Anfield Stadium

at Anfield Road, Liverpool, L4 0TH, Liverpool United Kingdom

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"You'll Never Walk Alone"

Description

General Info

Surface - Grass Capacity - 45,362 Field dimensions - 111 yards (101 m) by 74 yards (68 m) Anfield is an all-seater association football stadium in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England. The stadium was built in 1884 and was originally the home of Everton F.C.. The club played at the ground until 1892, when they left after a rent dispute. Since then the stadium has been home to Liverpool F.C., who were formed as a result of Everton leaving Anfield. It is a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) 4-star rated stadium, and has hosted many international matches at the senior level, including England matches. The ground was also used as a venue during Euro 96. Earlier in its history the stadium was also used as a venue for different events, such as boxing and tennis matches. The stadium currently comprises four stands; Spion Kop, Main Stand, Centenary Stand and Anfield Road, giving a total capacity of 45,362. The record attendance at the stadium is 61,905 which was set in a Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) tie between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1952. This happened before the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium in 1994, a change which greatly reduced its capacity. Each of its four stands now have an all-seater layout following the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Notable features of the stadium include two gates named after former Liverpool managers: the Bob Paisley Gate and the Bill Shankly gate. In addition, a statue of Shankly is situated outside the stadium. Anfield's public transport links include rail and bus services but it lacks dedicated parking facilities. There are plans to replace Anfield with a new stadium in Stanley Park which would hold around 25,000 more spectators than Anfield's current capacity. The site is near the current stadium and its construction would lead to Anfield's demolition. The opening of the new stadium is scheduled for 2011 but the state of the financial market and disagreement between the club's American co-owners makes this doubtful. History of Anfield: Opened in 1884, Anfield was originally owned by John Orrell, a brewer and friend of John Houlding; the leaseholder of Anfield. Everton, who had recently been banned from playing in Stanley Park, were in need of a new venue to play at and Orrell let the land to the club for a small fee. The first game played at Anfield was between Everton and Earlstown on 28 September 1884, which Everton won 5–0. During Everton's tenure at the stadium, a small stand was erected for some of the 8,000 spectators regularly attending games. Anfield's first league match was played on 8 September 1888, between Everton and, Lancashire team, Accrington Stanley F.C. Everton quickly improved as a team and three years later in the 1890–1891 football season they became Anfield's first league champions. However, this success was not without its drawbacks. Following the league win, Houlding purchased the ground outright from Orrell in 1891, and proposed increasing the rent from £100 to £250 per year. Everton refused to meet his demands, and moved to Goodison Park. Houlding was left with an empty stadium, and decided to form a new club to occupy it. The team was called Liverpool Association Football Club, and their first match at Anfield was played on 1 September 1892, against Rotherham Town, which they won 7–0. Liverpool's first league match at Anfield was played on 9 September 1893, against Lincoln City, with Liverpool winning 4–0 in front of 5,000 spectators. A new stand was constructed in 1895, capable of seating 3,000 spectators, and was built on the site of the present Main Stand. The stand had a distinctive red and white gable, and was similar to the main stand at Newcastle United's ground St James' Park. Another stand was constructed at the Anfield Road end in 1903, built from timber and corrugated iron. After Liverpool had won their second League Championship in 1906, a new stand was built along the Walton Breck Road. Local journalist Ernest Edwards, who was the sports editor of local newspapers the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, christened it the Spion Kop. It was named after a famous hill in South Africa where a local regiment had suffered heavy losses during the Boer War in 1900. More than 300 men had died, many of them from Liverpool, as the British army attempted to capture the strategic hilltop. Around the same period a stand was also built along Kemlyn Road. The ground remained much the same until 1928 when the Kop was redesigned and extended to seat 30,000 spectators, with a roof erected as well. Many stadia in England had stands named after the Spion Kop, however Anfield's was the largest Kop in the country at the time. It was able to hold more supporters than some entire football grounds. The topmast of the SS Great Eastern, one of the first iron ships, was rescued from the ship breaking yard at nearby Rock Ferry, and was hauled up the Everton Valley by a team of horses to be erected alongside the new Kop where it still stands today, serving as a flag pole. Shankly Gates In 1957 floodlights were installed and on 30 October of that year they were switched on for the first time for a match against Everton, to commemorate the 75-year anniversary of the Liverpool County FA. In 1963 the old Kemlyn Road stand was replaced by a cantilevered stand, able to seat 6,700 spectators and built at a cost of £350,000. Two years later alterations were made at the Anfield Road end, turning it into