August 23 – Premier League Liverpool are preparing plans for a further expansion of their Anfield stadium, pushing capacity to up to 62,000 from the current 54,000.
The increased capacity would make Anfield the second largest club stadium in England behind Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
In September 2016 the club completed a successful rebuild of its Main Stand that added 8,000 seats and helped increase match day income by £12 million to £74 million per game.
The club had previously received outline planning permission for an extension to the Anfield Road stand but that proposal allowed for just 4,000 extra seats. The success of the Main Stand and the club under Jurgen Klopp’s management, has pushed its American owners Fenway Sports Group to think bigger and allow those initial plans to lapse.
The club said a “new planning application for a larger scheme” will be submitted. That scheme will reportedly allow for an extra 6-8,000 seats rather than the initial 4,000 extra seats proposed.
LFC’s chief operating officer Andy Hughes said: “The progress that has been made during ongoing feasibility studies has resulted in us being in a position to allow the outline planning permission to lapse.
“We are committed to working with local residents, planning officials and others as we now focus on the detail behind any proposed redevelopment for Anfield Road.
The £100 million redevelopment of Liverpool’s Main Stand was part of a city-financed £260 million regeneration of the Anfield area.
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