ILSA - Independent Liverpool Supporters Association

Planning application goes in on October 3rd.

Jane Woodhead & Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo Aug 15 2003
Exclusive by Jane Woodhead & Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

WORK will begin on Liverpool Football Club's new stadium in May.

The 61,000-seater ground in Stanley Park should be ready for the start of the 2006 season. Proposals for the £250m development will be handed to planning chiefs in October.

The scheme involves huge redevelopment around the stadium. The proposals are likely to include:

* a new village centre;
* a college and adult education centre;
* a Liverpool FC museum;
* a new Vernon Sangster Sports Centre;
* a hotel built on the site of the existing ground;
* extensive tourist facilities

Also, 1,405 empty houses will be pulled down while 1,871 will be refurbished. Some 390 new homes will be built. The hotel is due to open in 2007 a year after the new stadium.

The decision to build on Stanley Park was chosen following extensive consultation with the local community. It was chosen in preference to a second option to develop on the existing site.

But Anfield Regeneration Action Committee said today (Friday, August 15) it will continue to fight the plans. Secretary Mike Butler said: "We will take our fight to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

"The human rights of people living in this area are already being breached. People are trapped in their homes on match days unable to get out because of the high volume of traffic. The area is just gridlocked. We do not believe the situation will get any better when the new stadium is built."

Labour's environment spokesman, Cllr Paul Brant, says he will closely monitor the plans. He said: "This is something which could have a profound effect on Stanley Park and I will be examining the plans closely."

Acting leader of Liverpool council, Cllr Chris Newby, added: "This is something which has been long awaited and I am pleased to see things are now starting to move forward. I understand there has been some controversy and obviously all of these concerns will be taken into consideration."

The planning application will be handed to Liverpool council on October 3.

Post report on 75m financing of stadium

Reds face 75m debt Mar 5 2003
Bill Gleeson, Daily Post Business Editor

LIVERPOOL FC looks set to borrow £75m to finance its new stadium in Stanley Park. The club is to decide next week on how to raise the cash for the 60,000-seat replacement for its Anfield home.

Liverpool has completed a "beauty parade" of four City investment banks that have been asked to recommend ways to raise the money needed to build the new ground.

Reds finance director Les Wheatley said yesterday the club's board was open-minded about the best way of raising the money. However, a leading football finance expert said that a season ticket securitisation deal was the most likely way forward. Such a deal would use decades of future season ticket sales as a guarantee to secure any loan.

Mr Wheatley said: "We have had a beauty parade of financial advisers. We saw the last of them on Friday afternoon and we hope to make a decision about one of these next week. We have asked them to advise us on the business case for the stadium and the best way to raise the money. We have in mind £75m for the stadium. We are not looking to raise additional money for the squad on the back of the stadium."

Mr Wheatley said that the four shortlisted advisers had been told not to rule out any fund-raising options.

He said: "We have asked advisers to look at the whole gamut of options, but it is a difficult market to raise money from equity investors. To go for a (Stock Market) float would be almost impossible."

It was also unlikely that Liverpool's majority shareholder, David Moores, would agree to allow his ownership of the club to be diluted by new equity investors. Mr Moores has already seen his stake reduced to 50.1pc on the back of an earlier share issue that saw Granada invest £20m.

Mr Wheatley dismissed fears that any securitisation deal would leave Liverpool vulnerable to the problems experienced at Leeds United.

The Yorkshire club has been forced to sell the expensive players it bought in recent seasons after missing out on a Champions League place meant it could not afford to pay their wages and meet debt repayments.

Mr Wheatley insisted Liverpool's plans were different from Leeds. He said: "The money is not being used to buy players. In fact, it's going to be self-funding."

He said a £75m loan over 25 years would cost Liverpool around £5m a year. The new stadium will seat 16,000 more fans than Anfield, allowing the club to generate an extra £10m to £14m in gate receipts each season. The Anfield club is pushing ahead with a planning application for its new stadium which it hopes to have agreed in April or May.

Reds' 60,000 goal Jan 10 2003
Kevin Core, Daily Post

LIVERPOOL FC's chief executive last night revealed the new Stanley Park stadium will have a 60,000 capacity.

