PAUL STAPLETON has spoken of his regret that the redevelopment of a new South Stand at Home Park did not take place during his tenure as the chairman of Argyle.

He also insisted the Pilgrims' previous board of directors had not been forced into relinquishing control because of the worsening financial state of the club.

Stapleton has been succeeded by Sir Roy Gardner, but he now has the new role of vice-chairman and will continue to have a considerable input into Argyle.

He hopes that under Gardner's leadership a new South Stand will emerge at Home Park after years of delay.

The other three sides of the stadium were completely redeveloped during the 2001/02 season, but the old Grandstand remains in place to this day.

Stapleton said: "I had this great vision of being here when the Grandstand was knocked down and a new one was built.

"I saw myself cutting a ribbon with the Lord Mayor, or whatever. That's not going to happen while I'm chairman, but I'm very keen to see it happen while I'm on the board.

"And I think we have got a great chance now to make sure the development does take place.

"We need support from Plymouth City Council, of course we do.

"We need sensible conversations, but I think there might be more push in that direction now."

A new South Stand, with assorted banqueting and conference facilities, should lead to non-matchday income to boost Argyle's cashflow.

Stapleton said: "If we can get the new stand built and make sure it is used every day of the week, instead of 23 times a year, then great.

"We have always tried to do that, but I'm not sure whether we, the existing board of directors, had the wherewithal to push that through.

"Now if that happens and I'm on the board I will be really happy. I will be next to the person who cuts the ribbon."

Stapleton admitted planning for the redevelopment of a new South Stand had been very time consuming.

There are still no tangible signs of progress in that respect, but Gardner has admitted it is 'very important' for the long-term future of Argyle.

Stapleton said: "I have got an office at home which is full of paperwork about the South Stand redevelopment.

"It would be nice to take those papers out of the office and use it properly again.

"We have had years and years of meetings. It was Tudor Evans (the former Labour leader of the city council) to start with, then the Tories.

"You wouldn't believe how many meetings we have had developers and surveyors. We have been everywhere.

"It's just frustrating we haven't been able to take it over the line, but money comes into it.

"We needed to put more money into the football club's wages, than perhaps have a pot for the redevelopment.

"It's a regret for me that it hasn't been done, but all the spadework has been done. All the files are there. All the research and forecasts are there. Everything is in place.

"It's just pushing that on now, and I will be pleased when it's built."

Gardner has not made any commitment on when the new South Stand could be built.

But the former Manchester United plc chairman said: "Long term, it's very important because if we want to be a Premier League club we need to do something about this ground.

"It will be an integral part of our forward planning."

However, Gardner stressed the top priority of the new board of directors would be building a squad capable of challenging for the top flight of English football.

Argyle's finances took a massive hit last season as the players' wage-bill soared while the attendances at Home Park continued to decline.

The Pilgrims narrowly averted a potentially disastrous relegation from the Championship to League One.

Stapleton admitted that had led to a realisation within the boardroom that they needed more assistance.

That has now led to Gardner becoming the Pilgrims' chairman, and with Keith Todd and George Synan being appointed as new directors.

Synan is a director of Shonan Management Corporation, whose president is Japanese tycoon Yasuaki Kagami.

Kagami has been on the Argyle board of directors since April 2008 after SMC bought a 20 per cent stake in the club's parent company.

As well as the team's struggles on the pitch last season, the Pilgrims' finances took a battering as well.

Stapleton said: "I think it brought it home to the existing board we needed help to advance the club further forward.

"We had George and Mr Kagami already involved, which helped, but we felt the next stage was to bring in Sir Roy and Keith.

"It wasn't forced on us, but it wasn't very nice towards the end of last season, thinking about the cost of relegation.

"I was the one who tended to look at the figures in advance of everybody else.

"Looking at the figures for League One, it wasn't too pleasant. So, in that respect, this wasn't forced on us, but it was the right time."