Madejski Stadium expansion put on hold

Reading FC chief executive Nigel Howe has revealed that building work to expand the Madejski Stadium will still go ahead, but is to be put on hold until 2009.

The club hope to expand the capacity from a little over 24,000 to 38,000 to reap the rewards of higher gates in the Premier League, but following relegation to the Championship, Howe said: "We still have every intention of increasing the stadium capacity, but now is not the right time to do it.

"We have always built this club on sensible foundations and that's what we are doing again here.

"From day one, we've said there's no point expanding if we don't maintain our place in the Premier League.

"Work needs to begin over a summer when the Stadium is not in use. We will revisit things once we know where we are at the end of this season and make a plan accordingly but work will not start until the summer of 2009 at the earliest, whatever division we are in.

"We are not in a position to make a final decision now, so there would be insufficient time for us to begin work this summer if we so desired.

"This is a huge undertaking for the football club, and everyone understands that all aspects must be absolutely correct before we are ready to start work."

Despite relegation to the Championship, the club are eager to extend the capacity of the stadium to aid England's bid to host the World Cup Finals in 2018, whatever division they are playing in.