RED City Developments , the company set up by Salford business tycoon John Wilkinson to build the new sports stadium in Barton, has unveiled its design team.

Work on the landmark project on a 100-acre site has already begun, but until now the scheme has not had a project manager to lead it.

This job has gone to Drivers Jonas, which has expertise in delivering sports stadiums, including the Stadium of Light in Benfica, Portugal, the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough and the Madejski Stadium, Reading.

AFL has been appointed as architects. Director John Roberts pledged the new facility, which will be ready by 2010, would be 'one of the most visible sporting venues in the country'.

He said: "The Barton Bridge flyover, which cuts across one side of the site, provided us with a design opportunity to give passers-by a glimpse of the action inside the stadium." Leach Rhodes Walker, based at Riverside, Salford, is designing the four-star, 210-bedroom hotel, exhibition and conferencing facilities and retail space.

Also working on the development are SKM, Planit, RPS Gregory and Davis Langdon.