Kettering Town explores stadium expansion after FA Cup advancement

Following their progression to the second round of the FA Cup, which includes a home fixture against Doncaster Rovers, seventh-tier club Kettering Town is considering options to expand their stadium’s capacity. This comes after they eliminated local rivals Northampton, a League One team. The Poppies secured a 2-1 victory after extra time against their League One neighbours, Northampton Town, marking their first appearance in round two since 2010. This achievement also earned them £45,000 from the FA Cup’s prize fund. Latimer Park, the home ground of the Southern League Premier Central club for the last 11 years, has a capacity slightly exceeding 3,000 spectators. Finance director Rob McGreavey informed BBC Radio Northampton, “We’ll have to make a few phone calls to see what we can do to make it a bit more suitable and get a few more people in there.” McGreavey further stated, “At the start of every season, we don’t assume any sort of cup run so everything is a bonus. They money we made from the first round was incredible and this just adds more. The challenge then is what do we do with that. “As a board we’ve been chatting about things we want to do around the ground since George [Akhtar] and Fabian [Forde] came on board as new owners and the money coming in means we can start to do that as soon as possible.” Kettering overcame an initial deficit against Northampton, with goals from Luca Miller and Nile Ranger ultimately securing their victory at Sixfields. The upcoming match against League Two club Doncaster will see Kettering face their former manager, Lee Glover, who currently serves on Grant McCann’s coaching staff. Poppies vice-chairman Mick Coe commented, “It’s not a bad draw at all. They’re riding high [in their league], we’re riding high, only three levels between us, it’s got to be doable, hasn’t it?” He added, “I’ve been watching us for over 50 years playing cup ties and it should be within our capabilities [to win], particularly the way we’re playing at the moment. “I don’t know what kind of following they’ve got but I’m sure that if they don’t sell their tickets, we’ll be able to sell them for them.” Should Kettering manage another upset and advance to round three, where Premier League and Championship clubs join the competition, they stand to gain £75,000. Even in the event of a loss, the club, which plays in the seventh tier of English football, would still receive a £20,000 payout, representing a substantial sum. McGreavey further remarked, “Birmingham [City] away for the money would have been excellent, but I’m pleased to have a home tie, get them [Doncaster] here and have to deal with this pitch.” He concluded, “We made a really good atmosphere at the Cobblers but here, the capacity’s around 3,000 so hopefully it will be a full house and they’ll find it hard to come here and have to deal with it.” The FA Cup second-round matches are scheduled to be played between 29 November and 2 December.