ACCRINGTON Stanley have insisted that plans to revamp the Clayton End will not affect the atmosphere at the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

Stanley have to install around 800 extra seats by May 1 or face expulsion from the Football League because of a failure to meet stadium regulations.

There had been hopes to build a new stand in place of the Whinney Hill Terrace.

But instead up to three rows of seats will be bolted on to the existing terrace and up to five rows of seats will be installed at the bottom of the Clayton End terrace.

The new plan, expected to be approved in the next few days by the FA, will cost the cash-strapped club just £30,000 rather than the original estimate of £350,000.

It has met with some opposition, though, from Reds fans concerned that the work - due to start in mid-January - will destroy the atmosphere created by the Ultras on the Clayton End terrace.

But general manager David O’Neill said: “We’ve been very mindful about the atmosphere at the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

“There are only normally 400 standing behind the goal and I challenge them to tell me how there won’t be enough room for them.

“I looked on Saturday and how many actually stand in the area where the seats will be? The Ultras all stand at the back.

“If we had spent £350,000 on a new stand we would have got a grant but we would still have had to spend £200,000, which does not make financial sense in the current climate.

“We budget for crowds of 2,000 but we’re only averaging 1,600 this season.

“That’s 400 x £15 x 22 games, which is close to £200,000.”

Every Football League ground in the country must have a minimum capacity of 5,000 and at least 2,000 seats.

The Fraser Eagle Stadium currently has a capacity of 5,057 but only around 1,200 seats and had to meet the Football League criteria by May 1 in their third season since promotion from the Conference.

That deadline is now less than five months away but the club know they are unlikely to find spectators to sit in the new seats.

They asked for dispensation from the regulations but were told that no club was exempt.

O’Neill said: “You just wish that common sense would prevail.

“I asked them what would happen if we were 100 or 50 seats short of 2,000 and they said they would kick us out of the league.”

Initial plans for a new stand had include new dressing rooms on the Whinney Hill side but they will now not be built, although the fresh plans do avoid the need for planning permission.

Stanley may introduce a temporary standing area between the Whinney Hill Terrace and the Coppice Terrace to keep the capacity above 5,000 while work is being done during the second half of this season. Some of the new seats are expected to be blue seats gained second hand from Manchester City.

Although unusual, plans to have seats at the bottom of the home end and terracing at the top do have a precedent at Macclesfield’s Moss Rose ground.