Liverpool to leave Melwood for Kirkby Academy
Liverpool are poised to leave their training complex at Melwood with the Kirkby Academy to undergo a £50m regeneration project which will house both the first-team squad and academy sides, the Liverpool Echo have reported.
Melwood has been the home for Liverpool’s training sessions since the 1950s and has a storied history with the club but Jurgen Klopp’s vision to transform the Kirkby Academy into a state-of-the-art training complex is set to take place in the near future.
The Fenway Sports Group have agreed to finance the project to merge the two into a leading training complex which will keep Liverpool Football Club under one roof, so to speak.
The Liverpool Echo understands that the club have reached an agreement with Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council over the scope of work and funding. Heads of terms will be finalised once a public consultation period is completed.
Up to 14 acres of land at Simonswood Playing Fields will be purchased by Liverpool to expand the Kirkby Academy area to 60 acres. All plans have been created by KSS, the architects who designed Anfield’s new Main Stand.
If the proposal is signed off, development will start in 2019 with a view to being completed in time for the start of the 2019/20 pre-season.