Jürgen Klopp loved the sound of his own voice as it echoed around Anfield in training on Thursday, a reassuring sign for the architects, builders and moneymen behind the new main stand that has embellished Liverpool’s historic home. Their hard work is almost done – the finishing touches will not be complete until the turn of the year – but it begins in earnest for the Liverpool manager against champions Leicester City. “Fill it with life,” said Klopp of his revamped, 54,000-capacity workplace. “That is my responsibility.”
After years of controversy, 643 construction days, 1.8m bricks and blocks, 5,000-plus tonnes of steel, 6,000 light fittings and 760 panes of glass (the largest, at 23m, is taller than the Anfield Road stand) Liverpool officially unveiled the major piece of their stadium project on Friday. Fenway Sports Group, which funded the £114m redevelopment with an interest-free loan repayable within six years, was present in the form of its principal owner, John W Henry, president, Mike Gordon, and the Liverpool chairman, Tom Werner. Club legends from Kenny Dalglish to Ian St John were among a select audience, so too representatives from the Hillsborough Family Support Group who were consulted over the relocated memorial, garden and avenue that have transformed the area behind the main stand.
Liverpool are expected to play before their biggest home crowd since 1977 when Claudio Ranieri’s team arrive on Saturday. “I want them to be intimidated,” said Werner, “and I feel these extra 8,500 seats will create an even more special atmosphere.” That was part of the design brief given to David Keirle, of KSS architects. He might be the most nervous man inside Anfield on Saturday as he listens for whether the acoustics have improved under a roof that was double‑cladded for that purpose. The first test was passed with Klopp.
“I decided to bring the boys here to train on Thursday to get used to it,” the Liverpool manager explained. “I was angry and loud during the session and the echo of my voice was much better than it was before so that is another benefit. It’s good. It’s close. It’s more. It’s big. I love it. But it’s not about coming here and cheering until we arrive at the stadium and then getting bored. We have to deliver. I was really sorry for the new boys on Thursday because they couldn’t compare. They looked and said: ‘Nice.’ All the others were: ‘Wow.’ It’s 1,000% better.
“Ian [Ayre, the chief executive] said he’s honoured and proud to be part of this. I’m honoured and proud that I can use it now. It’s unbelievable. Lucky bastard. Everybody’s spoken about it over the last 20 to 30 years, changing something, but it’s not too easy because of the surroundings. I come here and it’s already done. So now, fill it with life. That’s my responsibility. It’s all about the last five or six per cent in a game. Everybody, they’re all motivated, they’re all good, they’re all skilled, they’re all everything. How can you bring in the last 5%? That’s attitude, that’s character, that’s mentality, that’s the crowd, that’s noise. That’s togetherness. Nothing is certain, but it’s not about this. This stadium was never an excuse and it’s not now.”
Werner spoke of the obstacles – many inherited – that FSG overcame to achieve its immediate aim of remaining at Anfield and abandon plans for a new stadium on Stanley Park. He also denied the resolution of a decades-old problem would pave the way for a Chinese takeover of Liverpool, although the owners are open to investment. “I have said repeatedly this club is not for sale,” the chairman said. “I don’t know how many more times I can say it. I am saying it today and I am emphatic about it and that is all I can say.”
Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s former managing director, once described the prospect of a new stadium as a “gamechanger” in the club’s attempts to close the financial gap on Manchester City and United, Arsenal and Chelsea. FSG’s president, Gordon, was more circumspect on what a new stand that is expected to generate an extra £20m a season would mean in the wider context of Liverpool and the Premier League powerhouses.
He said: “I don’t know if I’d say it’s a gamechanger. It’s a very large step forward and it will help. Whether it will mean that we’re going to spend along the lines of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal – I worry more about getting the most out of the money that we spend rather than competing in the transfer market on a pound-for-pound basis. Wins and losses are made here [the pitch], not in the transfer market. I’m really happy with the team that we have, the one that we’ve built over the last several years. We’ve spent a fair amount of money and I think we’re going to see that on display this season and in the seasons to come.”
Keirle said his brief from FSG was for a structure that “had to be different but was not so modern that it sat uncomfortably. We wanted to keep the atmosphere and be intelligent about the acoustics. The underside of the roof has double-cladding, so it has a very hard underside which makes sure the noise bounces back. The owner said to me that he was overjoyed with it so that says it all really. But the real test is tomorrow. We want a wall of sound.”
