BIG plans are underway to modernise the Fraser Eagle Stadium and gear it towards League One football.
The club have to add 1000 seats to the current ground by next year and chief executive Rob Heys said work will begin soon on the Whinney Hill terrace to take the stadium up to the next level.
And he also said the club are working on finding a regular training ground for the players and bringing more professionalism behind the scenes as they strive to cement their place as a League club - and take Stanley forward.
"We have to have 1000 seats ready by May 2009 so work will begin as soon as this season finishes," said the chief executive.
"It is still in the early stages yet and it is a big ask. It is hard as we don’t need it, the fans don’t want it but it is a Football League rule - you have to have 2000 covered seats - so we need 1000 more.
"We had looked on putting temporary seats on the Whinney Hill terrace - which has been up since North West Counties days - like Barnet had behind their goal.
"But that would cost around £100,000 and would be money, really, wasted as it is just a quick-fix solution.
"So we are now investigating plans to put up a permanent structure.
"This could cost up to £1m but hopefully it will be self-generating with changing rooms, new offices and places to rent.
"If it does generate income we can borrow the money although there is also money available from the Football Foundation.
"The work will be done very carefully during next season, with no reduction in capacity.
"And it should give the club a more professional feel. The first thing most people see when they walk into the ground, is that stand which was put up by some dedicated volunteers in our North West Counties days and was good for non-League football.
"When we get a more permanent brand new stand in place it will look nicer and will bring us up to League One standard."
He admitted that, in the two seasons since Stanley have returned to the Football League, the club has learnt a lot.
"We have had a steady progression. We hope we are safe this year and will have more points than the 50 we got last year and will finish higher up than 20th place so we have kept progressing," continued the chief executive.
"We have said all along though that we don’t want to be a club like Rochdale which has languished in League Two for a while - we want to keep moving forward and progressing both on and off the pitch."
He also said the club are looking for a training ground as, in the last few years, Stanley have trained at Barnoldswick, Wilsons Playing Fields and are currently using King George’s Playing Fields when they can this season.
"We need a permanent training ground and have been looking at a few possibilities this week, with the help of Hyndburn Borough Council.
"We have toured a number of sites and the council are being helpful.
"King George’s was just a temporary measure and, if you have someone coming up say from Charlton, you want them to have a regular ground and not training in Accrington, Liverpool, Rochdale and all over.
"We are working with the council on this to have something which can be used by the players in the morning and used by the community in the afternoon and nights.
"We are probably looking at it being ready in 12-18 months time but we have started the process of finding a permanent training facility."
The chief executive also admitted that the Stanley playing squad will have to be looked at next season too.
"Playing wise we have gone from one extreme to the other really. Last season, we had five work experience players on the bench while this season we have four or five experienced players sat in the stand.
"As everyone knows, we have got the smallest gates in the league, we have not got a big revenue and so we do have to be careful.
"We do want a squad to compete in this league but we also don’t want too many sat in the stands, as those funds could be used slightly better."
