Regeneration of Anfield press call
A press conference was held at Liverpool Town Hall on Monday morning to reveal details of the proposal that will see Anfield and the surrounding area regenerated.
Mayor of the city, Joe Anderson, was joined by LFC managing director Ian Ayre, Mark Kitts and Ged Fitzgerald of Liverpool City Council and Kathy Cowell, chair of Your Housing.
Mayor Anderson opened the media briefing by saying: "We believe this to be an exciting opportunity for Liverpool, the area of Anfield and, of course, Liverpool Football Club.
"It's been something we've been looking forward to for a number of months as we got close to finalising arrangements of the partnerships with Your Housing and Liverpool Football Club.
"It's the two-year anniversary of the new owners taking over Liverpool Football Club. What we've been through with the club since then is developing what I believe to be a good, honest relationship and partnership.
"We have, of course, had to allow the club a lot of opportunity and a lot of time given the financial climate to assess the situation as to where they are with regards to how they believe they should move forward. From our point of view, we wanted that to be done as quickly and speedily as possible, but we recognised the club needed to assess the financials, look at the future and make sure it made the right decision.
"Today I want to talk about Liverpool being in a partnership with Your Housing and ourselves, the City Council, to develop the whole area of Anfield and actually regenerate that area. You have heard me say on many, many occasions that north Liverpool, and in particular Anfield, is an area that has been neglected and overlooked for so long.
"Liverpool Football Club is an integral part of the Anfield area and will be an integral part, together with Your Housing and others, in actually shaping the future of Anfield.
"This is an exciting opportunity for us, it really is. We're talking about a regeneration scheme that is going to develop a new future for that area. It's long overdue, but very much welcome.
"We're going to create a development board to oversee the whole project, which the club is just part of. The development board will consist of myself, who will oversee that as Mayor of the city, it will include Tom Werner from the football club, it will include Kathy Cowell and it will include resident representatives.
"We will oversee the development of the area, which includes housing. A huge chunk of housing is going to be refurbished. We've made a commitment of probably, together with the RSLs, around £30m-£35m of new funding into the area by way of housing redevelopment.
"The City Council wants to make sure we are part of the complete picture of regeneration. We've got the Anfield area and we've got the Stanley Park site itself, which is going to be crucial in terms of underpinning the regeneration, the development and the development plan of the area.
"We've done a consultation process during May, June and July. We've gone out and talked to people about our plans and proposals for the area. Approximately 75 per cent of those that took part were in favour of the proposals. From my point of view as Mayor of the city, it is a crucial, crucial element of the development of the whole city that we regenerate north Liverpool - and I am determined to make that happen and move it on.
"I don't think we've ever had a better relationship with Liverpool Football Club. I've just returned from Boston where I visited Fenway Park and met with the owners out there, and I am totally convinced of their determination to work with us for the benefit of the whole of the north Liverpool area."
Reds MD Ayre continued: "Today represents a huge step forward for the Anfield area. I'd also like to congratulate Mayor Joe Anderson and his team at Liverpool City Council because I think it's their vision and work that has brought this to a reality.
"We're a business, we're an employer, we're a stakeholder and we're a resident of Anfield. Everyone at the football club knows the importance of today and knows the importance of that area and how much regeneration means to it.
"We really welcome the opportunity to be part of this partnership. Having come together with Your Housing and Liverpool City Council over the last few years, we've made tremendous steps forward. I go on record as thanking Joe and his team for giving us the support they've given us to take - and make - the right decisions.
"Today represents literally to the day two years since Fenway Sports Group acquired Liverpool Football Club. In that time, we've been given the time - and taken the time - to consider all of the different options available to Liverpool Football Club. It's about finding the right solution, it's about finding the right viable solution and considering properly the potential of both options.
"We also this year celebrated our 120th year as Liverpool Football Club at Anfield. There is no question, Anfield is the spiritual home of Liverpool Football Club. Our fans around the world, both those who have been here and those who haven't, recognise the importance of this great stadium. For many of them, they've had those life-changing experiences that they'll never forget [at Anfield].
"It's important for us to note that any preference we ever had was always to be and stay at Anfield. The opportunity to remain is clearly at the forefront of our plans and today's vision and announcement, we feel, is a major step forward in that direction. It's a major step forward for the football club, but more importantly for the residents.
