stadium in London, but it will require some changes.

For Arsenal to expand the Emirates Stadium, there is the possibility of a move to Wembley, with a return boosting the maximum attendance to 70,000.

That’s just one of the challenges facing the owners, but there is another issue that Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke may face.

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Arsenal face Emirates Stadium planning permission problem

With Arsenal hopeful about an extension for the Emirates Stadium, they still face some major hurdles before it is confirmed.

One of those includes the planning permission they need to put up towards the local council and the residents.

That was explained by journalist Charles Watts, when speaking on his YouTube channel.

He claimed: “If, and when, they get to that point, then the really, really tricky bit starts. Then, you know, the actual red tape stuff starts.

“They have to go to Islington Council. They have to put plans on display for locals to come. And it will not be an easy process, believe me, to get that through, to get any sort of agreement through when it comes to expanding the Emirates, especially with the council.

“There was very firm sort of guidelines set in stone when the Emirates was initially built in terms of no further development, certain heights of the development, all that sort of stuff.

“So, it’s going to be an incredibly complex build if they are going to do something.

“And it’s going to be an incredibly complex process in getting it through all the various stages of bureaucracy that it’s going to need to go through before it gets done.”

It remains to be seen exactly how far this process will go, but it’s clear that Arsenal have their eyes on a change to the stadium.

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Arsenal plans to expand the Emirates Stadium are “crystal clear”

The ambition to expand the Emirates Stadium comes almost 20 years after Arsenal moved from Highbury to the new ground.

With plenty of other stadiums catching up and surpassing its modern qualities, it’s clear that the Gunners want to make some changes.

John Cross from The Mirror added more when he said on Sky Sports’ The Back Pages: “I think the most eye-catching for me is that temporary potential move to Wembley.

“And that is a possibility rather than a certainty at this stage. But what is absolutely crystal clear at the moment is that they are looking to expand. The Emirates, what, you know, has been open for the best part of 20 years.

“And basically, it was a magnificent stadium when it opened. And now you look at others, basically, all of a sudden it feels a little bit, dare I say it, dated. And basically, it probably needs a little bit of a facelift.

“And then also the expansion. Let’s not forget here that I think that, what was it, 10, 12 years ago, the mood in football was that basically you’ve got to have this massive capacity. Capacity and size is absolutely everything.

“Then the shift came away from that because lucrative TV deals and sort of kind of, you know, keep it going.

“And we feel a little bit of a sort of kind of surge back to the attendances and kind of the match day figures and revenues to kind of satisfy the kind of the bean counters, the PSR sums and all that.”

There is still a long process ahead for it all, but change is expected sooner or later.