Liverpool’s completion of their new £80 million Anfield Road stand has been delayed by two months.
The club hoped the construction would be finished in time for the first Premier League home game against Bournemouth on August 19. A request was made to the league to ensure Liverpool’s first match of the new season was played away, thus ensuring the club had the extra time needed.
But the contractor responsible, Buckingham Group, remains in the process of meeting Liverpool City Council’s licensing requirements for all areas of the construction. Now the new upper tier will not be finished until October, with the club planning a phased opening as they incrementally increase the capacity towards 61,000.
Andy Hughes, Liverpool’s managing director, said: “This has been a hugely ambitious and complex construction project right from the start.
“Unfortunately, the upper tier of the Anfield Road Stand is not quite ready for the Bournemouth game. The main contractor, Buckingham, will therefore work with Liverpool City Council’s licensing team to deliver a phased opening process.
“As with any complex major construction project of this scale, there are always so many variables and challenges along the way.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while we work through the next few weeks with Buckingham to complete this programme and we can’t wait to have this great new Anfield Road stand fully open for supporters.”
Construction of the new Anfield Road – as with the Main Stand seven years ago – was undertaken over the course of 18 months without the need to reduce the overall capacity thanks to a complex engineering project.
The final months of the Main Stand build in 2016 were also subject to delay before the club were able to fully declare it open, but it did not impact on capacity. Liverpool played the first three Premier League games of the 2016-17 season away from home before returning to a full Anfield.
