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Liverpool given green light for Anfield expansion

Anfield currently seats around 45,500 fans © Getty Images

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Liverpool will begin work on expanding Anfield in the new year after being given full clearance to redevelop their Main Stand.

Plans to put in an extra 5,800 seats by adding another tier to the stand were unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council in September. That decision was subject to a consultation period, during which legal challenges to the council's decision could be submitted.

However, work can now begin on the project, part of a plan to increase Anfield's capacity to 58,800. Matches will continue to be played at Anfield during the rebuilding work, which is expected to be completed during the 2016-17 season.

For a selection of images of the proposed Main Stand redevelopment, click here: http://t.co/Mym6p4GeSN pic.twitter.com/vMryqtgahR

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 4, 2014

The club have also received outline planning permission to expand the Anfield Road End by adding 4,800 seats, although no time frame has been set for this work to be completed.

The expansion of the stadium is part of a £260 million programme - a partnership between the football club, the council and local social housing group Your Housing - to regenerate the Anfield area of Liverpool.

It was first announced in October 2012, when Liverpool's American owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) - which has been in charge since 2010 - confirmed its intention to redevelop the ground rather than push ahead with plans for a new stadium in neighbouring Stanley Park.

The development will mark the first significant expansion of Anfield since the Centenary Stand replaced the old Kemlyn Road Stand in 1992, although the Kop and Anfield Road stands were also rebuilt during the 1990s.

As part of the redevelopment work, the iconic Shankly Gates, which stand on the corner between the Anfield Road End and the Main Stand, will be repositioned.

The new Main Stand will also include a podium for the Hillsborough Memorial, which is currently next to the Shankly Gates on Anfield Road.

"Since Fenway Sports Group took ownership of the club, we were committed to explore in depth all options for the future of Anfield Stadium," Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said. "We listened to fans, the community, partners, the Supporters' Committee and key stakeholders involved in the club.

"It was just over two years ago that we said our preference was to stay at Anfield and here we are today announcing that the expansion is going ahead. We have made more progress in the past two years than in the last decade."

Liverpool's principal owner John W Henry said when he arrived at the club that he wanted to stay at Anfield, partly because it reminded him of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, which FSG also owns.

Werner added: "Having experience of expanding Fenway Park and being through a similar and very successful project for the Red Sox, everyone at FSG is extremely proud and excited to be part of expanding Anfield Stadium."

Liverpool first publicly announced plans for further expansion in 1999. Then-chairman David Moores was reluctant to risk the club's future by taking out a £200m loan to pay for the redevelopment, instead deciding to find a buyer with the funds to do so.

That resulted in American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett buying the club and attempting to pursue plans for a stadium in neighbouring Stanley Park, but they did not have the money to fund it and were eventually forced to sell Liverpool to Fenway Sports Group in October 2010 as debts mounted.

"Today is an important milestone in the history of Liverpool Football Club," Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre said. "Since we embarked upon this journey we have always said that we need certainty; we now have that certainty and will progress with the expansion of the Main Stand.

"We received very positive support for this expansion during a public consultation exercise and today is also an important step for the wider regeneration of the Anfield area.

"There has been a tremendous amount of work done to get us where we are today but this is just the beginning.

"This is a major construction project which will take place during the football season and while we will make every effort to minimise any impact or disruption to normal operations, we ask for the continued support and understanding from our fans and the local community."

Construction company Carillion will manage the project, and will set up a base at Anfield later this month.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, a key supporter of the proposals, said: "The start of work on the Main Stand will mark the beginning of a project which will deliver huge benefit to the city of Liverpool and to the communities in and around Anfield.

"I'm delighted that we have reached this decisive turning point in the history of Anfield."

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