Only the lower tier of Liverpool FC’s new £80m Anfield Road stand will be ready for the first home game of the season, the club reveals. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool FC has announced a delay to the full opening of its new £80m Anfield Road stand.
It was originally hoped the new stand would be ready in time for the first home Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth on Saturday, August 19. Now the club has said only the lower tier will be open to fans.
Main contractor Buckingham group has told Liverpool the upper tier will remain closed for the time being. It is expected there will be a phased opening at subsequent home games with completion by October.
This is a similar process to when the club opened its new Main Stand in September 2016. LFC played its first three games of that season away from home and opened parts of the stand in phases.
Andy Hughes, managing director of Liverpool FC, said: “This has been a hugely ambitious and complex construction project right from the start and I would like to thank everyone who has played a part.
Work started on the Anfield Road Stand in September 2021 to increase the stadium’s capacity to 61,000. It will directly create 400 additional jobs, growing the average matchday workforce to 2,800 people, with 95% of those directly employed locally.
Unfortunately, the upper tier of the Anfield Road Stand is not quite ready for the Bournemouth game. The main contractor, Buckingham, will therefore work with Liverpool City Council’s licensing team to deliver a phased opening process.
“As with any complex major construction project of this scale, there are always so many variables and challenges along the way.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while we work through the next few weeks with Buckingham to complete this programme and we can’t wait to have this great new Anfield Road Stand fully open for supporters.”
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Tickets for the fixture against Bournemouth will be available to members with 13+ credits only. There will not be a members’ ballot for this game.
The members’ sales will begin on August 8 with further details on other sales for Bournemouth and all home fixtures before Christmas to follow next week.
This is the fourth major capital build project undertaken by LFC in recent years, following the build of the new Main Stand in 2016, the Anfield Megastore in 2017 and the opening of its AXA Training Centre in 2020.
A fifth capital project was recently announced with the repurchase of Melwood, which will be the new raining centre for Liverpool FC Women.