The stand will take Anfield’s Capability to 61,000 and can be finished in time for the 2022-23 Year.
The Reds will begin the next stage of the public consultation process now, having been encouraged by the initial feedback from local residents, businesses, and fans.
Liverpool announced in August that they had fought initial plans for an updating of the Anfield Road End. Outline planning permission for the inclusion of around 4,000 additional chairs, which was initially applied for in 2014, was allowed to lapse with club owners, Fenway Sports Group, considering the layout to be inadequate.
In November the team revealed the first pictures of a brand new £60million redevelopment of the Anfield Road end, which would add around 7,000 new chairs and take Anfield’s total capacity to 61,000.
Around 800 responses were received, along with the team say that the overall feedback was”very positive”, with 93 percent supportive of the programs.
After that, the team expects to submit a formal planning application and have drawn up a timeframe that would see building work on the new stand start by the end of the calendar year, and be finished in time for the 2022-23 season.
“There are still a few really big measures to get through,” said Andy Hughes, Liverpool’s chief business officer. “Planning is a very major hurdle for us and we are going to be working really heavily on this through another four, five, six months.
“And in the end, the finances will need to create sense concerning the build cost when we finally know the program.
“I think it is a little early to say it is definitely summer 2022 however, assuming everything goes to plan and there are no significant hurdles along the road, then that is our target date.”
Liverpool have now revealed a variety of new CGI pictures that show how the proposed redevelopment would seem.
They have, after local feedback, opted to shelve their first plan to close a section of Anfield Road entirely, rather trying to re-route the street around the new rack.
The proposed new road wouldn’t, the club worries, impinge on Stanley Park, which is situated to the north of the Anfield Road stand, even although it would indicate that the existing Anfield Road anyone will have to be relocated.
“We knew the road closure was a problem for a few local residents,” Hughes said. “It is something that was discussed for a long time period. But we actually had not discovered technical solutions for the street, which as we were going through the design process we understood was a crucial matter.
“We knew we had to do a little more work and I am very happy to say that, now we have gone into some of the detail, we have found a great solution.”
The proposed new stand could, Liverpool say, supply 5,200 new general admission seats, with a further 1,800 chairs covered as part of a lounge/sports bar-style hospitality attribute.
“The entire team has gained a massive amount of experience working on the Main Stand,” explained Hughes.
I am hoping this will be a bit easier but it will help.”
Hughes wouldn’t be attracted to the possibility of a prospective naming-rights spouse for the new rack, saying only that it was”an alternative” for the future.
Liverpool are expected to announce record earnings when their fiscal accounts for last season are published later this month and, unlike with the most important Stand, which was paid for via a loan direct from FSG, will utilize the club’s existing credit facility to cover the new Anfield Road stand.
Hughes also addressed concerns related to a possible new train station, which some regional campaigners have suggested would help alleviate traffic problems in and around the arena. Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram is one of those who have supported this idea.
Hughes said: “A train station in the region is essential for the region and clearly the club supports that and it would be useful. But basically I do not think it solves the matchday transportation issue, and we believe that can be achieved through public transportation and coaches.
“We’re re-looking at that in detail together with the transportation authorities, all of the agencies involved, and we are in the process of inventing a revised transport strategy.”
