Mike Gordon, president of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), spoke of the great progress being made with the Main Stand and reassured fans that it is on track for the scheduled opening at the beginning of 2016/17 season.
FSG are delighted with the redevelopments to the stadium thus far, especially after the 650-tonne truss was fitted onto the roof of the Main Stand earlier this week.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Gordon said:
“Work is progressing well and despite the fact that this is a complex project, we are on track in terms of budget and schedule.
“We still expect that the new Main Stand will be open to fans and hospitality guests at the start of the 2016-17 season, which will be an impressive accomplishment by everyone in Liverpool who has worked on the project. John, Tom and I are grateful for their efforts.”
The FSG president also spoke of their aims for the new developments to the stadium.
“The spaces in the new stand have been designed to create a much warmer feel than you would usually find in a typical football stadium. We are pleased with how it is coming together, and believe that when we are finished, our supporters and everyone connected to the club will feel the same way.”
Gordon also explained how the redevelopments to Anfield were crucial to the long term progress of the club and that FSG’s decisions have been carefully planned out as to preserve ‘the heart and soul’ of the club, making sure ‘any decision was going to be in the best long-term interest of the club and its supporters’.
“This project is so important to FSG for precisely the reason you mention: it’s essential to the long-term future of the club. Resolving the open stadium question by expanding Anfield was an important part of our strategy to grow LFC, but we wanted to do it in the right way and not lose the heart and soul of the ground that makes Anfield so special. We went through an extensive process to make sure any decision was going to be in the best long term interest of the club and its supporters, and the result of that process was the announcement last December that we were committing to build a new Main Stand”.
After work is completed on the Main Stand the next phase in the redevelopment of Anfield is the proposed work on the Anfield Road end. However, the FSG president spoke of how the plans for further redevelopments to the stadium may have to be reassessed.
“We have always focused our energy and resources completely on the Main Stand – it’s a very big and very expensive project! We need to make sure we do a great job bringing it to a successful completion before even considering any further changes to Anfield.
“Then, and only then might we take a look at Anfield Road Stand. At the right time, as with the Main Stand process, a robust research process will be undertaken to ensure there is a sustainable solution, one that works financially, before we could consider applying for full planning permission.
“Like the Main Stand, Anfield Road is rather complicated – there are services that run under the road as well as a number of other social and environmental issues that we will have to consider when the time is right.”
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