The self-made Croatian millionaire who has bought Portsmouth Football Club is planning a new stadium on a nearby goods yard.
Milan Mandaric, who last week paid £4.5m for Pompey, is in discussions with the Sellar Property Group over the Fratton Goods Yard. Sellar bought the site earlier this year from joint owners Railtrack and NFC.
Mandaric wants to build a 35,000-seat stadium on the site using a design similar to that of Derby’s new Pride Park stadium. This week he held discussions with Portsmouth city council over a revised planning brief for the 22.3ha (55 acre) site.
Stephen Checkley, head of development control at the council, commented: “We would support a range of leisure uses on the Fratton Goods Yard site to assist the financial viability of redeveloping or relocating the club’s Fratton Park ground.”
