Wildlife Group fail in their ‘deliberate attempt’ to stop the expansion of EFL club’s stadium

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The EFL season is back underway after the first weekend of matches have taken place throughout League One and League Two, with the Championship set to begin next week.

Fans will be happy to be able to make their way back to their club’s stadiums after a summer without football, at least at their level.

Within the three divisions below the top flight of England, there are a number of clubs with grand ambitions, and this will see them believing they can reach the Premier League.

To be able to compete at the highest level in England, stadiums must be up to a certain standard, as Luton Town and Bournemouth found out recently.

However, plans for one EFL club to expand their stadium as they continue to grow almost came to a halt.

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Wildlife Group fail to stop Stockport County’s stadium expansion

Stockport County have had plans to expand the stadium and they are now back on track after they had been halted as wildlife campaigners were accused of a ‘deliberate attempt’ to delay the process, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.

The club’s plans were supposed to be approved by Stockport Council, but a letter from the Edgeley Wildlife Reserve group caused a delay while town hall officials considered the eleventh-hour objection.

They are against the building of a car park on a patch of green natural land behind the south stand at Edgeley Park.

The plans to expand the stadium to add an extra 7,400 seats to the ground and redevelop Edgeley Park.

Edgeley councillor Asa Caton spoke at Stockport town hall last night about the plans.

He said: “The [wildlife] group has had 18 months to put all objections forward, as had everyone else. The fact that this further letter came less than 24 hours before the planning and highways committee was at the very least unhelpful, and at the very worst looked like a deliberate attempt to frustrate the planning process.”

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The need for expansion at Stockport County

Stockport County missed out on promotion last year after an impressive season but were unable to get over the line.

The Hatters will be more confident they can achieve promotion to the Championship this season to complete a fantastic rise through the divisions.

Stockport County were playing in the National League as recently as 2022 when they earned promotion, having spent 11 seasons in the division outside the EFL.

Speaking on the club’s growth, John Bilsbury, from Stockport County Supporters’ Co-operative said: “Attendances have seen a similar growth, rising from 4,500 six years ago to 9,500 last season.”