Liverpool FC says the upper tier of its delayed new £80m Anfield Road stand will now not be open until 2024 – costing the club more than £10m in matchday revenues. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool FC has said the upper tier of its new £80m Anfield Road stand will remain empty until 2024.
Rayner Rowen Construction took control of the scheme in early September following the collapse of previous main contractor Buckingham Group.
Buckingham started work on the structure in September 2021. However, in July the club announced there would be a delay to the full opening of the stand, possibly to October.
Raising the capacity of the stadium to 61,000 it was originally hoped the stand would be fully open in time for the start of this season. So far only the lower tier of the stand has been open to fans.
In an update on Thursday Liverpool FC chief executive Billy Hogan said that, following a full assessment by Rayner Rowen, the upper tier will remain closed until early 2024. This could cost the club an estimated £10m in lost matchday revenues.
Mr Hogan said: “Over the course of the last few days it has become clear that in order to complete a thorough assessment of that project completion timeline, it’s going to take longer than really we first thought.
“Ultimately, what that means for supporters is that until we have visibility of all the information needed, we’re going to have to maintain the status quo for the remainder of the calendar year.
“This essentially means capacity at Anfield will remain the same as for the previous home games that we’ve seen this season. The lower tier of the stand remaining open and the upper tier remaining closed until the end of the calendar year.
“Ultimately this is a decision that was made in order for us to give time for ourselves, for, as I mentioned, external consultants as well as for Rayner Rowen to continue with the assessment of the project and ultimately to finalise the project timeline.”
Acknowledging the disappointment of the fans, he added: “I want to assure our supporters that everyone is working incredibly hard to bring the project to a successful completion.
“It is a huge and important project for Anfield, obviously we’re incredibly excited about having 61,000 at Anfield and so as soon as we have additional updates we will certainly share that with supporters.
“Not having the upper tier open for the remainder of the calendar year is clearly significant, which is why I wanted to share that news directly with all of our supporters today.”