The stadium - the centrepiece of a massive regeneration of the Anfield area - was previously understood to have been planned to hold just 55,000. The news, which was revealed by Rick Parry at the club's Annual General Meeting last night, will be greeted warmly by fans who felt that the proposed the capacity of the new develop-ment was not enough.

Mr Parry said: "The maximum capacity for an expanded Anfield is 55,000, we can't get above that. We used that as the base rate for the study into the new stadium, but that didn't mean we intended to build a 55,000 seater stadium. "The reality is it will be around 60,000 capacity."

He told the Daily Post: "I'm aware it's something that the fans will view positively. There is still a phenomenal amount of work going on but that is the capacity we are leaning towards."

A planning application for the scheme is expected to be submitted within the next few weeks and the new ground could be ready for the 2005/6 season.

Mr Parry also spoke about the need to juggle the feelings of traditionalists and those who have huge expectations for the new ground, saying: "Sometimes the postbag is asking why aren't we building a 100,000 seater stadium, and sometimes it's asking us to stay where we are."

Mr Parry added: "We have worked at our relationship with our neighbours over a three-year period. "Following our consultation we received 60pc backing for the Stanley Park development from local people.

"Support from the residents for the new scheme is very heartening from our point of view. It will be a catalyst for regeneration in North Liverpool."

Finance Director Les Wheatley told the AGM pre-tax profits were up 2,000pc to £9.09m - helped on by the club's Champion's League run - with wages contained at 56pc of the 2002 turnover, £98.7m.

Despite some shareholders anxiety about the levels of wage expense, an ebullient Gerard Houllier seemed relaxed, drawing on a business analogy. He cited the current run as the natural consequence of any period of sustained growth.

And he told shareholders: "On behalf of myself and the staff, I would like to thank you for your support, it went straight to my heart. And you know how much the heart means to me."

ANGRY residents today claimed they had been missed out in the public consultation excercise over the future home of Liverpool Football Club. The exercise, which involved canvassing 19,500 homes, came back with a majority of residents supporting the proposed move to a new 55,000-seat stadium on Stanley Park.

But today the council was facing growing pressure to launch an investigation into the consultation procedure by opposition Labour leaders.

David Wills, who lives in Lothair Road, Anfield said: "I was not asked anything about my views on LFC and its proposed move. I just cannot believe this as I am living in an area where houses have been earmarked for demolition. I think the consultants have concentrated on speaking to people in the wrong areas and where they believed they would hear the answers they wanted to hear."

Mr Wills, who is unemployed, said he had been "left in the dark" about what would happen to his home. "I moved here with my family thinking we would be settled and now I have no idea what will happen to us. I am worried we will be left with nowhere to live or in a very over-crowded situation."

Gill Fraser, from Utting Avenue, claims she was also over-looked in the consultation. "I am very angry that I was missed out. The new stadium on Stanley Park will be closer to my home than the existing ground and I believe I should have been spoken to."

Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool council Labour group, said he had also received complaints from people who claimed to have been missed out of the consultation. "I will be calling on the council to investigate what has happened here and will be writing personally to (chief executive) David Henshaw."

Liverpool council today insisted that everyone in the area was given "ample opportunity" to voice their views. Phil Stokoe, lead consultant at Preston-based PS Consultants, said: "We spoke to 4,100 households and had a very high profile in Anfield and Breckfield for 10 weeks. We believe people had plenty of opportunities to make their views known and we have been as thorough as we possibly could be.

"We spoke to people in Utting Avenue and Lothair Road and knocked on every door in these roads." It was revealed two weeks ago that 58% of people questioned agreed with the proposal for a new stadium on the car park end of Stanley Park. Just under 27% disagreed, with the rest not sure or having no opinion.

The team of independent consultants asked over 19,000 households in the area for their 123 ions. The consultants got responses from 4,102.

LFC.TV: What's your reaction to today's news that the new stadium plans have received the backing of the local residents?

Rick Parry: We're obviously delighted. It's a combination of three years of a lot of hard work and a vindication and endorsement of the policy we adopted that we had to be very much a part of the community plan. We couldn't go ahead in isolation.
I think the outcome will be very exciting, not just for us, for North Liverpool as a whole if the whole plan comes together. It's an ambitious plan and perhaps even unprecedented. I'm not sure something of this scale has been tackled before where a club has been working so closely with a local community. The benefits will be there for everybody if it comes off.

