The Irish Football Association announced on Monday that the iconic 'Kop', or West Stand, would have to be demolished but the ground would still be fit for their European Qualifier in June.
Northern Ireland face Romania in under two months time at Windsor Park, a now vital game in the country's big to feature in their very first European Championship finals. Michael O'Neill's men sit a solitary point behind the Romanians in Group F having won four of their five games so far, the only loss came against Anghel Iordanescu's side earlier in the campaign.
The problem was first spotted in the aftermath of the 2-0 win over Finland, when cracks appeared in the West Stand. Since then the problem has only gotten worse and the decision was taken to knock down the stand completely.
It has now been confirmed that the aforementioned demolition work will take place immediately, while the 'National Football Stadium' project team say the 10,000 capacity will be met for this game by accelerating works on the project in the East Stand, South East Quadrant, and South Stand.
Irish FA Chief Executive Patrick Nelson said: "Naturally it is sad that we are having to resolve the West Stand issues in this manner, however the project team has worked tirelessly over the past three weeks to develop a plan which will enable us to play Romania in our own home in eight weeks’ time."
Nelson continued, "Now the decision has been made, the focus turns to delivery. We will keep in close touch with UEFA and the relevant safety authorities to ensure that they are fully aware of, and in agreement with, our plans."
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said: "I attended the meetings on Friday and was impressed by the attention to detail in the plan put forward by the project team." He added, "I now look forward to the Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania in June being played at the national football stadium at Windsor Park."