Hawthorns expansion deemed "not necessary"

A general view of the stadium before the Barclays Premier league match West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers at The Hawthorns on April 4, 2015
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West Bromwich Albion chairman John Williams says that a potential expansion of The Hawthorns is "not necessary".

West Bromwich Albion chairman John Williams has admitted that the club have no plans to expand the capacity of The Hawthorns in the near future.

The Baggies are currently enjoying their most profitable season in the top flight in years, sitting eighth in the table having won seven of their last eight home games and racking up more goals at home than both Manchester City and Manchester United.

The club are struggling to attract fans to the 26,850-capacity Hawthorns, however, and have only surpassed the 25,000-mark once this season.

Asked about the possibility of redeveloping the stadium, Williams told the Birmingham Mail: "I don't think it's necessary. I don't think we'd look at major infrastructure projects at this moment in time because the last thing you want is more empty seats.

"The priority with the available cash at the minute is to build the team. There's plenty of opportunities to spend money frankly. You want to spend it to make the team stronger.

"No-one is ever going to rule out infrastructure projects at the stadium which includes increasing the capacity. At the moment, that is not the priority."

Former West Brom owner Jeremy Peace outlined ambitions to expand the ground's capacity to 30,000 in 2011 but the plans were subsequently shelved.

General views of the ground the Barclays Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United at The Hawthorns on April 26, 2014
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