Less than a third of the local residents disagreed with the plans. That's obviously good from your point of view....

If you look into the survey in more detail you find they have covered a huge area. They've been to an area covering 19,000 houses which is very substantial. It takes you out towards Queens Drive. As you move further away from the stadium there is less direct interest and you get more 'don't knows' from the residents. But in the areas which have traditionally been the areas where we've had our local difficulties with local residents, the degree of support was very positive.

How important is it to the club that the area in general benefits from this new stadium?

It's good news for everybody and it's a demonstration that a stadium in itself can be a catalyst for regeneration. It's an example of a major investor working alongside its neighbours to reap long term benefits for everyone. It has to make a great deal of sense.
Everybody understands there are difficulties on a match day and that there's a level of inconvenience but I think people are saying they understand that and they're prepared to go along with it in order to reap the benefits that the wider package is going to bring.

How big a stumbling block would it have been had the results of the consultation process not been so good?

The next step from our point of view is to go full steam ahead on the planning application which will go to the city in the early part of the new year. Our hope is still to be in a new stadium in time for the start of the 2005-06 season. That's an ambitious programme but we're still aiming for it. It could mean work starting on the site in the late part of 2003.

After all the hard work the club have put into the project, this must be a very exciting day....

It's a big day and an exciting day. We're absolutely delighted with the outcome.

Liverpool to move to Stanley Park Oct 11 2002
Daily Post Reporters, icLiverpool website

"Liverpool Football Club will today be given the green light to leave its Anfield home for a new stadium in Stanley Park. A report is expected to reveal that the public of Anfield have backed an option for the club to move to the new 55,000-seater stadium.

The Daily Post understands that around 58pc of residents in the Anfield and Breckfield area have indicated their support for the club building a new ground at the car park end of Stanley Park. The results of a consultation exercise with 19,000 local residents will go before the city council's executive board this morning .

It is also expected to reveal strong support for a major housing demolition and regeneration programme and improvements to the area's transport system. As reported in May, a draft report was put together by Manchester-based consultants GVA Grimley on behalf of Liverpool City Council.

The company examined the two options being considered by the club - to expand on the current site or build a new stadium on Stanley Park. Both options have proved controversial. If the Anfield ground was developed, houses nearby would have to be demolished, while a move to Stanley Park will infuriate environ-mentalists and many community groups.

The Grimley report was put out to public consultation, the results of which will be revealed today. It was hoped more than 6,000 local people would respond - a goal it is understood has been met.

Yesterday, Coun Richard Kemp, executive member for housing and community safety, said: "We have listened to what local people have said in a three-year consultation process. We have not taken everyone on board with us but we never do. I think there is a consistent majority for us now to continue. We have got to act to ensure that the deterioration of the area does not continue."

"The housing work will hopefully start next summer. We recognise the legitimate rights of the community and the legitimate rights of the football club, both of which are equally important."

But Anfield ward councillor Joe Kenny believes the consultation was flawed. He said: "The consultation was not independent and we knew it was designed specifically with one result in mind. There should have been an independent referendum with every resident receiving a postal vote."

But one theme on which there is agreement is that the Anfield and Breckfield area is in need of regeneration. Anfield ward councillor Kiron Reid said: "I would say that the consultation about regeneration is about a lot more than Liverpool Football Club. It has always been made clear by the Government that there is no regeneration money unless there are also private partners - but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the club is only a part of it."

Breckfield ward councillor Frank Prendergast, a Labour stalwart and former council leader, agreed. He said: "I do believe the majority of people want Liverpool Football Club to stay in the area, but a smaller quantity would say expand on Stanley Park. But this is not just about Liverpool Football Club's relocation. There are so many other issues to consider including transport, housing, shopping and the environment, and there have to be job opportunities".

Peter Bevington, of Anfield and Breckfield Community Steering Group, is one of those eagerly waiting for the publication of the report. He said: "I am hoping to see has been a good take-up rate so there is a good sample represented. I am also hoping that marily people are going to support the regeneration"

If the public does back the move to Stanley Park, it is thought a move in time for the 2006/7 season is most likely.

