It has been a long time coming – several years in fact – but the new East Stand started to be erected this week.

Poor weather and other delays mean the club will no longer be opening the first section next month as hoped but they are still confident it will be partially open this season, with full completion in the summer.

The club had initially suggested the first part of the structure would be open early this year and then the whole stand in Spring.

In December, chief executive Scott Duxbury said the first part of the new structure wouldn’t be open until March, with the remaining section fully operational in June or July.

But bad weather meant the foundations weren’t completed until last week and Monday saw the steel framework starting to be installed.

The East Stand is expected to cost more than £3m and does have a semi-temporary design which will make it easier to extend if required, with planning permission already in place for a 5,000-seater development.

The stand will initially house around 2,600, taking the total capacity of Vicarage Road to more than 20,000 if restricted view seats are included.

Watford decided to prioritise building the East Stand over the South-West Corner development and handed project management to Centreplate, who last year merged with the catering company used by the Hornets, The Lindley Group.

The club confirmed they have been informed by Centerplate that the South-West Corner is now at the tender process stage.