WHILE attention for many fans at this time of year is on investment in the playing squad, budget plans are also been drawn up for maintenance work at Ewood Park.

That will prove both costly and time consuming, but chief executive Steve Waggott admits it simply has to be done.

Improvements to the Riverside Stand are something of a different matter, with Waggott having a vision that would enable Ewood Park to become more of a 24/7 facility than simply on matchdays.

But as parts of the ground start to show signs of age, Waggott says it is something of a priority to ensure the fans are able to enjoy the matches in a safe environment.

He said: “As chief executive, and directors of the board, we have to make sure we conform to the safety certificate. We have to conform to health and safety standards.

“The biggest thing for me is that people arrive at the stadium safely and they go home to their loved ones and families after the game, irrespective of the result.

“That’s the number one priority.

“We work closely on the whole operation and I agree that there are some things we need to look at.

“We have put a hefty budget in to that, but you can start on one end and by the time you’ve worked around you need to do it again.

“We are addressing certain things, it is a big cash drain, but we have to do it and in a safe and secure way.

“We have to respond to things, we’ll be addressing and prioritising things, we’re here to listen and we have a maintenance plan.

“That is probably a 10 year plan when you look at it and it’s going to be a big investment but it has to be done and I have to create the space in our budget to make sure we keep maintaining it as best we can.”

Conversations with the council have taken place about ways in which the Riverside Stand can be developed in the future.

“The Riverside is a different discussion because that could be an interesting development to modernise that and bring in other possible ancillary services and generate cash to the club,” he added.

“That has to be looked at. We’re in discussions with the council on that on how we make Ewood a much more vibrant place on non-matchdays as well as matchdays.”

While many of those plans are longer-term, one which is to be implemented in time for next season is the closing of the Darwen End to home supporters.

It will be no longer be divided up between home and away fans, and will now be seen as an ‘away end’.

Waggott has met with fans to discuss this, with increased away attendances in the Championship behind the decision.

Fans are being encouraged to set up something of a ‘singing section’ in the Jack Walker Lower stand in a bid to improve the atmosphere on matchdays, with Waggott explaining: “The decision to close the Darwen End was mine.

“Commercially it makes absolute sense to not have fans in and out and to make it the away end and to move the group in the Darwen End, we are going to put them in the Jack Walker lower.

“We’ve had discussions about signage, and if there are enough people then we will make that (a singing section) in a viable option.

“We need you to generate the atmosphere, so all plans are in place to do that

“I’m monitoring the numbers. We get the walk-up market and we will monitor that, and I’ve got to be aware of other supporters - that shouldn’t infringe on that.

“We’ll have a further discussion over that in the coming weeks.”

There aren’t just plans for Ewood either - with long-term aspirations also for the club’s training base at Brockhall.

The club currently operate from two sites, one for the first-team, and another for the Academy down the hill.

There was the possibility of the two sites switching this summer, but Waggott said: “For the initial period it will stay as is. Tony (Mowbray) will have the senior training centre and the Category One academy will have the other building down the hill.

“We’re refurbishing the STC in terms of bringing various signage up to date, something Tony likes to do which is absolutely right.

“We’re investing in other areas of the building, tidying them up.

“It would make sense in the future if we could acquire sections of land where we could combine the two together.

“Tony is very open-minded and has meetings with the Academy, they have access to come up, he brings players up who are improving at a rate of knots and can be integrated in to the first-team.

“It’s a very fluid situation – some managers don’t do that but Tony is very good at that. The integration of the two sites commercially would make sense going forward, but we have to look at it.

“We have six pitches on one site, four on another, warm up areas, so how do we integrate the vast number of teams the Academy has got but also the needs of the first-team?

“We duplicate a lot with things going on at both sites, but it’s about creating better pathways for players, how do we better them? Will an integrated site mean an improved pathway? Possibly. But for now we have to keep the status quo of running two separate sites.