After Liverpool City Council approved the club’s expansion plans, Anfield will be able to accommodate 61,000 people from 2023/24, an increase of 7,000. Next week, a ceremony will be held to reveal the plans in further detail for fans and neighbours to witness.
After Manchester United’s Old Trafford and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Anfield will be the country’s third-largest club stadium. After obtaining planning authorization in June, the Reds began preparing for the project throughout the preseason. The construction will take place throughout this season and the next, with no interruption to match attendance.
Liverpool managing director Andy Hughes told the club’s official website: “We have been clear from the beginning that for this expansion to go ahead we needed the co-operation of residents and the community, to successfully navigate the complex planning landscape, and to ensure the project is financially viable.”
In 2014, Liverpool got preliminary planning clearance for a renovated Anfield Road stand, to add 4,825 seats.
However, club officials opted to expand capacity further and spent 2019 engaging nearby people in preparation for submitting a fresh planning approval application. The coronavirus epidemic slowed the process, but Liverpool went through with its plans in December 2020 and obtained planning approval this summer.
The reconstruction is planned to be finished in the summer of 2023 at a cost of around £60 million. For the next five seasons, Liverpool City Council has given Anfield permission to hold up to six concerts and other significant events.
Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd has been named the lead contractor for the redevelopment, with the company promising 35 work placements and over 800 apprentice and training weeks across the project.
The lower tier of the Anfield Road stand will remain unchanged, while the construction project will focus on refurbishing and enlarging the upper tier, which will result in the creation of 400 matchday positions for stewards and other hospitality personnel.
