Exclusive: Molineux's Graham Hughes stand closed until at least the New Year

The 800-seat stand, which sits in the corner between the Sir Jack Hayward stand and the Billy Wright stand, was initially closed for the first two Premier League games of the season.

That was because a routine inspection in July, and subsequent surveys, found ‘severe structural deficiencies’ to the structure.

As is it a temporary stand it has regular checks from an external agency to make sure it is safe.

But in September the club announced that the scale of the work had increased and materials were difficult to come by due to Brexit and Covid-19 and that the stand had to be rebuilt.

Now, that rebuild is underway and the Express & Star understands it will not be completed until at least the New Year.

The club employed specialists Arena to install the temporary stand in 2018 and they have carried out the routine inspections of it ever since.

However, it is also understood the club have now changed to an unnamed contractor because they were unsatisfied with the work being done by Arena.

Speaking at the time of the initial stand closure, general manager of commercial operations Vinny Clark said: “The general sentiment appears to be that the club have been negligent and have had 18 months to conduct this work, but the reality is that this is a recent issue and no amount of planning or preparation could have avoided it.

“As frustrating as it is, this has been totally outside of the club’s control.”