EXCLUSIVE

Brentford are willing to spend £3 million to bring Griffin Park up to Premier League standard if they are promoted.

The Bees want to stay at Griffin Park should they go up via the play-offs but the 12,763-capacity stadium does not meet top-flight requirements.

Brentford, who face Middlesbrough in the first leg of their play-off semi-final on Friday night, have planned a major renovation to get their ground up to scratch this summer.

However, if they cannot meet a series of requirements set by the Premier League, they have reached an outline agreement with a west London club to groundshare.

Chelsea have ruled out Stamford Bridge as an option, while it is understood there is no agreement in principle with Fulham.

Twickenham Stoop, home of Rugby Union side Harlequins, is not an option because it is not set up for football.

That would point to a potential groundshare with Queens Park Rangers, who would not comment when such a scenario was put to them by Standard Sport.

Brentford’s preferred option is to stay at Griffin Park, their home since 1904, and the club are optimistic they can meet most of the top-flight requirements. However, they accept extensive work would be needed.

WHEN DO THE PLAY-OFFS START?

Premier League rules dictate stadia must be all-seater and the option of installing temporary seats in the terracing area behind both goals has been explored. The ground also falls short on criteria including the size of the dressing rooms and press facilities and the provision of undersoil heating.

Preparation has already begun on work such as increasing the power supply to the stadium and Griffin Park would be turned into a building site to get it ready for the start of the Premier League season on August 8.

The necessary changes could cost up to £3m. Brentford are committed to making that investment even though they plan to build a new 20,000-seater stadium at Lionel Road for the start of the 2017-18 season.

Every Championship club must submit stadium plans to the Premier League in January in the event of promotion.

The Premier League have helped Brentford with their planning but they are unlikely to relax their rules on issues such as all-seater stands and media areas.

Brentford are hoping they will be given dispensation on other issues, like the dressing-room size, but the Premier League will have the final say on whether they have satisfied their requirements and Griffin Park is ready to host top-flight football.

Teams such as Crystal Palace and Blackpool had to carry out work to get their stadiums up to scratch when they secured promotion and, with an increased revenue of an estimated £130m, the Premier League expect some commitment to meeting their requirements.