Wolves unveil £40m Molineux plans

Wolves today revealed £40m plans to redevelop Molineux into a 36,000 capacity stadium over the next four years.

There are however plans drafted to extend the ground to 50,000.

Work is to start next summer on phase one, demolishing the Stan Cullis Stand and replacing it with a two-tier structure which will take 12 months to build to continue round to the Steve Bull Stand.

Click on the images on the right to see more pictures.

As soon as the new North Stand is finished, phase two sees the Steve Bull Stand flattened to make way for a replacement taking two years to construct, which will be another two-tier stand with 42 boxes including a 600-seat banqueting hall.

Phase three sees an extra tier added to the Jack Harris Stand and joined to the Steve Bull Stand, thus creating a horseshoe-shaped Molineux with the two eastern corners filled in.

The new stands will be built within the minimum six metres of the pitch, achieving owner Steve Morgan's desire to bring fans much closer to the pitch.

A fourth phase to increase capacity to 50,000 will be added if there is sufficient demand by rebuilding the Billy Wright Stand and filling in the western corners.

But the club are initially seeking planning permission for phases one to three.

The new Stan Cullis Stand will incorporate a club museum and new megastore, with the ticket office moved to the current club shop.

Chief executive Jez Moxey revealed the money for phase one - £15m-£16m – was already in the club and he said the club's financial future would not be put at risk, although he said there may be some short term borrowing to complete phase two.

Moxey also insisted the work depended on Wolves staying in the Premier League next season, when owner Steve Morgan will decide on when to "push the button" to start.

But Moxey stressed the development would not be at the expense of investment in the team.

"One of the things we've said all along is that we want to do things sensibly and cautiously and we're not going to get ourselves into financial difficulty," he said.

"We want to be smart buyers in the transfer market and that will continue.

"We haven't got an open chequebook and we don't envisage that being the way to proceed.

"We need to get value for money and I think Mick has done a great job in identifying us players who have given us that.

"We want to continue that as it goes forward."

Roofs on the new stands – which will be half as high again as the existing ones - will suspended from iconic 45-metre high masts, while the club's gold and black colours will feature heavily in the unique design.

The redevelopment will create a minimum of 300 jobs in the city, Moxey revealed.

But any work on Peal House, bought by Morgan several months ago, is a seperate development to the plans drawn up for Molineux.

Moxey said it was still being decided what to do with the former Tarmac office block.