FCE to add 600 more seats to stadium: Expecting biggest Clarke crowd of season on Sunday By Steven Sandor Posted on May 31, 2012 2 0 844 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter FC Edmonton is planning to bring in 600 temporary seats to Clarke Stadium for Sunday’s match between the Eddies and the Atlanta Silverbacks. The added stand, along with the existing bleacher, will boost the stadium’s seating capacity up to approximately 2,000 for Sunday’s match. Because of a ticket-related fundraising drive coordinated with a minor soccer team in Edmonton, FCE already knows that Sunday’s game will be the best-attended match of the season. More than 2,000 fans are expected. Standing room tickets at $20 will also be available for the match. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. local on Sunday, which gives fans plenty of time to get in front of a TV to watch the Canada-U.S. friendly at 5 p.m. MT. Of course, the club was hoping that Clarke would be at its full, planned capacity by now. But a combination of bad weather and paperwork has delayed the expansion of Clarke. In March, the team announced that it was moving to Clarke, next door to Commonwealth Stadium and across the street from an LRT/transit terminal. Plans are to add enough stands to bring the seating capacity to 4,000, with capacity to host 1,000 more fans on the grounds. The plans also call for a children’s play area and a beer garden. The team said that bad weather and a late snowfall had hampered its efforts to get the renovations done in time for the April home opener against Minnesota. Last week, the City stated that it was still waiting on a landscaping report and permits. Because of the delays, through the first three NASL home games of the season, Clarke has been dry, as there is no liquor licence as of yet. Attendances have been healthy, with the stands being filled for every home game and the atmosphere in the cozy venue has been better than it was at any time last year at Foote Field, where there is a large gap between the fields and the playing surface. Last week’s draw with San Antonio was called a sellout because all of the bleacher spots were spoken for, but standing-room tickets were still sold at the gate. So, with ticket demand increasing with the nicer weather — and fans energized by the better atmosphere, the team has moved to install the temporary seats while plans for the bigger renovation remain in the works.