"The work on his project has to provide a winning solution for everybody. Improving the quality of the housing and local environment will come from providing all of these different elements - and the football club is just one part of it.
"It is the first step forward and there are things like the successful acquisition of property and then the creation of the right planning consent and all of those things, so it is step one - but it's a major step forward and I'm pleased to say we'll take it together. We'll take it with Joe and Liverpool City Council, we'll take it with Your Housing and we'll take it with the residents.
"The right solution is the right solution for everyone."
A Q&A session with assembled journalists then followed. Here are just a selection of the pertinent questions and answers from the press conference...
Journalist: Ian, Liverpool have been here before in terms of stadium announcements. What makes you confident this one is different?
Ian Ayre: The important thing is the partnership. It's no secret the football club looked at redeveloping Anfield before, but it's wrong I think for the football club to consider on its own that it can make decisions that can affect other people's lives. This is about a solution that works for everyone. By having the collaboration we've had with the City Council and Your Housing - and will have going forward - and, most importantly, with the residents, then you find a solution because you're all around the table at the same time and all have a common objective. I don't think that's ever been the case in the past. This hopefully provides the right solution for Liverpool Football Club, but only in consultation and partnership with the other parties involved. That's the thing that gives us most confidence about success.
Journalist: Given John Henry's commitment to the Red Sox and the redevelopment of Fenway Park, was this always the way it was likely to go?
Ian Ayre: I was the person who showed John around Anfield the first time they ever came to Liverpool. We were in the tunnel area at Anfield and I remember him saying to me, 'Why would we want to build a new stadium? This is like Fenway. This is the home of Liverpool Football Club.' We also had a duty and process we had to go through which was to study every opportunity, every solution. As I've been on record before as saying, the right solution is one that is sustainable and is in the long-term interests of Liverpool Football Club. It's great that it is hopefully Anfield because I think that's what the majority of our fans want. There are still some steps to take, but we're confident they're the right ones.
Journalist: How much do you feel Liverpool have been held back over the last 10 years when other clubs have been able to fill bigger stadiums and increase matchday revenues?
Ian Ayre: The game of football today is one driven by high finance. You don't need me to tell you Manchester United, Arsenal and teams like this who have a greater capacity clearly have greater matchday revenue. It's one of the two or three key revenue streams that drive any major football club these days and if you want to compete, then you have to have as full a pot from each of those contributing areas as possible. Since I've been here, we've always been focused on improving that and setting that straight, but it has to be done in the right way. As we found out only two years ago, getting decisions wrong around the finances of the football club can lead to a major problem. We had to take our time - and we were able to take our time because of the support we had.
Joe Anderson: From a political sense, it's not only held Liverpool back, it's held Anfield and the north of Liverpool back and that is why this is an exciting opportunity. In the past there has been talk of '60 days and we'll have a shovel in the ground and be building'. Those statements are not going to be made this time. It is a pragmatic, realistic and collaborative approach that is going to deliver. I would not be sitting here if I was not absolutely confident this was a new dawn in terms of Liverpool and the north of Liverpool. It was important when I went to Fenway Park, I saw for myself first-hand how a revitalised and refurbished stadium can contribute and offer to the development of that area.
Journalist: At what stage did the preference become stronger to remain at Anfield?
Ian Ayre: As I've said before, the preference was always to stay at Anfield. It takes a step forward because of the collaboration. It's not as if we haven't, for instance, considered what we can build on that site, what we can do to expand and there are various different solutions to that. But it would be wrong and extremely presumptuous of us to assume that somebody's home can be acquired until the proper process is gone through. As you would expect from a financial point of responsibility, we've considered the variety of different solutions we could have, what they cost, whether they're economically viable and we're comforted with the fact we can deliver something on the site concerned. But until we get further down the track, it's not responsible for anyone to suggest, 'we'll build this, it'll look like that, we'll knock that person's house down...'. It's a process and of course everyone wants to know the end solution right now, but we don't know that - just as we didn't two years ago know whether we were staying or moving. We'll go through it in the timescale we need to go through to deliver it properly with respect for everybody that's involved. If you're a resident in Anfield, you should be shown that respect - not told today that this is what's happening.
Journalist: So Stanley Park is off the table?
Ian Ayre: Stanley Park is off the table unless there isn't a solution here. We all believe there is a solution and we're all working together to deliver that solution.