With season ticket waiting list growing, Brighton and Hove Albion are constantly thinking of how small their stadium has proven to be. In upcoming months further 1,250 seats are expected to be installed...

Since the Gulls are a Premier League team, demand for season ticket exceeds stadium capacity. Currently there are 8,000 people on the waiting list and average occupancy of over 99%, so American Express Community Stadium is nearly bursting at the seams.

© Barbara van Cleve (cc: by-sa)

We should remember that it was opened with just over 22,000 seats in 2011. Already a year later the additional room left for future expansion had to be used as capacity went up to over 27,000. By 2013 the size was already 30,750. Now even that is far too little and Albion have announced plans to add further 1,250 seats, which would bring the size up to some 32,000.

Which means that in less than a decade their brand new stadium had to grow by over 45% and still is unable to cope with regular demand.

Planning application for the latest works has already been submitted, as The Argus reports. Aside from additional seating, the club is looking to enhance the matchday experience. Wifi upgrades have already been delivered while Albion are looking to install extra toilets.

© Peter Butchers