Residents vote 'yes' to new Reds stadium Oct 11 2002
Neil Hodgson & Mark Thomas, Echo Reporters

THE people of Anfield have given a resounding thumbs- up to Liverpool FC's plans to move to Stanley Park it was revealed today. And they have come out even more strongly in favour of the overall plans for the regeneration of Anfield and Breckfield.

The consultation found that over 58% agreed with the proposal for Liverpool to build a new stadium on the car park end of Stanley Park. Just under 27% disagreed, with the rest not sure or having no opinion.

A team of independent consultants asked over 19,000 households in the area for their opinions. And 4,500 copies of a more detailed 12-page booklet was distributed to local businesses, organisations and residents. The consultants got responses from more than 4,100 households.

There was even stronger support for the plans for demolition, refurbishment and improvement to housing in the area, with 80% in favour, while over 80% also backed plans for a new Village Centre and 70% supported plans to improve the transport infrastructure.

Liverpool council chief executive David Henshaw said: "The overwhelming majority of people consulted have put their support behind integrated proposals for Anfield Breckfield. It's about bringing jobs and investment and creating a better place for people to live and work."

It is anticipated that the club will come forward with a planning application around March next year, with the aim of playing in the new stadium in 2006. If Anfield is demolished, it would be replaced by a public plaza with open spaces.

Liverpool FC chief executive Rick Parry said: "It is not just a vote about a new stadium, it is a vote about the regeneration of the area and that is very important. It is particularly exciting from our point of view that we play a positive part in such a big project in regenerating the area, where we are a neighbour, as well as giving us the opportunity to expand."

He said the club will lodge a planning application for their new ground early in the new year. "Our aspiration is to have the stadium for 2005, but that is going some," Mr Parry admitted.

Liverpool council leader Mike Storey said: "We have listened to what people have to say and it is a decisive vote in favour of the entire approach to regenerating Anfield."

Labour group leader Cllr Joe Anderson said consultation with the community must continue: "We have to move forward with as many people on board as possible. The 27% figure against the move is still high." Lib Dem Ward councillor Joe Kenny - an opponent to the scheme - said all residents should have had a postal vote.

But fellow ward councillor Kiron Reid said: "It has always been made clear by the government that there is no regeneration money unless there are also private partners but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the club is only a part of it."

Dave Murphy, of the Liverpool Supporters' Club, said: "It's sad to leave the old stadium but maybe the club can look at leaving the Hillsborough memorial there."

WALTON MP Peter Kilfoyle has thrown his weight behind Liverpool FC's plan for a new stadium in Stanley Park. But he wants cast-iron guarantees that no families will suffer serious disruption over the proposed 55,000-seat stadium.

Mr Kilfoyle said that the controversial plan could offer regeneration to a part of Liverpool which has been neglected for too long. He said: "The biggest single driver of the economy on Merseyside is Liverpool FC. The new stadioum will provide opportunities over and above the immediate needs of the club. "The deal on offer includes educational facilities, better environment and better transport links to the new ground."

He added: "Obviously the concerns of local residents must be addressed but I am sure that when they understand the benefits they will swing behind the plan."

The former Defence and Cabinet Office minister said: "I am perfectly happy to support Liverpool's proposals provided they meet certain key critereia." They include asurances that the old Anfield site will be turned into either public open space or parkland.

Mr Kilfoyle said: "That is of crucial importrance and there is no going back on it." In addition he wants the whole neighbourhood surrounding Stanley Park to be refurbished at taxpayers' expense, plus the "widest consultation" on what local residents want.

He added: "Provided this is done right and people in my constituency will suffer no net loss of public open spaces and provided they gain a world-class stadium."

Liverpool FC last week announced that they prefer to build a new stadium in the park rather than extend Anfield. An Echo poll found that fans back the Reds move by a margin of more than 10 to 7.

Liverpool's Liberal Democrat councillor Kiron Reid claims Mr Kilfoyle's comments show how "out of touch" he is with local people. Cllr Reid said: "I am pleased Peter Kilfoyle has commented on this major issue in his constituency.

"Never before has he made any public comment on the future of the football club. "His comments do, however, show how out of touch he appears to be with many people who live in Anfield. He does not realise how unpopular the Stanley Park option is."

