Stadium could be a win for us all

The prospect of a new stadium for Posh is exciting for the club’s owners and fans but also for the city. If all goes well, it seems likely it will be located on the Embankment with Posh, according to the official announcement, hoping to kick off the 2022/2023 season in their new home.

That timescale did appear very optimistic and even before the ink was dry on the press release one of Posh’s co-owners said it was more likely to be a year later and might even take seven years!

The boost for the football club is pretty obvious – history shows us that most clubs who abandon their traditonal home for a bright, shiny new stadium enjoy a rise in attendances and an upturn in their playing fortunes.

On the playing front Posh’s first target is the Championship but there is no reason why they can’t aim higher than that and set their sights on the Premier League. If the likes of Burnley and Norwich, Huddersfield and Hull can, why not Peterborough?

Off the field, it is hoped the stadium will be a venue ‘for business, entrepreneurship and entertainment’.

It is that last category that many Peterborough residents will hope will be boosted.

There is a long way to go and the club and the council have to get this right. Coowner

Dr Jason Neale has acknowledged that parking “will be a key part of ensuring the success of the venue’’.

As will wider traffic management.It seems with the university campus already planned for the area and now a new football stadiun the Embankment will see a heavy density of building.

Leader of the council John Holdich is already on record in saying that there will still be room for events such as the Beer Festival. Let’s hope that doesn’t change along the way.

I have a warning for one of the club’s co-owners Stewart Thompson who professed his excitement at the prospect of people walking from the railway station ‘through the cathedral to really showcase this city.’’

I can only hope Posh remain in a different league to my team Leeds United! Otherwise the dean might be a worried man.