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After seeming to have talked about it for most of a decade, Liverpool will finally, officially, begin their expansion of Anfield on Monday. This follows approval of their plans earlier this year by city council, the successful acquisition of surrounding properties, and in recent months the tearing down of those properties to provide room to expand the main stand into.
Following expansion of the main stand, the Anfield Road end will also be expanded, with most work during the season taking place behind the current stands so as to minimally impact match-going fans—and match revenue—in the interim. When the new main is completed, it will add 8,300 seats. The expanded Anfield Road end will then add 4,800, bringing capacity to 59,000.
The £100M project is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2016-17 season, and while the club have no intention to sell naming rights to Anfield, naming rights will be sold for the redeveloped stands and negotiations with potential sponsors are ongoing. Liverpool Council will be contributing the funds to redevelop the lands surrounding the expanded Anfield stadium,
In addition to raising Liverpool's matchday revenue, the capacity increase beyond the 50,000 mark set by UEFA will mean that Anfield will soon qualify to host international fixtures. After years of failed expansion and relocation plans, of fights with local residents and talks of an Everton ground-share, mostly though it's just good to see work on an expanded Anfield finally moving forward.
