ILSA news archive - March 27th to April 30th, 2003
26/3/03
Some transcribed comments from Rick Parry on the official site regarding
the new stadium:
Will the planning application be submitted shortly for the new
stadium and if that’s accepted what would be the expected start
date for the building work and also the expected completion date?
PARRY: OK…. Good question. Erm…the planning application
will be going in round about the middle of the year…erm there’s
a tremendous amount of work…erm…err..going on at the moment
on the part of our professional team pulling all the detailed plans
together. It’s getting very exciting now, the way that things
are taking shape. Interestingly, a lot of the work now is centering
on the surrounds of the stadium, the re-use of the existing site,
the impact on the park land, all of which will have to be taken into
account by the city, in considering the planning. It’s not just
the stadium itself. Erm..the planning application , we’re hoping
will be turned round relatively quickly, within just over 3 months,
so you know, it’s perfectly feasible to imagine that building
on the ground could start by the end of this calendar year. Our big
hope is of course that the planning application doesn’t get called
in by the government which could add a year to the process, and a
significant delay. And so completion date, you’re looking at
something…. probably just under 2 years to build the stadium.
So I think realistically now, it’s going to be probably sometime
in the second half of 2005 or early 2006 by the time it’s finished.
Apart from the planning application (which we have spoken about)
are there any other obstacles to overcome before we finally get a decision
on the stadium?
PARRY: Erm..obstacles I think is the wrong word… there’s
a lot still to be done, I mean we’ve got to negotiate the terms
on which the council let us use the park, for example, erm.. the terms
on which we make this site available as a public open space, which
is part of the equation..erm…making sure we’ve got the money
to build it, which is, you know, one of the major challenges, and
more importantly making sure we can afford the repayments because
we’ve always said that we’re not gonna land ourselves with
a white elephant. You know, the only reason we’re doing this
is to generate more revenue, so we can plant more money back into
the team. So, financial advisors are on board now, and making sure
that the plans are sound..erm…so as I say it’s not really
a case of “obstacles”, it’s more a case of there’s
a lot still to do..erm there’s a tremendous amount of work involved.
I think ever since we got the positive vote from the local community
(a clear majority of the local residents were in favour) everything
has felt a lot more positive: the council have been very supportive,
and the mood locally, by and large, is “let’s get on with
it”, you know, “now a decision’s been made, let’s
try and see some action”, so…erm.. it’s very exciting.
Mr Parry, is there still a chance we won’t move to a new stadium
and that we’ll stay at Anfield?
PARRY: I mean, because the new stadium is complex, because there’s
still a lot to do, it’d be silly to say “no there’s
absolutely zero chance”…erm the problem’s always been
however that if we stay here, we’re not progressing, because
the chances of the a significant expansion on this site is extremely
slim, we took the decision that moving forward to a capacity of 46,000
is not enough. We’re also conscious that in the relatively near
future the Main Stand would have to be rebuilt- it’s old- and
we need a reinvestment, and given the safety standards, the Green
Guide, and the need to build to the latest possible standards, the
irony is if we simply rebuilt the Main Stand, we’d end up with
a lower capacity than we’ve got at the moment, so then we’re
going backwards. Erm..so you know, doing nothing is not an option,
and in our evaluation, the new stadium was going to be a much more
efficient way forward. I mean emotionally, of course, we, like many
others, wanted to stay at Anfield, but I think the next best thing
is that we’re staying in Anfield and we’re certainly paying
a lot of attention to ensuring we’ve got a link between the old
and the new. We’re not gonna be very far away, we’re more
than conscious of the significance of the Hillsborough Memorial, the
ashes scattered on the pitch here, the Shankly Gates etcetera, and
again the exciting task is making sure that all of that is blended
into the new stadium, so we have a transition from old to new.
24/3/03
Man Utd away (5/4/03) ticket news: the club have received an allocation
of 3007 tickets. South Stand Adults £29 Child £14.50; East
Stand Adults £25 Child £12.50. There is only a very limited
number of South Stand tickets.
Serial numbers 6 and 7, voucher 26, fan card required.
Tickets on sale from Wednesday 26th March by post and in person at the
ticket office.
19/3/03
You may or may not be aware that this Saturday (22nd March) marks the
second Hillsborough Justice Campaign
Cup competition. The competition will take place at the Pitz in
Scotland Road/ Everton Valley, with the football starting at 1.00pm,
eight teams taking part. Last years competition was not only very enjoyable
but was also acted as an excellent fundraiser for the HJC
raising £1500 towards the fight for Justice.