a large covered standing area. The biggest redevelopment came in 1973, when the old Main Stand was ripped down and a new one was constructed. At the same time, the pylon floodlights were pulled down and new lights installed along the top of the Kemlyn Road and Main Stands. The new stand was officially opened on 10 March 1973, by the Duke of Kent. In the 1980s the paddock in front of the Main Stand was turned into seating, and in 1982 seats were introduced at the Anfield Road end. The Shankly Gates were erected in 1982, a tribute to former manager Bill Shankly; Shankly's widow Nessie unlocked them for the first time on 26 August 1982. Across the Shankly Gates are the words You'll Never Walk Alone, from the Gerry & The Pacemakers' hit song that Liverpool fans adopted as the Club's anthem. The statue of Bill Shankly outside Anfield Coloured seats and a police-room were added to the Kemlyn Road stand in 1987. In 1989, after the Hillsborough disaster, the Taylor Report recommended that all grounds in the country should be converted into all-seater grounds by May 1994.In 1992, a second tier was added to the Kemlyn Road stand, turning it into a double decker layout. It included executive boxes and function suites as well as 11,000 seating spaces. Plans to expand the stand had been made earlier, but two elderly residents living in Kemlyn Road refused to move out of their house and the plans were put on hold. When one of the residents died the other decided to move out and the expansion plans were put into action.The stand was officially opened on 1 September 1992, by UEFA president Lennart Johansson and re-named the Centenary Stand. The Kop was rebuilt in 1994 after the recommendations of the Taylor Report and became all seated; although it is still a single tier, the capacity was significantly reduced to 12,390. On 4 December 1997, a statue of Bill Shankly, created from bronze, was unveiled at the visitors' centre in front of the Kop. Standing at over 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, the statue depicts Shankly wearing a fan's scarf around his neck and in a familiar pose he adopted when receiving applause from fans.The Hillsborough memorial is situated alongside the Shankly Gates, and is always decorated with flowers and tributes to the 96 people who died at Hillsborough. At the centre of the memorial is an eternal flame, signifying that those who died will never be forgotten. The most recent change to Anfield came in 1998 when the new two-tier Anfield Road end was opened. The stand has however encountered a number of problems since its redevelopment. At the beginning of the 1999–2000 season a series of support poles and stanchions had to be brought in to give extra stability to the top tier of the stand. During Ronnie Moran's testimonial against Celtic many fans complained of movement of the top tier. At the same time that the stanchions were inserted the executive seating area was expanded by two rows in the main stand, lowering the capacity for seating in the paddock. Future Anfield: Original plans to replace Anfield were initiated by Liverpool F.C. in May 2002. At that time the proposed capacity was 55,000, but it was later revised to 61,000, with 1,000 seats given for segregation. Several attempts were made by the Liverpool City Council to instigate a groundshare of the proposed stadium with local rivals Everton from 2003 to 2007, but this move was rejected as neither club favoured it. Liverpool were granted planning permission on 30 July 2004, to build a new stadium, just 300 yards (270 m) away from Anfield at Stanley Park, and on 8 September 2006, Liverpool City Council agreed to grant Liverpool F.C. a 999-year lease of the land on the proposed site. Following the takeover of Liverpool F.C. on 6 February 2007, by George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the proposed stadium was redesigned to reduce the costs of construction. In November 2007, the redesigned layout was approved by the council and construction was due to start in early 2008. The new stadium, provisionally called Stanley Park Stadium, is being built by HKS, Inc. and is scheduled to open in August 2011 with a capacity of 71,000. Once the new stadium is built Anfield will be demolished and become the centrepiece for the Anfield Plaza development, which will include a hotel, restaurants, and offices. However, the construction of Stanley Park, as of 2008, has been delayed following the slowing of the American economy, directly affecting American-owned Liverpool. This has been worsened because the club was bought with loaned money, not the owners' own capital, and interest rates are higher than previously expected. Hicks and Gillett made promises to begin work on the stadium after the acquisition of the club but have had trouble financing the estimated £300 million needed for the Stanley Park development. The deadline to begin work within 60 days of the takeover has passed and as of May 2008 the site remains untouched. The delays have had repercussions in the local area of Anfield, with regeneration plans on hold till the future of Anfield is decided.Debt incurred by the club's takeover also exacerbates the matter as it reduced the owners' and the club's spending power. This fact has also revived interest in a takeover bid by Dubai International Capital, a move which also could delay movement to the new stadium. (courtesy of Wikipedia.com) Todays Anfield: Kop Grandstand 12,390 Centenary Stand 11,411 Anfield Road 9,116 Main Stand 9,575 Paddock 2,454 ---Overall Capacity ---45,362

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Summary

Anfield Stadium is Liverpool based place and this enity listed in Soccer Stadium category. Located at Anfield Road, Liverpool, L4 0TH