Because the upper deck of the Anfield Road Stand won’t open until 2024, Liverpool will likely lose at least £10.5 million as a result.
The reconstructed Anfield Road Stand for Liverpool won’t open until 2023, as was revealed on Thursday. According to club CEO Billy Hogan, the team is “deeply frustrated.”
Due to the delays, the stadium operates at a reduced capacity of roughly 49,000, which is 12,000 below the planned 61,000. This results in a loss of matchday revenue for the team.
Liverpool University’s Kieran Maguire predicted that with the stadium as it is, the Reds will lose roughly £750,000 every game on the famed Price of Football Podcast.
Liverpool has already lost around £4 million in revenue from the first five games played without the upper tier being in use. With at least nine more games to go, the club stands to lose almost £10.5 million.
Although the opening was originally scheduled to coincide with the first home game of the season, it was postponed and a “phased” reopening was planned.
As soon as the work’s contractor, Buckingham Group, filed for administration, the plans were thrown into turmoil.
This delayed the completion once more; the earliest we will see a fully functional Anfield will be in January 2024.
“This is a really complicated and extremely frustrating situation,” CEO Hogan stated. We’re all really unhappy to have to share this information because we are aware of how many of our fans will be affected.
But Rayner Rowen and our team here are working really hard to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to advance the project as quickly as possible.
The club must organize at least one test event, just like they did for the lower tier, in order to receive a safety certificate from Liverpool City Council before the new upper tier can accommodate all fans.