Cllr Reid and Cllr Jeremy Chowings have called on their 63 colleagues in the council's ruling group to help block the scheme.

LIVERPOOL FC could be playing at a new £ 70m Anfield stadium in three years, it was revealed last night. The planned 55,000-seater stadium in neighbouring Stanley Park is part of a £240m redevelopment. It will include a new urban village, college, museum, sports centre and possibly an hotel.

Consultants GVA Grimley recommended in a report to Liverpool City Council yesterday that 1,405 houses should be demolished, 1,871 refurbished and another 390 built.

An education innovation centre would be built into the stadium, providing 800 student spaces. A North Liverpool City Academy would be created to replace Breckfield Comprehensive school but Anfield Comprehensive would be left untouched. The project aims to bring 200,000 new visitors a year to Anfield, with a wide range of non-match day attractions linked to the football club itself.

A new public space, Anfield Plaza, on the current stadium site will link the new stadium with a proposed village centre at Walton Breck and Oakfield Road. Its features will include a Memories of Anfield museum, Anfield fountains, memorials and statues and a Kop bar/restaurant.

Visitors will be taken along a "path to glory" through Stanley Park to the stadium, through Gladstone Conservatory and a "pavilion of legends". There will be a Story of the Reds exhibit along with stadium tours.

Transport plans for the new stadium include providing 3,000 park-and-ride spaces in Gillmoss and Aintree, and 500 off-street "park-and-walk" spaces near the ground. Ticket holders will get free bus/rail tickets for match day travel and extra Soccerbus routes are planned.

Pedestrian and cycle routes will be improved, and the council will toughen the enforcement of the controlled parking zone around the stadium.

The stadium would be less than 300 yards from the current ground but will hold an extra 10,000 fans. Despite this there have been mixed reactions on what has quickly become a controversial scheme.

Very shortly there will be a statement issued by Liverpool City Council, endorsed by Liverpool Football Club, that will render very very sad those of us at Anfield4Ever - together with any like-minded souls. The statement will recommend that a new stadium of around 55,000 capacity be constructed on Stanley Park by, they hope, 2005.

The decision is the outcome of exhaustive feasibility studies carried out by both Liverpool FC and the City Council to determine what they consider to be the optimum way forward for LFC, the Anfield area and the city as a whole.

Taking due consideration of all the criteria involved – which are considerable and extremely precariously balanced – they narrowed their feasibility study to two alternatives which were an expanded Anfield or a new Stanley Park arena, both with around 55,000 capacity.

The bitter reality of the feasibility designs was that the expanded Anfield, whilst certainly achievable as a possible solution, was quite manifestly NOT the most viable solution. Despite strong desires within many of those involved in the decision making at Anfield, there was unanimous concensus that the new stadium was the only way forward.

Whilst we at A4E are bitterly disappointed, we respect the decision that has been made. Above anything else we are pragmatists. We sincerely believed when we embarked on our campaign that an expanded Anfield would work given an exhaustive effort to make it work. Clearly, that effort has been made but has been found not to be adequate having regard to all the criteria required to be fulfilled.

Twelve months ago we presented our formal submission to the powers that be at Anfield which set out the reasons why we believed the club should stay at their present home and expand it to suit their increased capacity needs. The Anfield hierarchy met with us and received our submission with grace and a great deal of respect. We in turn promised them that we would cease any further efforts to publicise our opposition. This promise we honoured to the letter. Since that time they have taken on board several of the detailed points we made and have incorporated them within their feasibility exercises.

In the intervening period we have had further dialogue with David Moores and Rick Parry who have courteously kept us informed of the way matters were developing. It is this mutual respect that leads us to believe that it is only the relative impracticability of the expanded Anfield scheme when compared to the new stadium scheme that has brought them to the conclusion that the club has to move.

Our immediate feelings on the matter is that we now have little alternative but to retire from the fray with, we hope, dignity. We still, of course, maintain the stance that some things in this life are worth retaining at virtually any cost. We feel Anfield comes into this category. That said, we feel we have done all we could do to represent this view to the people in the position of determining the crucial executive decision in this regard. That we have failed to convince them our stance is the right one is no slight on ourselves but a bow to the current vogue of how progress has to be seen to be made. It does not mean that we were wrong or that the LFC hierarchy were right.

