Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Liverpool Given Go-Ahead For New Stadium

Liverpool have been given the go-ahead by the city council to build their new 60,000-seater stadium in Stanley Park, adjacent to current stadium Anfield.

The Anfield site is over a century old and has become infamous in the footballing world and almost sacred to many Liverpool fans, but the club are now moving on as they aim to compete with Europe's top clubs.

The new stadium will open in August 2011, featuring an 18,500-seat single-tier stand for the Kop, 5,000 more than the Anfield Kop.

This is the third different design for the new stadium so far, and reduces the capacity by 11,000 from the last scheme in order to reduce costs, though the current design is 'future proofed', and thus additions could be made to the stadium in the future.

In January, co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett completed a £350 million refinancing package on the loan used to purchase the club, and £60 million was earmarked for the new stadium. However Hicks, who has since been involved in a feud with Gillett, has said that he is still working with investment bank Merril Lynch on raising the funds.

Liverpool feel the expansion is needed sooner rather than later, as rivals Manchester United have expanded Old Trafford to 76,000 seats and Arsenal built their brand new, 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium to replace the 38,000-seat Highbury. The Anfield site restricts Liverpool's development, hence the move to Stanley Park.

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