Fleetwood chief executive Curwood: Expansion plans for Highbury if needed

Town are braced to host a Premier League side competitively for the first time in their history when Leicester City rock up in the FA Cup on January 6.

That clash will be screened live on the BBC but the Foxes are still expected to bring a sizeable away following.

Speaking before Town won their second-round replay at Hereford, Curwood said Town have had plans produced to cater for the large away crowds that might flock to Highbury if they achieve that historic leap to the Championship.

Town were pipped to automatic promotion by Bolton last season, though they are currently 15th after winning one of their last 11 in League One. And Curwood stressed that the plans are just a case of being prepared for all possibilities rather than a concrete proposal.

He said: “It would be silly not to have something in the drawer relating to developing the stadium where a need arises.

“We know that to progress to the level we would like the stadium does need a tweak here and there.

“We do have some drawings in the drawer but we have not progressed it past that. We are just trying to find ways to make the stadium work for what we might ultimately require at some stage in the future.

“At the moment it is just prototype drawings about how we might do things, so we are not caught out if we do need to act very quickly.

“Anyone would be silly to think we have not thought about how we might design the stadium to accommodate larger crowds and certainly the away following.”

Town’s Highbury base has been transformed since chairman Andy Pilley took over in 2003.

Many who remember the ground before the multi-million pound Parkside Stand have been gathering on the first Thursday of every month for the newly-formed Fleetwood Town Past Players Association.

Former players mingle with Town’s first-team squad at their Poolfoot Farm training base to swap tales.

Curwood believes the association is a way of ensuring the club’s heritage is remembered and the club maintains its community feel.

He said: “While we remain a young football club in the professional sense, the club has a history a lot of people have been involved. It is good to bring that back into what we are trying to do today.

“This is about engaging with anyone who has touched the club on a day to day basis.

The next meeting takes place in the Crossbar and Grill restaurant at Poolfoot on Thursday, January 4.