23 August 2023 , 20:00
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Liverpool’s reduced capacity at Anfield – due to a delay to the work on the redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand – could mean their Merseyside derby at home to Everton is played with a reduced attendance.
The Reds had initially hoped to debut their new stand in full - a construction which will take the capacity of Anfield to 61,000 at a cost of £80million - at their opening home game of the new Premier League season against Bournemouth – a match which has already been and gone.
The club are building a new Anfield Road Stand which will add 7,000 seats onto the iconic stadium’s capacity to take it up to 61,000. Yet the project has been hit by delays ever since work began in September 2021 but now the contractor Buckingham Group has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
Liverpool had previously hoped that the upper tier of the Anfield Road Stand would be operational by October, but that is now in doubt after footage on social media showed that the contractors had been sent home amid uncertainty over the Buckingham Group.
The club’s chief executive Billy Hogan has now admitted that the re-opening date is "uncertain". The Reds are at home to Aston Villa and West Ham in September which will be played at a capacity of 50,000 but the latest update suggests that the Merseyside derby at the stadium – scheduled for 21 October – will also be impacted.
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"We're in a bit of a holding pattern right now based on the news we got," Hogan told Liverpool's website. "That needs to reach its conclusion before we can truly start to take the next steps. It's important that we don't want to set any false expectations.
“We are in a bit of a holding pattern right now based on the news that we got on Thursday and that needs to reach its conclusion before we can truly start to take the next steps. But if Buckingham does enter into administration then we’ll need to address any delays that may arise from completing the new stand as a result of that.”
The new stand won't be fully ready until at least October (PA)Referencing the likelihood of an October re-opening, Hogan continued: “Obviously we talked about having the stand fully open in October, clearly we have discussed the uncertainly that this announcement creates.
“We are still aiming for October but what we’re working through now is to put a plan in place. I know this is incredibly disappointing and frustrating.”