Rodgers: Anfield can be even more special

It was announced today that construction will get underway early next year on adding around 8,500 extra seats to the historic ground in L4, increasing overall capacity to around 54,000 at the Reds' home.

The manager already considers the opportunity to lead the team at Anfield to be a privilege and expects the chance for more fans to experience the unique elements of the ground to supplement the atmosphere even further. 

This is a huge day for the football club - how proud are you to be the manager at this time?

I'm very proud. Obviously with the expansion of the stadium and being involved and included in the whole process, it's a huge privilege to be the manager on the announcement today. There's a lot of hard work that has gone in from a lot of people, so hopefully it can take another giant step forward.

It must be incredibly exciting for you to be part of this?

When I was presented with how it would look, I thought it's a really exciting time for the club and the supporters. This is a wonderful football club with an iconic stadium and the history and tradition of this club is very, very important to the club and the supporters. Today's announcement of the expansion is a real sense of what the future will look like, with many more great supporters coming into the stadium and it's a really exciting time.

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How important is it that the club has taken this step with regards to continuing to compete at the highest level?

It's very important. When you look across the globe and football, some of the stadiums hold up to 80,000 or 90,000 people. So it's very important commercially and very important for football that's aligned and it benefits the football club, because first and foremost there are more supporters getting in. It is vital to have another tier on top of the main stand here and that will be amazing. Obviously commercial revenue is very important in football and how that can be built up allows you to compete in the future.

You will get more fans through the gates, more noise and an even better atmosphere - that must be something you and the players will thrive on?

Absolutely. This is a really special place for a football game, that's known throughout the world. You travel, you speak to people, other coaches and other managers, players, players who have played here, for and against Liverpool - they all talk about the great Anfield atmosphere. It really is unique, an old-school ground in modern times. To have even more of that great support going forward, it is going to be a special place to play football.

As the manager you've certainly embraced the history and traditions of this football club. What does Anfield mean to you?

It is a unique opportunity to experience as a manager. From the minute you come out of the changing room and touch the sign and walk up the steps, there's the legend there of all the great managers that have been there in the past. To walk the same steps as them is a really privileged opportunity for me. When you stand at the side and hear 'You'll Never Walk Alone' before the game, you never get tired of that and it fills you with excitement and pride each time you hear it. When that whistle goes, there's over 40,000 people all generating this wonderful passion behind the football club and the team, and to be the manager at that moment is very hard to explain sometimes. I'm really proud to be here and hopefully I can be here for a lot longer.