SOUTHAMPTON'S south coast soccer rivals could have suffered a major setback in their plans for a state of the art waterfront stadium.
Civic chiefs at Portsmouth say it is doubtful whether Pompey's planning application for the 36,000 seater ground on reclaimed land at The Hard will be ready by the autumn.
The Premiership club had predicted that work in the harbour would get underway by next summer.
It is a blow to the club which hoped to playing in the multi-million pound stadium by 2011.
The site for the stadium is very complex with four different owners - the Ministry of Defence, the Crown Estate, the city council and Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust plus lease deals.
If just one just refuses to sell or lease its land to Pompey, planning experts say it will be the end of the club's stadium dreams.
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