Should Stanley Park top the list of priorities for Liverpool?

LIVERPOOL, UNITED KINGDOM – JULY 02: Ground works and construction begins on Liverpool Football Club

Anfield, once a fortress for the Red powerhouse of the Merseyside Nation, could soon become the past in the club’s illustrious history. The competitive European Nights, the emotional derbies versus Everton, the breath-taking matches against their biggest rivals – Manchester United and the parades of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” being chanted at Anfield will always be reminisced in football folklore. But now, with Liverpool struggling to break back into the top 4 and to win home games against relegation battlers, is Stanley Park the best solution to this predicament?

Stanley Park Stadium is an architect’s paradise. Unlike Anfield, it will have sufficient open spaces in the vicinity. There will be no issues of cramped up spaces, parking or residential disturbances. The capacity is 60,000(possibly extendable to 72,000), unlike Anfield’s 45,000. Liverpool, in a financial aspect, will be bolstered with the ticket sales and in right time can contest to host International and Champions League games, which sadly, has not been witnessed by Merseyside for ages. In 2006, Arsenal made their well-publicized switch to Emirates where they were unbeaten for a year. Additionally, the club has raised massive revenues since it hosted six Brazilian National Team games. This, in retrospect, could be the key to Liverpool’s departure from Anfield – and an arrival at Stanley Park. However, there are several issues which need higher attention than a stadium switch. The fact that this debate has been going since 2000 itself signifies the confusion prevailing in the Anfield boardroom. The owners need to divert their diligence elsewhere – to FOOTBALL!

“Liverpool till I breathe”, has been my motto since 1998 – the days of Redknapp, Fowler and Owen. Thinking solely for financial reasons, I agree that Liverpool moving away from L4 makes sense. While the club will make more money at the Stanley Park Stadium, it could derail the club’s focus on football. In fact that has already begun. Without the foundations being laid for the stadium, the club has spent a staggering 50 million pounds in it for construction purposes. Furthermore, the debate has been raging on for twelve long years, adding more costs to the process. This money could have been spent wisely on the squad or player contracts. For all we know as Liverpool fans, we could still be holding onto Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano, had the owners allocated the funds to improving the squad. On the field, the quality of football being showcased to the fans has declined. For the past three seasons, Liverpool has struggled to finish above sixth. Till 2011, Liverpool was the most successful club in English Football. 18 League Titles, 5 Champions League titles, 7 FA Cups and 7 League Cups (not including the 2012 victory) – the major success of it being done through Anfield. Now, the throne belongs to Manchester United. For years, the stadium was seen as a stronghold. However, the present scenario begs to differ. In the recently concluded season, Liverpool sacked Kenny Dalglish – the club’s third casualty in as many seasons. Journalists, football pundits and players once described the atmosphere at Anfield to be unfathomable. Today, home games are dreaded by the Kop whose silence in the final third of the game speaks for itself. The Reds won a measly 9 out of the 23 fixtures played at Anfield, which is less than a 40% success rate; on the other hand, the club averaged a strong 65% success rate in 2002-2008 at Anfield. Doesn’t this clearly illustrate the club’s breakdown in home form? Today, the lower-league clubs seek to draw a fixture against Liverpool at Anfield without fear. Evidently, the club needs to prioritize its football more than these ceaselessly prolonging debates over a stadium shift. Football has suffered at Anfield. The beautiful game being played at L4 has hit its low. And this is what the owners need to change at present, NOT the stadium!

The primary reason behind this administrative drama was the change in ownership. The failure under the infamous Hicks-Gillett era saw the club dive into deep debts. The American owners accepted a new proposal from HKS, a Dallas design group, thereby rejecting the pre-existing AFL designs from the David Moores’ reign. Costs were rising but funding was not sufficient as sponsors were not willing to back this proposal. In between this drama, the manager then, Rafa Benitez started a war of words with the owners. The fans were frustrated as the club dropped from a second place finish in the ’08-‘09 season to a seventh place finish in 2010 – its worst under Benitez in over seven years of charge. Liverpool Football Club entered a dilemma. Thus, the stadium plans were postponed unintentionally. Thankfully, last year saw a switch in ownership as the renowned American brand, Fenway Sports Group took over. They rejected the designs from Hicks-Gillete era, bringing back the “First Generation Anfield” plans by AFL. This not only has brought further confusion to L4, but to the entire city of Liverpool. Today, the ownership is stable and the clubs debts are gone. However, football has suffered tremendously. The stadium saga has had a detrimental impact with players refusing to play for the club due to the lack of mega-money contracts and Champions League options. The Reds may have solved their problems of ownerships and finances but have themselves to blame for their collapse in results.

The club has to focus solely on improving its football for the time being. The Reds have to secure a top 4 finish for progress to be certified. Yes, the owners have to pump in cash for squad improvements rather than divert it to the incessant stadium switch saga. As a fan, I would honestly expect the club to achieve wonders on the field instead of bragging about an architecturally marvelous stadium. We need to win our 19^th title. It has eluded us for far too long that it has to come back to the silverware cabinet of Anfield. Our glorious European nights miss us, and by European, I strictly mean the Champions League. Gone are the days when Steven Gerrard slotted home a screamer in the dying minutes of a European fixture. Those days have to return. And that can certainly happen if the owners engage themselves in reforming the football more than the mere quality of their stadium.

“Tho’ your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart. And you’ll never walk alone.”