Liverpool Football Club has acknowledged that plans to redevelop its Anfield stadium are not viable.
The Premier League club’s managing director, Ian Ayre, said that numerous issues including land acquisition are preventing the club from increasing the stadium’s capacity from 44,000 to 60,000.
Last year, Liverpool FC was purchased by Fenway Sports Group, the company owned by American businessman and Boston Red Sox baseball club owner John W Henry. Since the purchase, the club’s management has investigated the possibility of redeveloping Anfield rather than progress with long-held plans to build a 70,000-seat stadium in nearby Stanley Park.
Liverpool FC originally revealed plans to construct a stadium in 2002, and it received planning consent in 2007. The club’s previous owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, had planned to progress with the development, but the project stalled as a result of the recession.
The city council has granted the club a three-month extension to decide whether it will take a 999-year lease on the Stanley Park site.
Ayre said: “In the nine months since the new ownership, an enormous amount of work has been undertaken to explore the building of a new stadium as well as exploring a refurbishment solution that could deliver the necessary growth in capacity, whilst maintaining the heritage and atmosphere that make Anfield uniquely Liverpool FC.
“However, with land/property acquisition, environmental and statutory issues creating barriers to our ambition, it looks increasingly unlikely there is any way we can move forward on a refurbishment of Anfield unless there are significant changes in those areas.”
Liverpool city council leader Joe Anderson said: “We fully appreciate that the new owners have made real progress over the past nine months since they took over, and we will continue to support what they are trying to deliver.
“However, it is unfortunately the reality that the debate and discussions over a new stadium have gone on for many years, causing a great deal of frustration and uncertainty within the local community.”
daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com
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