Portsmouth unveil Fratton End safe standing plans - and why the Milton End relies on the project

And, crucially, successfully obtaining a licence to use rail seating in the redeveloped Milton End depends on it.

The Milton End is scheduled for completion in January 2024 as the latest phase of ongoing £11.5m Fratton Park works.

That will entirely consist of safe standing, totalling 3,115 seats across three sections, as the club attempts to combat persistent standing by away supporters

However, in order to receive permission to use it in standing form, licensing chiefs insist rail seating must also be introduced into home areas.

And with the back of the Fratton End also having problems with persistent standing, that section has been earmarked.

Chief executive Andy Cullen told The News: ‘The seats can be used in the Milton End, but they aren’t licensed to actually stand in.

‘We can’t use the rail seating until we get the licence and that’s going to take some time because they look at a number of different criteria, such as safety, operational sightlines, and load testing.

‘Probably the most significant factor is you cannot get it licenced until you put rail seating into some of the home areas – so that’s the next phase of the development we need to look at.

‘If we don't put rail seating into those areas, the safety authorities could cut capacity, which would be absolutely criminal given we have just worked so hard to increase capacity throughout the stadium.

‘So that is the next project we’ll be working on over the next few weeks and months to see how we can explore that.

‘Considering rail seating costs 3-4 times as much as traditional seating, we made the decision to install that in readiness.

‘We have persistent standing problems in the Milton End and some areas of the Fratton End which we must resolve to safeguard our capacity.

‘There’s a significant problem towards the top-third of the Fratton End, so obviously that’s the area we would focus on, probably in the region of 1,000-1,500 seats, across the whole width of the stand.

‘Those are the areas we will be looking at, but, of course, I firstly want a proper consultation process with those supporters who will be affected.’

The Fratton End holds 4,816 and the potential introduction of up to 1,500 safe standing seats would keep it at the same capacity.

In the meantime, the first completed section of the Milton End is scheduled to open for a test event on April 1 for the visit of Forest Green, involving 200 home fans.

Cullen, however, is unable to put a timeframe on when work will focus on the Fratton End.

He added: ‘I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it, but we’d be keen to move that forward as quickly as possible.

‘We are in discussions with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) as to how we will do that and the time period we can make that happen.

‘Hopefully we can do it sooner rather than later, but I wouldn’t want to put a promise out there which I can’t deliver on.’

MORE: New Milton End set to open next month - with only Pompey fans allowed in