VVV Venlo has received planning permission for the construction of their proposed new stadium. The club from the South of the Netherlands is one of the few teams in the Dutch Eredivisie that still has a traditional stadium (De Koel), but will now follow the trend and move to a brand-new one in 2014.
VVV has long been planning for the move, and recently scaled back the capacity of their new stadium and scrapped plans for various real-estate developments around the stadium. The planned capacity is now 15,000 seats with the possibility to further expand to a capacity of 20,000. The stadium will also be equipped with a retractable roof.
The club hopes to be able to start with the building works in early 2013 and have the new stadium completed by the end of 2014.
In other Dutch stadium news SC Heerenveen has presented plans to expand their Abe Lenstra Stadion with a further 1,000 seats. The club has long had a waiting list for season tickets, and with the current successes and appointment of Marco van Basten as head coach for next year demand has only increased.
The club will create the extra places by extending the stands down to the side of the pitch. A similar move is currently being investigated by newly promoted FC Zwolle, who also hope to create and additional 1,000 places by bridging the gap between stands and pitch. The club is furthermore looking into converting part of the seating into standing areas, a move previously made by other Dutch clubs De Graafschap and VVV Venlo to increase the capacities of their relatively small stadiums.