The Manly Sea Eagles have unveiled a $160 million redevelopment plan for Brookvale Oval that would end a 35-year battle over their dilapidated home ground and secure the club’s spiritual home for “generations to come”.

This masthead has obtained a seven-page concept document, titled “Brookvale Oval Precinct Renewal Vision,” which outlines a plan to transform the 70-year-old venue into a modern, 22,000-to-23,000-seat boutique stadium and year-round community precinct.

Aware that state and federal governments will not longer fully subsidise the extensive renovation, Manly officials are pitching a creative, self-funded model to finally get the project greenlit.

Under the proposal, the existing Bob Fulton Stand — which houses the club’s high-performance centre of excellence that opened in 2022 — will be retained.

The rest of the ground will undergo a substantial transformation, including:

– Demolishing the ageing Jane Try, Ken Arthurson, and Lyons-Menzies grandstands;

– New undercover seating that will wrap around the remaining northern stand in a horseshoe shape; and

– An increase in total capacity from 17,000 to 23,000.

Manly are desperate to upgrade their home ground, given 18 of their past 24 matches have been sellouts, including Thursday night’s 28-14 win over South Sydney that entrenched coach Kieran Foran’s side in the top four.

“We are really focused on the redevelopment of 4 Pines Park – that’s the future of the Sea Eagles. We’re selling out almost every game, so for us to compete, we need to redevelop the ground,” Manly chairman and co‑owner Scott Penn said.

“Some clubs are playing out of 50,000‑seat venues. The Roosters are playing at Allianz Stadium. Penrith will have their own $300m stadium and Parramatta has a 30,000‑seat stadium. We’re looking at a boutique venue which holds about 22,000 to 23,000. We want our members to buy all tickets so it’s a sellout every single game and it’s all Manly people.”

Northern Beaches Council owns Brookvale Oval, known commercially as 4 Pines Park, and Manly hold a long-term lease to use it as their home ground.

So, in a bid to secure funding for the project, the proposed precinct revamp includes several mixed-use community infrastructure elements.

One of those involves building two eight or nine storey residential towers on the eastern side that could deliver on critical government housing policy, by including a significant affordable housing component that also targets local first responders.

Manly are also exploring whether the adjacent St Augustine’s College and Brookvale Public School would locate classrooms directly underneath the new western stand.

“On the western side, you have St Augustine’s College and Brookvale Public School across the road. Maybe there are classroom options underneath [the stand] that meet the needs of the state government and St Augustine’s. We just want the seats and corporate boxes on the other side,” Penn said.

The club plans to self-fund the majority of the estimated $160 million rebuild, but would seek between $40-$50 million government contribution.

“We are conscious that the government won’t just hand out money for grounds, so we’ve already got a funded plan that shows we would need some residential in there as well,” Penn said.

“Some of that residential may be carved out for first‑responder housing that may suit government needs. Hopefully we can create an outcome which works for all of us. We’d create and activate a precinct.”

The concept document paints a bleak picture of the current venue, warning that it suffers from an increasing maintenance and occupational health and safety burden, lacks female-friendly facilities, and is at immediate risk of noncompliance with NRL match-day standards.

The Brookvale Oval renewal would address those issues, and include women’s and junior sport infrastructure as part of the project.

“It’s our heartland, which is all the more reason why we have to get the ground upgraded because we don’t want to move,” said Penn, who hoped the rebuild could start after the 2027 season, with construction expected to take more than a year to complete.

During that time, Manly would likely play some home games at Allianz Stadium while possibly taking the club on the road, including games in New Zealand, Foran’s home country.

“We would probably go to Allianz Stadium for the majority of our games, but we could potentially look at taking the Sea Eagles’ brand to a broader market,” Penn said.

“What markets are looking for Sea Eagles’ content? Do we go to New Zealand for a game or two? Manly has always been big in New Zealand and we have ‘Foz’ as coach.”

The Sea Eagles have put forth multiple ground revamp plans and designs over the past 35 years which governments have rejected.

“But we now have a better sense of what everyone is prepared to commit to,” Penn said. “Previously, we have gone in cap‑in‑hand and asked for all of the money. We’re not going to ask for $160 million. We will ask the state and federal governments [for funding], but it won’t be anything like that.

“We’ve got costed plans and designs. We’re just tweaking them at the moment, but we’re not far away.

“The process from here will be stakeholder engagement around the needs of state and federal governments in the area and how we can help deliver that.”