Plans announced for new World Snooker Championship venue to complement Crucible Theatre

Plans to build a new World Snooker Championship venue and offer an increased capacity of the iconic Crucible in Sheffield have been announced. The new building — designed by architect James Burland who designed Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium — will be directly next to the currently used and much-loved Crucible, linked together via a bridge.

Ad/> Matches would still be played at the original Crucible Theatre, but there would also be the option to host ties in the new, bigger arena. World Seniors ChampionshipWhite reaches quarter-finals as Parrott announces retirement17 HOURS AGO The plans unveiled show the new arena would have the capacity to host up to 3,000 spectators, over triple the amount that the Crucible currently holds at 980.

The Crucible — which has been home to the World Snooker Championship since 1977 — has come in for criticism for being too small in terms of playing area and capacity, with the risk that the tournament may start to “look smaller”. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson told Sportsmail: ‘‘This is a concept and an idea to try and grow this event in some way.

/> “Events like the Masters are growing so much and the danger is that the World Championship starts to look smaller, which it really can’t because it’s the crown jewels of what we do. “This is not the only route but it is an initial concept that James has come up with.