Anfield has been a venue transformed over the past eight years, seeing its capacity increase by 33% in that time.
Following the redevelopment of the Main Stand in 2016 and the expansion of the Anfield Road Stand over the past two years, the stadium can now hold just under 61,000 supporters.
However, in an interview with The Athletic, club CEO Billy Hogan made it quite clear that the Kop and the Kenny Dalglish Stand won’t undergo a similar renovation any time soon.
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He stated: “We don’t see it going beyond where we are now. Going back to 2014, phase one was the Main Stand. Phase two was the Anfield Road Stand. The goal was always to get us to a place where the capacity was over 60,000. We have done that now. There are no plans for further expansion of the stadium.”
The Liverpool chief also declared that, following some final tweaks in the Anfield Road Stand over the summer, the stadium will be ‘fully operational’ for the home fixture against Brentford on 25 August, which’ll be Arne Slot’s first competitive match at the Merseyside venue.
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FSG may ship a lot of understandable criticism from some Liverpool supporters for their perceived frugality in the transfer market, but one thing that even their fiercest detractors can’t deny is that the expansion of Anfield over the past decade stands as one of their biggest triumphs at the club.
The stadium could have twice its current capacity and still not satisfy the demand for tickets, such is the scale of LFC’s global fan base, but to commit the resources that it has towards expanding the ground whilst the team remains competitive in the pursuit of major trophies is an impressive feat.
Of course, there were issues with the Anfield Road Stand redevelopment – the demise of original contractors Buckingham Group was a significant contributor towards the reopening being delayed by several months – but thankfully those obstacles were worked through and the entire venue will soon be ‘fully operational’, to use Hogan’s words.
The two stands which haven’t been redeveloped on FSG’s watch don’t have the same scope for expansion due to the occupation of residences in their immediate vicinity, so externally the stadium is set to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing, for sure, but the work that’s gone in at Anfield over the past decade has transformed the venue visually and ensured that Liverpool found a way to significantly increase capacity without having to leave their iconic home.
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