Liverpool planning to expand Anfield this summer

After a fabulous decision of staying and expanding Anfield rather than moving to the nearby Stanley Park, the Liverpool managing director, Ian Ayre, clearly stated that Liverpool could fulfil their stadium dreams this summer itself.

The Reds hope the next phase towards a 60,000-capacity home will be finished before the new season.

Ayre believes the extra revenue from bigger crowds can help the club take on the wealth of the Premier League’s big guns.

Increased resources are also expected to ease the burden of the new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, whereby sides can only compete in Europe if they break even over three years.

Liverpool have been trying to buy neighbouring homes ever since revealing in October that they will stay at Anfield, rather than move to a new ground at Stanley Park.

But some remaining residents claim to have been neglected or not offered fair prices for their properties.

And the Reds must acquire all the relevant land before making a planning application to extend the Main Stand and Anfield Road sections of the ground.

Ayre said: “We are in an interesting period in terms of our aspirations around the stadium.

“Our goal is to extend Anfield but we need certainty and that comes with the acquisition of properties.

“Real progress has been made in acquiring them. Once they have all been acquired we will go through the planning process. We would expect to be in a position to make that a certainty this summer. Once planning has been achieved then we can start construction.”

Despite plans to expand the ground, Ayre believes Liverpool are already in a secure financial situation.

He added: “We are very supportive of FFP for a number of reasons

“One is we believe you should only spend what you earn. We want there to be as level a playing field as possible.

“We are in a very fortunate position in that we generate some of the biggest revenues in football despite having not been as successful on the pitch as we would have liked in recent years.

“We also have a huge fanbase around the world. We’ve sold 100,000 tickets at the MCG in Australia this summer and there has been a similar demand for tickets for the other pre-season tour matches in Jakarta and Bangkok.

“That bodes well in an FFP environment. The real challenge for UEFA is to ensure the rules are applied correctly.

“It’s only going to work effectively if there are sanctions for those who don’t abide by them.”

Source: The Sun