After the football is finished people will be heading to the upstairs
bar in The Sandon, in Oakfield Road for the evenings activities. This
will include a disco, as well as the innovative entertainment of Peter
Evo and Dave Kirby. The bar is open till 1am and everyone is more than
welcome to come down for what will be a very enjoyable evening.
A big thank you for everybody who has put a lot of time and effort
into the organisation of this event.
19/3/03
Forged ticket warning
From today's Echo:
A huge security operation will be mounted at tomorrow's Liverpool-Celtic
UEFA Cup game over fears that hundreds of forged tickets have flooded
the market. For the first time, police will form a cordon around Anfield
to check tickets ahead of the Battle of Britain clash.
An intelligence report revealed hundreds of Celtic supporters were
likely to arrive with fake tickets. So no fans will be allowed through
turnstiles until they have passed through police checkpoints at all
four corners of the stadium.
Chief Superintendent Dave Lewis, match commander, will coordinate the
operation involving almost 500 officers at checkpoints, on patrols around
the ground, inside the stadium and city centre.
Mr Lewis said: "This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest,
security operation ever mounted at a football match in Merseyside. We
have never used this system to check tickets but it is necessary as
our information suggests a lot of forged tickets are in circulation."
The cordon system of checking tickets was used at last Sunday's Scottish
cup final clash between Celtic and Rangers. Merseyside police looked
at the way it was operated before the Old Firm game and are using that
as a blueprint for tomorrow.
Celtic have been given 2,700 tickets for the quarter final second leg
tie, but thousands more are expected from Scotland. Mr Lewis said only
people with a ticket should go to the ground. "The two teams have
a great friendship and the security operation has not been put in place
because we think there will be trouble between fans."
The game starts at 8.05pm and police urge supporters to get there early.
18/3/03
Rearranged PTS sales for Fulham will go ahead on Friday 21st March (when
the date of the game wil also be confirmed). The Man City PTS sale has
been delayed until Friday 4th April.
17/3/03
Red All Over The Land's Andy Knott is planning a mosaic for Thursday
night's game at Anfield. He is looking for people to help out.
Meet at the Centenary Stand car park, Kop end at 9.15-9.30am on Thursday
if you want to help.
15/3/03
If you want to risk buying tickets for the UEFA Cup Final in Seville
before the tie with Celtic and any possible semi-final is decided, then
UEFA are expected to sell a second batch of neutral tickets later this
week. For more info click
here
7/3/03
If you want to catch up with any news on the ground move to Stanley
Park we have an archive of stories that have appeared in the local press
and on ILSA. Click here>>
7/3/03
The dates for the "mini-derbys" between our reserves and Everton
reserves have been fixed.
Liverpool v Everton, Deva Stadium, Chester, 7pm Monday 28th April.
Everton v Liverpool, Halton Stadium, Widnes, 7pm Thursday 8th May.
5/3/03
The club have announced that they are looking to secure £75 million
in finance to pay for the proposed new 60,000 seater stadium. The full
story can be found on the Echo
site.
5/3/03
UEFA have announced that ticket sales for the UEFA Cup final for the
neutral areas of the stadium will begin on March 10th. Click here
for more info.
4/3/03
Celtic home (20/3) ticket news - one ticket per season ticket holder.
Kop £26, elsewhere £28. Tickets on sale in person from the
ticket office on Thursday 6th March until Tuesday 11th March; voucher
FF and fan card required. Postal applications should be received
by Friday 7th March.
Non season ticket holders: the balance of tickets will go on sale from
the ticket office on Wednesday 12th March to non Season Ticket Holders
holding any two ticket stubs from any Champions League match
or UEFA Cup match played at Anfield during season 2002-2003 during normal
office hours for as long as supplies last. Postal applications should
be received by Wednesday 12th March. Applicants should include the correct
remittance, stamped addressed envelope and relevant ticket stubs.
4/3/03
Tottenham away (moved to Sunday 16/3) ticket news - we have received
2783 tickets: South Stand Lower £35 Adult £18 Child; South
Stand Upper £40 Adult £20 Child. All serial numbers qualify,
voucher S, fan card required. Tickets go on sale Thursday 6th
March by post and in person at the ticket office. General sale from
Tuesday 11th March on the credit card line.
3/3/03
Celtic away (13/3) ticket details - we've been given 2700 tickets priced
at £25. As per usual tickets are available to members of the ETC
and Season Ticket holders by postal application to the ticket office.
Priority for independent travellers will be based on the number of away
European Fixtures attended this season. Applications must be received
by Thursday March 6th.
3/3/03
Fulham PTS sale postponed - the sale of PTS tickets for the Fulham match
has been postponed by the club. No announcement has been made with regards
to when the sale will take place.
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