Anfield

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Anfield Location Liverpool, England Opened 1884 Owner Liverpool F.C. Operator Liverpool F.C. Surface Grass Tenants Liverpool F.C. Capacity 45,400 Dimensions 110m x 75m

Anfield is a soccer stadium in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England. It is the home of Liverpool F.C.

[edit] History

In 1882 Everton F.C. were forced by a new ruling to find an enclosed ground for their matches - previously they had played on the public pitches in Stanley Park. At a meeting conducted in the Sandon Hotel in Everton they managed to rent a field off Priory Road. However, two years later the owner asked them to leave and John Houlding (a Liverpool brewer) helped them secure a pitch from fellow brewer John Orrell at Anfield Road adjacent to Stanley Park. The first game was played on 28 September 1884 when Everton beat Earlstown 5-0.

Over the ensuing eight years Houlding poured money into the club and improved the facilities with pupose-built stands. Attendances topped 8000 and in 1888 Everton became founder members of the Football League. Houlding became more proprietorial and insisted that the club use his hotel for changing before and after games; he also increased the rate of interest on his loan to the club. John Orrell threatened to withdraw the tenancy of Anfield Road in 1891 unless certain alterations were undertaken.

Houlding proposed the formation of a limited liability company to purchase the ground (along with an adjacent plot that he owned and from which he would profit handsomely) but at a meeting of the club in January 1892 his proposal was rejected and the club were given notice to quit. Houlding also registerd the name of Everton Football Club so that for a short period there were two clubs with the same name.

At a further meeting on 15 March 1892 Houlding was outvoted and the club decided to leave. A building fund was immediately set up and £1,517 pounds raised to purchase a new ground. The chosen location was Goodison Park on the north side of Stanley Park, less than a mile away, and was purchased for £8,000.

[edit] Formation of Liverpool FC

Houlding promptly formed the Liverpool Association Football Club in May 1892. On Thursday 1 September while Everton played their first game at Goodison, Liverpool F.C played their first ever game at Anfield, a friendly against Rotherham Town which they won 7-1. While the new Goodison Park was filled with over 10,000 supporters, Anfield had only a handful of spectators. In their second home game (and their first in the Lancashire League) a few days later they beat Higher Walton 8-1 in front of less than 200 spectators. However, the wining ways soon attracted larger crowds and more than 3,000 paid to see them defeat Stocton on 10 September and go top of the league. Since then the two clubs have been traditional rivals and both are among the most successful of English teams.

[edit] The Stands

In 1906, the banked stand at one end of the ground was formally renamed the Spion Kop, after a hill in Natal that was the site of a battle in the Second Boer War, where the British forces suffered heavy losses (many of the fallen were Scousers in the Lancashire Regiment). Many other football grounds, such as St Andrews, Birmingham and Hillsborough, Sheffield, adopted the name of "Kop" for one of their stands. At its largest, the stand could hold 28,000 spectators, and was one of the largest single tier stands in the world.

Local folklore claimed that the fans in the Kop could "suck the ball into the goal" if Liverpool were playing towards that end. The stand was considerably reduced in size due to safety measures brought in following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and it was completely rebuilt as an all seater stand in 1994, although it is still a single tier. The current capacity is 12,409.

The other stands are:

• Main Stand - rebuilt in 1973 and more or less unchanged to the present day, with a capacity of 12,277.
• Centenary Stand - known as the Kemlyn Road stand until it was rebuilt for the club's centenary in 1992, with a capacity of 11,762. This redevelopment saw all of the houses in Kemlyn Road demolished and the address become non-existent.
• Anfield Road Stand - rebuilt in 1998, with a capacity of 9,074, including the away fans section.he Away fans are located in the Anfield Road Stand, where just under 2,000 seats are available. This stand is also shared with home supporters, some of whom will be sitting in the small seated tier above the away fans.

A chart showing the seating stands can be seenhere [1]

The ground incorporates several notable features, including a memorial to the 96 fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster. There is a statue of Bill Shankly [2], as well as a pair of gates at two entrances to the stadium, the Shankly Gates [3]and Paisley Gates [4], named after Shankly and his successor Bob Paisley. Floodlights were installed in 1957, and first used in a game against Everton.

"Fortress Anfield" gained a reputation as one of the most difficult grounds for visiting teams. Manager Bill Shankly, who engineered the club's dominance of English football in the 1970s and 80s, had a sign proclaiming "This Is Anfield" [5] [6] mounted on the wall above the exit from the players tunnel, which was "to remind our players who they're playing for, and remind the opposition who they're playing against". Many of the Liverpool players reach up and touch the sign as they pass underneath it for good luck.

[edit] Difficulties of Expanding

Due to the difficulties of expanding Anfield beyond its current boundaries (an entire terraced street had to be demolished to make way for the Centenary Stand expansion), Liverpool are expected to leave the ground in the next few years. The plans, originally approved in February 2005, needed to go before Liverpool City Council for a second time some 12 months later to ensure that the proposed stadium complied with new planning regulations. It was reported on 11 April 2006 that the plans had passed without amendment The club now looks for investors to help fund the £160m, 60,000 all-seater stadium.[7].

In the early stages, there had been suggestions for the new stadium to be shared with local rivals Everton F.C. but this is unlikely.