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Liverpool announces new Anfield Road stand development plans

English Premier League football club Liverpool has today (Thursday) reaffirmed its commitment to redevelop its Anfield Road stand, with new plans now under “active consideration”.

Liverpool said in a statement that it has committed to engaging with the local community and other key stakeholders while pursuing a vision in keeping with the club’s ambitions for Anfield, which has a current capacity of just over 54,000.

An upgrade to the Anfield Road stand, which currently has two tiers, would expand Anfield’s overall capacity to more than 60,000.

Liverpool’s existing planning application, which was submitted as part of the recent development of Anfield’s Main Stand, allows the club to add an extra 4,000 seats to the Anfield Road stand. Planning permission for the Anfield Road expansion will expire in September.

Liverpool said the “ambitious” new plans would result in existing outline planning permission being lapsed to allow the club to continue on alternative options. The club will look to submit a new planning application for a larger scheme in due course.

Liverpool’s chief operating officer Andy Hughes said: “The progress that has been made during ongoing feasibility studies has resulted in us being in a position to allow the outline planning permission to lapse. We are committed to working with local residents, planning officials and others as we now focus on the detail behind any proposed redevelopment for Anfield Road.

“Throughout this process we have been clear that our objective is to find the best possible solution for Anfield Road and that remains the case.”

The redevelopment of Anfield’s Main Stand was completed in the summer of 2016. The project cost a reported £110m (€121m/$134m) and added some 9,000 seats to Anfield’s capacity.

Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore confirmed last October that the club was discussing whether to enter a new planning application to further develop Anfield and today’s announcement confirms the club’s plans.

Last September, Liverpool was granted temporary planning permission to stage music concerts and other major events at Anfield for two years from May 2019.

Image: Kevin Walsh