LFC hopes to partially open new Anfield Road upper tier in time for Man Utd clash

Liverpool FC is to partially open its new upper Anfield Road stand for its December 17 fixture with Manchester United, pending safety clearance.

The club invested £80m in adding capacity to the upper tier, taking the ground’s capacity to 61,000.

But work was halted on the scheme earlier this year when Buckingham Construction Group, which was carrying out the expansion project, collapsed into administration in early September.

The Premier League club’s last update in October said the upper tier would remain shut for the remainder of 2023.

But the club has revealed that several thousand general admission seats are expected to be available for the United game, subject to an internal emergency conditions test managed in conjunction with Liverpool City Council and a public test event, which is expected to take place during the week commencing December 11.

The club said this latest development is testimony to the commitment and hard work of everybody connected with this complex and ambitious build project.

It added there is still more work to be completed before the stand can be fully operational and able to welcome 61,000 fans to Anfield on a matchday.

Should a licence be issued to open the new area, the club will be able to welcome more fans into the ground for its upcoming games with Manchester United, West Ham United, Arsenal and Newcastle United.

The aim of the test event is to test the building, systems and management plans, using the welfare facilities, testing entry and exit procedures and fire alarm evacuation.
The event will need around 3,000 people in the upper tier to thoroughly test the stand.

Once this event has taken place, a safety certificate will need to be granted to open the upper tier.

Ticket sales for these additional seats will follow after a successful test event and will prioritise those supporters who had tickets cancelled for these fixtures earlier this year.