We have been asked by Rick Parry to participate in some of the fringe design considerations affecting supporters and club heritage. Tim Kelly, Will Melia and myself shall reflect on this humanitarian offer over a few beers and make a decision in this connection. One thing I have already been assured of. The name of the new stadium will be ANFIELD. That, at least gives us some modicum of comfort while we weep and lick our wounds.

Proposals for the future of Liverpool Football Club's Anfield home could be revealed shortly.

Independent consultants have been looking at the two options facing the club - expanding on its existing site, or building a new stadium in Stanley Park.

They will announce their findings next month and begin a new round of public consultation.

This latest research by the Manchester company GVA Grimley has taken into account how the expansion of the club's stadium fits in with the regeneration of the area, including housing and environmental improvements.

Peter Bevington, project manager for the Anfield and Breckfield community steering group, launched in 1999 to canvass the views of local people on the regeneration of the area, said: "We welcome the latest consultation which will hopefully move things forward and remove much uncertainty."

Liverpool Football Club has said it is committed to remaining in Anfield. No-one was available for comment from the club today.

The consultants have identified what they believe to be the best way forward, but it will then be up to the club to say if this is a feasible and affordable option.

An 18-month public consultation with residents and businesses in the area has already been carried out. This showed that people remain divided over the club's future.

Spotlight on Options for Reds' Stadium Jan 18 2002
Jane Woodhead, Liverpool Echo

A feasability study is being carried out into Liverpool Football Club's new stadium proposals. The study, commisioned by the club and Liverpool City Council, will look in detail at the two options being considered:

The results are expected to be made public in March. Peter Bevington, project manager for the Anfield and Breckfield Community Steering Group which was launched in 1999 to canvas the views of local people over the regeneration of the area, said: "This study will look at the technical and financial feasibilty of the two options and the contributions which either of them could make to regeneration".

"We are expecting more information to come out of this study to help people to understand the importance of the club's proposals for the area, including any additional value which the club could bring to the area."

An 18-month public consultation with local residents and businesses showed people remain divided over the club's future and whether they would like to see the new stadium developed on the existing site or moved to the park. Mr Bevington has said there is probably also a small minority who would like to see the club move out of the area entirely.
Liverpool Football Club has said it is commited to staying in Anfield - either on its current site or in Stanley Park.

ENGLISH Heritage has today raised "serious concerns" over proposals to build the new Anfield stadium at Stanley Park. The ECHO can reveal that a senior official from English Heritage has met informally with the Friends of Stanley Park. A spokesman for English Heritage told the Echo although no formal consultations about the Liverpool FC scheme have taken place, the club's plans have been discussed on an informal basis.

The spokesman said: "We would have serious concerns about a major development on Stanley Park - one of the city's finest registered parks." The spokesman added that as soon as a formal approach is made, English Heritage will then be seeking meetings with Liverpool Football Club and Liverpool City Council.

Cllr Joe Kenny, an Anfield councillor, said: "This is the best Christmas present the people of Anfield could have wished for. I see this as a very big step forward and a great boost for the campaign." Cllr Harry Jones, a Breckfield councillor, added: "This is a significant step. I believe this adds weight to the argument that the stadium should not go in Stanley Park."

Liverpool city council leader Mike Storey says the views and concerns of English Heritage will be taken into account. He added: "No planning applications have been submitted to date concerning Anfield. If and when that happens the views and concerns of English Heritage will be considered as will the views of the wider Anfield community."

Labour leader Cllr Gideon Ben-Tovim also believes the comments made by English Heritage will be an "important part of the debate." He said: "This is an important issue and I believe this is something which needs full and wide-ranging debate. English Heritage's comments will be an important part of the debate."

Liverpool Football Club has said it is committed to staying in Anfield. It plans to either develop on the existing site or move to Stanley Park. The club said it had no comments to make last night. If and when a plan is submitted English Heritage acts in an "advisory capacity". If English Heritage believes it to be a bad scheme it can advise Liverpool City Council to reject it. If the council does not take this advice, English Heritage has the power to ask the Government Office to intervene. The Government Office for the North West would then decide what steps to take and a public inquiry could follow.

