New Molineux can be jewel in Wolverhampton's crown

Wolves today spoke of a dream to make Molineux a "source of civic pride", as the club's planned £40 million transformation took a major step forward.

The club today revealed it has submitted its plans, which will see its capacity initially increase from 29,195 to 37,000.

Chairman Steve Morgan is planning to reinvent Molineux in stages.

The initial phases of the project are expected to be completed in time for the 2014/15 season. Wolves will then decide if further expansion, which will take the capacity to 50,000, is necessary.

Fans have been promised double the amount of space on concourse areas, while a new club megastore, hospitality and banqueting facilities, a museum and cafe will all be built under the masterplan.

The Stan Cullis stand will be demolished and replaced with a new two-tier stand, before the Steve Bull stand is rebuilt - featuring 42 executive boxes

A full application has been submitted for the Stan Cullis stand, along with an outline application for redevelopment of the Steve Bull and Jack Harris stands. A further application for extra car parking on the former Peal House site, which is currently demolished, has also been submitted.

But the grand plans have come with a warning of disruption and reduced capacity while the work is carried out.

Details of how fans will be moved will be announced early next year, with season ticket holders being given priority.

Today Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said: "There has been a huge amount of work undertaken to get to this point today and, once again, I'd like to thank the city council for their help and support.

"We've conducted formal consultation with residents and stakeholders. More than 1,000 local people were invited to view the plans and the feedback from attendees was very positive. We will continue to work with the council to iron out any issues, which may arise.

"At a time of bad news about the economy and the impact on Wolverhampton, we want the proposed Molineux redevelopment to be a source of Civic pride for everyone connected to the club and the City.

"The stadium will be rebuilt in high quality brick and will create an iconic sense of pride and place, whilst reflecting the Club's ambition for the future."

He said that Wolves would not try to get any parking restrictions lifted on roads around the stadium, which were put in place to stop fans clogging up residents' driveways on match days.

"We understand that car parking can be a source of anxiety for local residents and that is why we won't be challenging the controlled parking zones on local streets," he said.

"We are trying to balance this by working on ways to improve the travel and car parking situation for supporters and in particular the location of the away coaches.

"This is an ongoing challenge but one which we are confident we can resolve through our transport impact assessment and in partnership with the council.

"There is a long way to go, however today marks an important milestone in our future plans to improve Molineux for the benefit of our fans, our team and the local community."

Wolves fans today welcomed the news of the application. Daniel May, aged 21, from East Park, said: "It's great, it's what we have always wanted. We can fill 37,000 seats and we need the extra revenue to compete with the bigger teams."