Ian Ayre, the
Liverpool managing director, described to decision to redevelop Anfield
as ‘a major step forward’. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC via
Getty Images
Fenway Sports Group has marked the two-year anniversary of its purchase of Liverpool by confirming it wishes to remain at a refurbished, 60,000-capacity Anfield costing around £150m.
The redevelopment will be funded by the club's own banking facilities
and is dependent on Liverpool city council negotiating the purchase, and
demolition, of surrounding homes.
Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre and the city's mayor, Joe Anderson, hailed the decision "a major step forward" in the wider regeneration of north Liverpool, although no guarantees or plans on the new stadium were provided at the announcement at Liverpool Town Hall. "They are not questions for today," said Ayre. "That will only come when we've got certainty." The Anfield official did, however, effectively signal the end of Liverpool's decade-long pursuit of a new stadium on nearby Stanley Park. He added: "Stanley Park is off the table if we can be sure there is a solution [to staying at Anfield] and we believe there is a solution."
European funding worth £8m was spent on preparatory work for a new stadium on Stanley Park under Liverpool's previous owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and may have to be repaid. "We are looking at the option of using that money in a wider regeneration sense," said Anderson, who denied the new build and the development of an Anfield Plaza was always the council's preferred option. "We don't believe the money will have to be paid back."
Despite the lack of stadium detail, Ayre insisted Liverpool are well advanced with plans to solve a problem that has plagued successive club owners. It is believed the refurbishment of Anfield will consist of a new Main Stand and Anfield Road end, each to be built behind the existing stands to minimise disruption – and loss of revenue – during the season. A planning application is expected to be submitted next spring.
Ayre said: "We continue to look at various designs and solutions. We have spoken to professionals about the financing of it, the building of it, the construction of it – all of this had to be done before we even got to this stage today. We wouldn't have sat in front of everyone here just to say we might be able to find something that works on this piece of land. A lot of advance work has gone on. It is important to manage peoples' expectations. There have been too many false dawns."The city council will have to negotiate deals with homeowners around the stadium to make room for Anfield's expansion and, where necessary, serve compulsory purchase orders. "The next steps are out of our hands," Ayre added. "It is not Liverpool that is acquiring the properties, it is the city council and Your Housing Group (a social housing developer).We have passed the ball really. If we get through this next stage then it becomes the role of the planners and whether our planning application will be accepted.""
There is no naming rights deal required for the redevelopment of Anfield, unlike the new build in Stanley Park, and Liverpool's existing banking arrangements will provide the estimated £154m cost. Liverpool have fallen behind their Premier League rivals due to the stalled stadium issue – making £40.9m from match-day revenue according to Deloitte's figures for 2012 compared to £108.6m by Manchester United, £93.1m at Arsenal and Chelsea's £67.5m – and Ayre insists expenditure on Anfield will not impact on the manager's transfer budget. "It will not impact on transfers," he said. "The whole point of this is it has to improve revenue, not detract from it, and the return has to be fast."
Ayre added: "The one of three revenue streams that we don't compete well at currently is match-day revenue. There is a big difference and over three or four years it is a significant number. Hopefully what we are talking about today is the right solution. It is also, I believe, the one our fans would most want to see. To continue to compete in this world, particularly with Financial Fair Play coming in and having to live within your means, this is something we have to do well at.
"We can become competitive again but we have to be smarter about how we go about our business. We came in for a lot of criticism over how much we did or didn't spend in the transfer market this time but we have to do it sustainably and responsibly. The young players that people are getting excited about are partly there because that is a better way. We have to find the balance. We can still compete but it is going to be harder."
Steven Gerrard welcomed the decision to redevelop Anfield. "I'm really pleased," the captain said. "I've had some special occasions at Anfield and so have the club.
"If they are going to spend all that money on Anfield and improve it then fantastic … A lot of history and important things have happened at Anfield and I think it is fantastic Liverpool are staying there."
Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre and the city's mayor, Joe Anderson, hailed the decision "a major step forward" in the wider regeneration of north Liverpool, although no guarantees or plans on the new stadium were provided at the announcement at Liverpool Town Hall. "They are not questions for today," said Ayre. "That will only come when we've got certainty." The Anfield official did, however, effectively signal the end of Liverpool's decade-long pursuit of a new stadium on nearby Stanley Park. He added: "Stanley Park is off the table if we can be sure there is a solution [to staying at Anfield] and we believe there is a solution."
European funding worth £8m was spent on preparatory work for a new stadium on Stanley Park under Liverpool's previous owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and may have to be repaid. "We are looking at the option of using that money in a wider regeneration sense," said Anderson, who denied the new build and the development of an Anfield Plaza was always the council's preferred option. "We don't believe the money will have to be paid back."
Despite the lack of stadium detail, Ayre insisted Liverpool are well advanced with plans to solve a problem that has plagued successive club owners. It is believed the refurbishment of Anfield will consist of a new Main Stand and Anfield Road end, each to be built behind the existing stands to minimise disruption – and loss of revenue – during the season. A planning application is expected to be submitted next spring.
Ayre said: "We continue to look at various designs and solutions. We have spoken to professionals about the financing of it, the building of it, the construction of it – all of this had to be done before we even got to this stage today. We wouldn't have sat in front of everyone here just to say we might be able to find something that works on this piece of land. A lot of advance work has gone on. It is important to manage peoples' expectations. There have been too many false dawns."The city council will have to negotiate deals with homeowners around the stadium to make room for Anfield's expansion and, where necessary, serve compulsory purchase orders. "The next steps are out of our hands," Ayre added. "It is not Liverpool that is acquiring the properties, it is the city council and Your Housing Group (a social housing developer).We have passed the ball really. If we get through this next stage then it becomes the role of the planners and whether our planning application will be accepted.""
There is no naming rights deal required for the redevelopment of Anfield, unlike the new build in Stanley Park, and Liverpool's existing banking arrangements will provide the estimated £154m cost. Liverpool have fallen behind their Premier League rivals due to the stalled stadium issue – making £40.9m from match-day revenue according to Deloitte's figures for 2012 compared to £108.6m by Manchester United, £93.1m at Arsenal and Chelsea's £67.5m – and Ayre insists expenditure on Anfield will not impact on the manager's transfer budget. "It will not impact on transfers," he said. "The whole point of this is it has to improve revenue, not detract from it, and the return has to be fast."
Ayre added: "The one of three revenue streams that we don't compete well at currently is match-day revenue. There is a big difference and over three or four years it is a significant number. Hopefully what we are talking about today is the right solution. It is also, I believe, the one our fans would most want to see. To continue to compete in this world, particularly with Financial Fair Play coming in and having to live within your means, this is something we have to do well at.
"We can become competitive again but we have to be smarter about how we go about our business. We came in for a lot of criticism over how much we did or didn't spend in the transfer market this time but we have to do it sustainably and responsibly. The young players that people are getting excited about are partly there because that is a better way. We have to find the balance. We can still compete but it is going to be harder."
Steven Gerrard welcomed the decision to redevelop Anfield. "I'm really pleased," the captain said. "I've had some special occasions at Anfield and so have the club.
"If they are going to spend all that money on Anfield and improve it then fantastic … A lot of history and important things have happened at Anfield and I think it is fantastic Liverpool are staying there."
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