Premier League stadium looks unrecognisable in plans that never saw light of day after council rejected amazing proposal
LIVERPOOL’S stadium looks unrecognisable in plans rejected by the council.
The Reds had hoped to move away from Anfield back in 2007 as they unveiled a proposal for a new home nearby.
Former owners Tom Hicks and George Gilette backed plans to construct a 60,000-capacity arena in nearby Stanley Park.
Designs for the project were released, showing a futuristic ground a world away from Anfield’s iconic appearance.
However, after meeting with Liverpool City Council and US architects HKS, the plans were put on ice.
Hicks and Gilette later sold the club to Fenway Sports Group in 2010, with the prospect of building a new stadium shelved for good.
Instead, the current owners have worked to renovate and upgrade Anfield, with work on the Main Stand completed in 2016.
The Anfield Road Stand has also undergone a makeover, with the project raising the ground’s capacity by 7,000 seats to 61,000.
With work beginning in 2021, there had been hopes the stand would be able to re-open fully for the start of the current campaign.
The extension is still ongoing, though, with the top tier of the stand remaining closed and the full opening pushed back until the new year.
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Hicks and Gilette’s plans for a Stanley Park stadium are not the only shelved proposals for a new Liverpool home.
Three years later in 2010, designs were released for a ‘Siamese stadium’ that would house both Liverpool and city rivals Everton.
Again located in Stanley Park, the venues would share a “central spine” with the Reds playing in a 60,000-seater ground next to the Toffees’ new 50,000-capacity stadium.
Despite being seen as a cheaper alternative for the two clubs, neither set of owners opted to take up the proposals and Everton are now building a new ground of their own at Bramley-Moore Dock.