Lincoln City CEO Liam Scully revealed that the stadium development is currently progressing as planned, as ProAmpac were officially unveiled as the new stadium sponsor.
The ribbon was officially cut in front of the press and dignitaries at the ground this afternoon, and while the talk of the day was the 10-year deal struck between the club and ProAmpac, it was also a good time to get eyes on what is happening at the ground.
It’s a hive of activity, with roads dug up. You take your life in your hands trying to get to the coffee shop and club shop right now, but the Sincil Drain side of the ground remained clear, at least for the presentation.
With around 40 weeks’ worth of work to cram into 14 weeks, it’s a project that could easily have hit snags, but as things stand, things are going exactly as hoped.
“On time, on budget,” said Liam, when we asked about how things were progressing.
“We’re probably getting into that nervy stage now. I think there were two real critical phases of deadlines. First of all, there was as we were coming out of the ground in the early days.
“Quite frankly, at those stages, there are potential showstoppers. We were nervous of those, and obviously we managed those hurdles and got through that phase really well.”
The nervy stage now is a reliance on other people, which is something incredibly hard to predict.
“I suppose the phase that we’re going into now is where we’re relying on the supply chain,” added Liam. “We’re relying on deliveries; we’re relying on things just happening. You know, it’s not quite sequential that they’re happening.
“The hope is that we just manage to stay on a very strict and tight timeline. We are gonna face delays of hours here and there, but it’s making sure those hours don’t turn into half days and days.
“The team at Gen 2, has been phenomenal in terms of just creating a sophisticated program that is able to adapt if we find any micro delays within it.”
With an away fixture in the League Cup, and a trip to Middlesbrough on the opening day of the Championship, the fixture Gods have certainly been kind, but the plan is still to be operational, in some capacity, by the time Portsmouth arrive for the first second tier game at the Bank (sorry, ProAmpac Stadium) in more than half a century.
“Of course, we’re nervous about a project of this size and this time,” finished Liam. “But so far, so good.”
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