New Anfield

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool Football Club today unveiled stunning new designs for their stadium in Stanley Park, coinciding with the submission of the official planning application to Liverpool City Council.

Scheduled to open in 2010, the 60,000 seat stadium has been designed to allow for future expansion which could see the capacity increased to the high seventies dependent on improvements to the local transport infrastructure.

The central importance of the Kop has also been recognised with a hugely increased capacity to 18,000 seats in a single tier stand.

The stadium represents an investment of around £300 million by the Club in North Liverpool.



An Artist's impression of new Liverpool FC stadium - South West View



An Artist's impression of new Liverpool FC stadium - South East View



An Artist's impression of new Liverpool FC stadium




What do you think?

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Parry praises new Anfield design

Chief Executive Rick Parry said: "It was always the aim of the Club, with the backing of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to be world class both on and off the pitch. When they took over, the first thing Tom and George wanted to do was review the stadium both in terms of the design and the capacity. This is the immensely impressive result of their deliberations.

"We're creating a stadium that not only the Club and supporters can be proud of, but something the whole city can be proud of. Liverpool as a city is on the move and deserves world class developments like this.

"Our architects HKS have a wealth of experience and have fused a very contemporary and unique vision together with the values that are crucial to Liverpool Football Club. A critical design consideration was to ensure the stadium sat naturally within its park environment, complementing its surroundings and a huge amount of work has been done to ensure this happens. The stadium is a massive investment in North Liverpool and a key driver in the regeneration of the whole area.

"The asymmetric design sets it apart from other new stadia, as it is a clear move away from what is becoming the traditional bowl model. It recognises and makes reference to the fact that English football grounds were historically asymmetric. We make no apologies for that, we've gone out of our way to embrace that culture and it works
exceptionally well for both the new ground and its location within Stanley Park. This new design will be unmistakably Liverpool and instantly recognisable as our stadium.

"We've also recognised the central importance of the Kop. It will have a significantly increased capacity of 18,000 seats in a single tier structure that will be the heartbeat of the new stadium. The rake of the stand will be steeper and the seats tighter together, with the acoustics of the roof designed to accentuate the atmosphere during games."

Source: Liverpoolfc.tv: Official Web Site

[Evertonscouser]

I like the idea of 4 different individual stands, and the Kop, but that's going to be one hell of an eyesore after it's been up 10 years.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

New £5m train station could be ready in time for ground opening

A new train station needed to allow Liverpool FC to have an expanded 76,000-seater stadium can be ready by the time the ground opens in 2010.

Neil Scales, chief executive of Mersey-travel, last night revealed it would cost between £4m and £5m for a new passenger station to be built on the Bootle Line, which is used for freight.

Three sites are being considered for the station, which will be a replica of Aintree station, designed to deal with large crowds to the Grand National racecourse.

Economist Peter Stoney predicted an additional 15,000 fans travelling to the 60,000-seater stadium would bring in £8m extra into the economy each year and double if the stadium expanded to 76,000 seats.

Earlier this month the Daily Post revealed Liverpool would need a new train station if the capacity was to increase to 76,000.

A transport and environmental analysis will need to be carried out before a second application is made.

The Bootle line is a four-mile stretch between Edge Hill and Canada Dock. It closed to passengers in 1977 when the Merseyrail loop line opened.

Mr Scales said: “We have got three potential sites within walking distance of the ground. On the station front we would use the same design as Aintree so it can deal with spikes in crowds (1,000 people arriving in one go).

“The station would cost between £4m and £5m, and we think it’s do-able by 2010.”

Signals will have to be upgraded which have to be done in co-operation with Network Rail.

Mr Scales said the authority was also working with the council on improvements like better pavements and pedestrian crossings.

A major regeneration package attached to the stadium means millions of pounds will also be spent on Stanley Park to make up for the loss of land.

Source: icLiverpool

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Sponsorship deal for new Anfield is worth millions

LIVERPOOL FC wants to raise £100m in a deal that will see a corporate sponsor awarded naming rights to its new stadium, it emerged last night.

Chief executive Rick Parry confirmed the club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, were keen to secure a sponsorship package similar to the one Arsenal signed for its new Emirates stadium.

It comes after Liverpool yesterday submitted a planning application for a spectacular 60,000-seater stadium which it wants to build on Stanley Park over the next three years.

It is expected to cost around £300m and is planned to be open for the start of the 2010-11 season. The design also allows the club to increase the capacity to a potential 76,000.

In an exclusive interview from America with the Daily Post, billionaire Mr Hicks said he expected the finance to be fully in place by the end of the planning process this autumn.

He said the funding would involve a combination of equity and project finance, which was typical of this type of development.

He stressed the construction was not dependent on the naming rights being sold and that the “mortgage-style” debt on the stadium would be serviced by increased revenues over a period of 25-30 years.

“The new stadium is the single most important thing in helping Liverpool remain competitive with the Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids and Barcelonas of the footballing world,” said Mr Hicks.

A major part of the new ground will be the 18,000-capacity Kop end, almost half as big again as the current Kop.

The dramatic glass and steel design allows views of the Kop from the outside to give a feel of the atmosphere inside on approach to the ground.

“We challenged the architects to do something that would be unique to Liverpool, something that would be world class, that would encompass the Kop and something that would be recognisable to the world as Liverpool’s,” said Mr Hicks.

A construction agent for the new stadium has not yet been announced. No-one from Laing O'Rourke, which was due to build the previous ground, and is being tipped by trade press as a front runner to take on the scheme, was available for comment yesterday.

Speaking in Hong Kong on the club’s tour of Asia, Liverpool’s chief executive Rick Parry said the new stadium would allow the club to compete with European heavyweights in financial terms.

Manchester United earn around £2m more per home game than Liverpool due to their larger stadium and greater corporate facilities. Liverpool hope to close that gap once they move to the new stadium.

Mr Parry said no decision had yet been taken on naming rights but said Tom Hicks and George Gillett were keen to explore the options for a deal.

“It’s something we will look to do or start on quickly, I would say within a matter of months,” he said. “It has to be somebody whose name and reputation match our own.

“It is certainly something that has to be complete before the stadium is finished.

“Arsenal got a very significant deal for the Emirates Stadium. And some of the figures coming out of the latest developments in America are very high.

“It’s certainly possible to have a total deal over a period of years that runs into tens of millions, if not more.”

Source: icLiverpool

[Robinho4Ever]

Nice Stadium, but you'll never have Santiago Bernabeu' or Nou Camp :P

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Those stadiums are not familiar to me.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

To be honest I think the new stadium looks odd.

[kennethlindheim]

It looks a bit over the top for me. I liked the other design they brought out before.

[bandini]

It does look a little wild, but I think it's actually very cool. Architecture has changed over the years so why not go for the modern approach. I would have toned it down a little, but I give it a thumbs up.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

More pics:

[Robinho4Ever]

From above it looks nicer

[Mighty T.A.L.]

I have a better impression of the new stadium after seen the new pics.