According to Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan, no more construction will be done on the Anfield expansion until at least 2024, which will have an impact on the matchups with Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Newcastle.
The renowned stadium’s construction started in 2021, but it wasn’t finished in time for the current season to begin as planned. Liverpool has been able to reopen the lower deck of the Anfield Road structure, but the remaining portion of the structure is yet to open.
Liverpool was forced to suspend the project and consider its alternatives when the project’s construction company filed for administration earlier this year.
“Obviously when Buckingham Group filed for administration, that impacted people’s livelihoods, people’s jobs so I do want to make sure that we just remember that and mention it, and I do want to thank everybody who has worked on the project and all those that are currently working on the project,” Hogan told the media at the club. And I want to express my gratitude to all of our fans for their understanding and tolerance as we work to resolve the issue, which, as I indicated, has been extremely difficult over the past few months.
“Working closely with Rayner Rowen, we were able to place orders for over 80% of the remaining work required to finish the stand with those subcontractors who had previously worked for the Buckingham Group. We kind of emphasised this earlier to preserve continuity on the project.
“So, all of this effectively has been helpful in Rayner Rowen having the opportunity to gather the vital information as well as continuing with the outstanding work in all the various areas of the project to come up with what is ultimately a revised project completion programme.”
Hogan did admit that no more construction will be done for the remainder of 2023, but he declined to provide a schedule for the project.
“What I would say is over the course of the last few days it has become clear that in order to complete a thorough assessment of that project completion timeline, it’s going to take longer than really we first thought,” said Hogan.
“In the end, what that means for fans is that we’re going to have to maintain the status quo for the rest of the calendar year, which essentially means that the capacity at Anfield will remain the same as for the previous home games that we’ve seen this season. Up to the end of the calendar year, just the lower deck of the concession stand will be open.
“The truth is, we’re only just starting to realise clearly what the reality of the delays is.
“It’s just not practical at this point to put a new timeframe in place because there are so many different, many aspects that are going into this conversation and into this evaluation, so many pieces of the jigsaw that we need to put together. Furthermore, we don’t want to create unwarranted expectations. Therefore, we are still working closely with all of those many stakeholders, but in the end, we need to allow them time to compile all of the facts and develop a realistic schedule for project completion.”