LIVERPOOL Football Club today (12/10) called on the city council and the Anfield community to become its partners in the development of its new home. The club pledged its future to the Anfield area - but warned that without public sector backing it may not be able to afford the huge costs of building a new stadium in Stanley Park. After months of consultation work, chief executive Rick Parry today closed the door on all ideas of a move to Speke, or anywhere else outside Anfield.

That pledge represents a huge vote of confidence in a neighbourhood that is on its knees. But it still leaves the club with a stark choice to make between expanding the stadium it has occupied since1892 to accommodate the needs of the 21st century, or building from scratch in Stanley Park.

The club wants a capacity of between 55,000 and 70,000 fans, and if it is to achieve that in Stanley Park, it will need to tap into the kind of public sector grant money that Everton's Kings Arena plan will enjoy.

To get that kind of money, the club's development plans need to echo Everton's in representing something more than just a once-a-fortnight football venue. The good news for the community is that it stands to benefit as much as the club from the grants it seeks. If the club had moved to Speke, Anfield would have been in danger of becoming a ghost town.

Everton FC is committed to a move to Liverpool city centre and a glamorous new Kings Dock home. Goodison Park provides some matchday jobs and fills up its surrounding pubs and takeaway food outlets once a fortnight. The economic impact of its move on north Liverpool should not be great, and the boost its multi-purpose arena will give the city centre will be far greater.

The new Anfield, by contrast, aims to bring the kind of economic boost to north Liverpool that the Kings Arena should provide for the city centre. The club wants to develop itself as an "Anfield experience" visitor attraction on the scale of Barcelona's Nou Camp which attracts one million visitors a year.

Liverpool FC and the Beatles are the city's two most marketable international brand names. Last season's club triumphs and striker Michael Owen's explosion on to the world stage with England have captured the imagination of a new generation of soccer fans.

The club is already a huge matchday visitor attraction. Its plans should make a trip to Anfield part of the tourist itinerary of a much broader spectrum of visitors. It also aims to restore the Victorian elements of Stanley Park to their former glory with new features. Whatever happens now, it will spell the most radical shake-up yet for the neighbourhood.

Mr Parry says community consultations show that local people want the club to stay, and accept that whether it expands or moves, further "targeted clearance" of property is inevitable. But the club is showing signs of a new social awareness, talking of creating public open space and boosting local employment. The club is improving homes it owns on Skerries Road in partnership with Maritime Housing Association.

The Vernon Sangster sports centre and its adjoining tennis courts will go, but the club is planning to replace it with a leisure centre. Infrastructure improvements are already in the pipeline, but adequate parking will certainly be vital.

LIVERPOOL chief executive Rick Parry today spelled out why Liverpool FC is to stay in Anfield. In a letter to council chief executive David Henshaw he explains why the club needs cash help if it is to build a super stadium in Stanley Park.

He writes: "The key objective for us - and one which we must never be deflected from - is to achieve success on the pitch and win trophies.

"We want to stay in north Liverpool. The emotional bond that links our supporters to Anfield is incredibly strong; it is our home. But equally we believe that the aspirations of the club fit within the overall aims for the regeneration of the area."

Mr Parry said a move to Stanley Park would form part of a comprehensive regeneration plan for the area.

"We want to be sure that our proposals are part of major improvements for Anfield/Breckfield in terms of education, employment, leisure amenities including green space and housing."

He said community consultation made it clear that a majority want the club to stay in north Liverpool.

"The absolute investment is substantial for a business of our size and based on current projections, the likely future cash flows just about cover the repayments.

"Given our clearly stated objectives, we must not place ourselves in a position where we cannot provide the necessary investment for the team.

"There is no doubt that on the face of it, redevelopment of the existing site presents less of a financial risk and cannot be ruled out."

He said that if this happened the park improvements and broader regeneration hopes for the Anfield area could still be achieved and the club would still be making a major investment.

"Our proposal is that we work as a preferred partner with the council to carry out the detailed feasibility and options appraisal work necessary to achieve an increased capacity in Anfield, either in a new stadium or by extending the current one."

The latest news on the possible ground move/redevelopment of Anfield has been posted on various forums by the Anfield4ever Campaign.