Work to start on installing football fan stones

Alex Pope
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Northampton Town Football Club An animated artist impression of how the fan stones project will appear once complete, with people standing on them, walking into the ground.Northampton Town Football Club
The club said the stones were a great way to remember current and past supporters

Work will start next month on building an area outside a football ground that will have supporters' names engraved on to stones.

Fan Stones will be part of the Brian Lomax Fan Zone, outside Sixfields, the home of Northampton Town.

Each stone costs between £65 and £425 with proceeds invested back into the club's academy and projects suggested by the fan advisory board.

The club is trying to sell 700 stones.

Each stone will include either two or three lines of text, as a way of marking their support or to "remember a loved one".

Northampton Town Football Club The outside of a football club, with paving and a road in the foreground. There are metal barriers in white and red dotted around the building.Northampton Town Football Club
Work has already started on the Brian Lomax Fan Zone at Sixfields

The club said the first stones would be installed by the end of August.

Fan advisory board chairman Tom Cliffe said there was a "significant amount of work taking place" at Sixfields, including the resurfacing of the club's community pitch which was completed recently.

The club also said the installation of a canopy outside Carr's Bar started last week.

A new outside bar, new furniture and a permanent base for the matchday DJ will also be created.

Northampton Town Football Club An artist impression example of how the stones will look. The engraving reads "your legend fan stone"Northampton Town Football Club
The project will allow supporters to have their name, or that of a family member or loved one, engraved in paving

Mr Cliffe said: "This is a real example of the fan advisory board and the club working hand in hand to ensure the views and wishes of supporters are not just listened to and taken in to consideration but are acted upon."

James Whiting, the club chief executive, said: "We have listened to the views put forward by the fan advisory board."

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