'Adding to the magical atmosphere we already have': Portsmouth chief on the challenge for Fratton Park's £11m project to meet fan expectation

And while work is still required, he believes Pompey are tantalisingly close to providing supporters with the match-day experience they deserve.

While Danny Cowley’s side have enjoyed an encouraging start to the campaign, off the pitch the finishing touches continue to be applied to the ongoing £11m redevelopment project.

With North Stand and Stand Stand improvements completed in time for the season’s start, Fratton Park’s five fixtures to date have attracted an average attendance of 18,315.

The 19,009 present against Plymouth earlier this month represents the Blues’ best home crowd for approaching four years.

And with the introduction of fresh ideas such as the fan zone and a new outdoor food and drink cabin behind the Fratton End, Cullen is pleased with how matters are taking shape.

Pompey’s chief executive told The News: ‘It has been a long time in the planning, before my time, and it’s really good to now see it take shape.

‘You can start to see the improvements and, when the owners are next over, they will be able to see a return on their £11m investment on a project to get Fratton Park to where it is today – and also secure it for many years to come.

‘We got ahead of ourselves in some areas where we didn’t expect to be, such as the concessions in the South Stand all being opened.

‘For the first couple of games we still had beer dispenser issues and fridges to work through, but now those areas are sorted and we’re grateful for supporters’ patience.

‘We are learning from game-to-game and there have been other improvements, particularly around the scenes where supporters have particular issues.

‘Myself and Steve Cripps have met one or two fans on a match day where there have been one or two issues with the seats.

‘For example, in the South Stand we had some seats on the back row which weren’t perfectly aligned with those in the rows in front of them, so your knee was going in a different place than it should have been.

‘Steve was able to correct those and, the next time people came to a match, that problem was fixed.

‘Unlike the South Stand, we don’t have to put handrails in the North Stand. However, some supporters with mobility issues or being elderly, asked if we could put them in to give a bit of support as they climbed steps in North Lower.

‘We’ve looked at that and are going to put some rails in every four or five steps. Little things like that we continue to work on.’

The new kiosk behind the Fratton End was well-received at its unveiling for Plymouth.

On the day, some supporters also approached Cullen asking for a covering section to also be introduced for when the weather turns.

He added: ‘One of the big improvements has been creating the fan zone outside the Fratton End, putting a DJ in there and inflatable activities.

‘We have also invested in a shipping container, which will serve food and drink pre-match. It opened against Plymouth and should be fully functional by the middle of October.

‘We have established a supporters’ match-day experience working group and they are full of ideas of how we can improve things, so we will continue that engagement to make Fratton Park a great place to come.

‘If you can get those aspects right pre-match, it plays no small part in adding to the magical atmosphere we already have.’

MORE: Andy Cullen details how imminent Milton End changes will impact on Fratton faithful – and away attendances

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