Third time lucky for our new stadium ?

There's far too much uncertainty surrounding Liverpool FC at present for me to get excited about the latest stadium plans being approved. I want to believe that work will commence shortly on building it but how many times have we heard it all before (well ok, 3 times in 5 years to be exact). Not only that but it was previously announced that the revised stadium plans would be for a 71,000 seater but this latest redesign is only for 60,000.
It's no secret that there has been plenty of financial & political hurdles with Hicks & Gillet, plus with DIC still hoping to takeover LFC, lord only knows when construction will begin. Maybe this will be 3rd time lucky for us though ?

Iconic New Anfield / Liverpool stadium

When I first heard that the stadium was going to be slightly downgraded, I feared it might mean a complete redesign of the iconic plans revealed last summer. Fortunately they choose to stick with HKS who only made minor modifications to the original design, what we're left with is something more efficient and still very much unique & iconic in nature. It's expected to be open in 3.5 years time which is quite a bit back on what was previously hoped for. The capacity is a healthy 71,000 with the Kop having 18,500. Thankfully the acoustics of the roof will still accentuate the atmosphere so nothing lost there.
Here's the latest pictures (click on any of them for full size) :-

Downgraded, not a different new stadium

Rick Parry had an interview with the Liverpool Echo this morning and stated that the new Liverpool stadium would be a 'downgraded' version of the plans which were unveiled in the summer. Later on the official LFC site changed his wording to 'different' version.
Since it's been announced there's been numerous delays and construction costs continue to rise exponentially. The official line now is that it will be a 70,000 seater stadium which will still have the Kop as the focus, originally it was going to be 78000, so it's clearly a 'downgraded' and not a 'different' version.
Not sure when we'll get to see the plans for it or when construction will actually start but I just hope they actually commit to it this time. Am getting tired of all the setbacks :-(

When can we see our new home ?

While it's certainly great news that the new anfield/liverpool stadium has been given the go ahead from Liverpool City Council despite some last minute concerns raised by the police regarding the potential terrorist threat element of the project.
I'm a wee bit disappointed though that it's opening has been pushed back from 2010 to 2011, I imagine this probably has a lot to do with the rapidly rising stadium costs (£285m to £400m) and the subsequent financing of it pushing back the commencement of contruction (now next spring).
Despite all that there still remains the possibility of further delays should the Secretary of State call in the application or if there's any legal challenges....

Liverpool FC proposed debt of £500 million

One of the things which Gillet/Hicks were quick to point out when they bought Liverpool FC is that it wasn't going to be anything like the Glazier's takeover of Manchester United. Instead of heaping debt on the club they were buying the club without any debt (although they did borrow £285 million). Now it's transpired that they intend to borrow £500 million (the debt will be on LFC this time) to refinance the original loan and building of the new liverpool stadium. Given that its 16 times LFC's operating profits (2007), I think it's inevitable there'll be a marked increase in ticket prices and probably stadium naming rights being sold off (I might rename this blog in a few years time to "My Old Anfield").

Plans revealed for Liverpool's new Anfield Stadium

New details have emerged regarding Liverpool’s new Anfield Stadium after the 23 documents for it were made available for public viewing at Liverpool City Council.

Although it doesn’t explicitly state how they plan to expand from 60,000 to 78,000 seats in the future, a little bit of logical deduction reveals the most likely way it will be done ;-)

Other cool features of Liverpool’s new Anfield stadium are that it’s likely to be the ‘greenest’ stadium (carbon neutral and also a wind turbine!) in the Premiership and also that it will have a “skywalk” at the top of The Kop which will offer views across the city through to Wales.

At present the planned capacities for each stand is as follows :-

The Kop will have 18,000 seats in a single tier over 95 rows. The East Stand will have 25,000 seats in two tiers over 108 rows. The West Stand will have 12,000 seats in 3 tiers over 97 rows, with a further 1,000 seats in corporate suites. The North Stand will have 4,200 seats in 28 rows.

Some simple math and a brief look at the plans combined with common sense would indicate that upon further planning approval the West Stand will be a 22,000 seater and that the North Stand will have 12,000 (either a 2 or 3 tier stand).

More view's of the New Anfield Stadium

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO EXPAND IT TO FULL SIZE

As far as I know this is all the official images available of the new Liverpool / Anfield stadium and I felt compelled to post them online ;-)

My Anfield has plenty more articles on the latest news for Liverpool FC and also the new Liverpool Stadium, check out the categories on the top left hand side of this website or click on the 'My Anfield' logo to take you back to the homepage.

Truly Revolutionary – New Liverpool Stadium

As promised the new stadium will be centred around the Kop, which will house 18,000 fans in a single tier stand. The acoustics of the roof have been designed to accentuate the atmosphere.

As was widely expected, Liverpool have done away with the trend towards bowl shaped stadiums and instead have gone for a more traditional asymmetric design. "This new design will be unmistakeable Liverpool and instantly recognisable as our stadium."

The stadium will initially house 60,000 fans with the facility to expand to 78,000 in the years ahead, while Hicks & Gillet would have liked to started out with 78,000 they were held back by planning restrictions. To cater for 78,000 Liverpool will have to finance major improvements in the transport infrastructure to Stanley Park, one rumour indicates modernising the existing railway system through Stanley Park.

Importantly, it’s been stated that the new stadium will not land Liverpool in debt, ticket prices will inevitably rise, that combined with the extra seating should help to ensure Liverpool’s long term competitiveness.

My Anfield has plenty more articles on the latest news for Liverpool FC and also the new Liverpool Stadium, check out the favourites and categories on the top left hand side of this website or click on the 'My Anfield' logo to take you back to the homepage.

Will the new stadium be something unique ???

Liverpool FC submitted their plans for the new stadium on Monday 18th June. Rumours have since started that this could be quite a unique design. Most new stadiums have the same bowl shaped style (Emirates / Wembley etc).

The new stadium plans though seem to indicate something of a throwback to the old days when stadiums where developed on an ad hoc basis with the 4 sides being totally different from one another.

Gillet and Hicks have already stated that The New Kop (circa 20,000) should be the focal point for the new stadium, which is likely to be a cast single tier stand overlooking the rest of the stadium !

Overall capacity for the stadium is likely to be 60-70,000, but if the rumours are true that they're no longer restricted to a bowl shape, it should make future extensions easier.

As much as I hope the rumours are true, its likely that the planning permission will be rejected as Liverpool City Council previously advised a few years ago, that they would only grant permission to a bowl shape.... but who knows what will happen..... hopefully we'll find out in the not too distant future and get to see some models of the new stadium ;-)