Liverpool FC CEO Ian Ayre believes that the redevelopment of the club’s stadium – Anfield – will allow the club to compete financially with the biggest clubs in England.
Ayre insisted that after a massive overhaul in the squad in the off-season, the club are ready for the next season and the manager’s objectives have been met. A 650 tonne roof truss was lifted on to the Main Stand last month, with the help of two of the biggest cranes in Europe.
The redevelopment work is expected to be completed next year and upon its completion it will help make the main stand one of the largest all-seater stands in England. The capacity of Anfield is also set to rise to around 60,000 from the current 45,276.
The redeveloped Anfield will enable Liverpool FC to generate revenue equal to rivals
Speaking in an interview, Ayre was quoted by SkySports as saying-
a The stadium is vital to the health of the club and we want to compete at the highest level.
a And if you look at revenue at clubs, match-day revenues are important, as well as the mix of commercial and media.
a If you look at Arsenal as an example, after building the Emirates, they generate around 40% of revenue on match day and we generate nearly 20%.
a So this new stadium will get us back to that sort of level because we need to be on an equal level from a revenue perspective with our competitors.a
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Ayre also spoke about the transfer activity of the club, which has seen them sign seven new players for a combined cost of around A?80 million. The squad has undergone major upheaval for the second time in 12 months and Ayre is content with the way the summer has panned out so far for the Reds, insisting that all of the manager’s objectives have been achieved.
He added: a We set out a plan with Brendan at the start of the summer, and the objectives the manager wanted to achieve. Wea ve achieved all of them.
a So we are very pleased with how the summer has gone and ita s been kind to us this year.
a Ita s interesting because we dona t do anything differently, but sometimes the cards fall in your favour, and sometimes they dona t.
a But wea re very pleased with the outcome.a
Upon the completion of Anfield’s redevelopment, it will become the 3rd largest stadium in England by capacity
Liverpool FC are one of the many English clubs looking to either upgrade their current stadium or move to a new stadium in a bid to increase their match day revenues. The redevelopment will see the main stand comprise of three tiers and additions like a media platform, new team benches, and wheelchair viewing positions will also be provisioned. The existing player tunnel will also be widened as part of the redevelopment plans.
Anfield is currently the 6th largest stadium in the English Premier League. The first stage of redevelopment will see the capacity of the stadium rise to 54,000, helping it become the 4th largest in the league. However, the final completion of the redevelopment will enable the stadium to become the 3rd largest in the league with a capacity of roughly 60,000.
