Stoke City FC has unveiled plans for a major £4 million revamp of its stadium and training ground.
The Championship club is undertaking a huge development project at the bet365 Stadium and Clayton Wood in a move which is being described as 'the largest infrastructure project' since 2017.
The initial phase of the five-year project will start this summer and is scheduled for completion ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Vice chairman Richard Smith said: "The work we will be carrying out represents the start of a five-year refurbishment and construction programme across our properties.
"Several of the projects we will be undertaking this summer are still out to tender but the total cost will exceed £4 million and we are confident the work we are carrying out at the bet365 Stadium will significantly enhance the match day experience for supporters.
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"The refurbishment programme represents a significant investment by the club's owners and underlines their continuing commitment to the football club."
Stoke City is owned by the Coates family, who also own bet365 and are worth an estimated £8.4 billion.
Peter Coates and his son John are both joint chairman at the club, while Peter's daughter and John's sister Denise Coates is the joint chief executive of the online gambling business.
Yesterday, BusinessLive reported how Ms Coates was named the UK's biggest taxpayer for the third year in a row, after handing over more than £480 million for the 2020/21 tax year.
The Stoke City FC renovation project will include the complete transformation of the popular Delilah's Bar which will be turned into a sports bar on the lower floor, with new large screen TVs, toilet facilities and enhanced bar and catering facilities, while the upper level will be refurbished with more of a function suite feel.
Both facilities - which will also benefit from new kitchens - will be available for events and functions on non-match days.
Elsewhere, more than 8,400 new seats will be installed in the Franklyn Stand, whilst the concourses in the Tile Mountain and South Stands will be upgraded with new washroom facilities replacing those installed when the stadium was built in 1997.
Various facilities in the West Stand will also be refurbished and upgraded.
Other plans include converting The Chairman's Suite and Boardroom - which are currently two separate rooms next to each other - into one room that can accommodate 60 guests, and will bear all the hallmarks of the most prestigious venue in the stadium.
The facility, which the club are confident will be unrivalled in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, will also be available for hire on non-match days for business events and private functions.
The Players' Lounge will also undergo a complete regeneration, making it a first-class facility for use on match days by the first-team squad and their families but also available for corporate or private hire on non-matchdays.
And the Stanley Matthews Lounge will undergo a complete refurbishment to include a new display of memorabilia and imagery documenting the career of the city's most celebrated player.
Meanwhile, a new synthetic all-weather pitch will be installed at Clayton Wood for use by the first-team, academy players and women's sides.
Mr Smith added: "The work will not get underway until this season is completed so supporters will notice no difference to their matchday experience.
"However, we are confident that when they return to the bet365 Stadium for the start of the 2022/23 campaign they will notice a significant improvement."
