Liverpool hit by £80m new Anfield Road stand delayed

The opening of the top tier of the new Anfield Road stand has been delayed until October. Credit: PA/Peter Byrne

Liverpool's £80m completion of Anfield Road's new stand has been delayed by two months.

The club hoped construction would be completed in time for the Premier League's first home match league against Bournemouth on 19 August. was relegated to the league to allow Liverpool's first leg of the new season to be played away, giving the club much-needed extra time.

But the responsible contractor, the Buckingham Group, continues to comply with Liverpool City Council's licensing requirements for all areas of construction. Now the new upper tier will not be completed until October and the club plans to open it in phases, gradually increasing capacity to 61,000.

Andy Hughes, managing director of Liverpool, said: “It has been extremely ambitious and challenging. construction project from the beginning.

“Unfortunately, the top tier of the Anfield Road stand is not quite ready for the game against Bournemouth. As such, the main contractor, Buckingham, will work with Liverpool City Council's licensing team to ensure a phased reopening process.

«As with any complex major building project of this magnitude, there are always many variables and challenges. . way.

«We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work over the next few weeks with Buckingham to complete this program and we can't wait for this gorgeous new Enfield Road to be fully open to fans.

The construction of the new Anfield Road — like the main stand seven years ago — was completed within 18 months without the need to reduce the overall capacity due to a complex engineering project.

Last months of the Main Stand construction in 2016 were also delayed before the club could fully declare it open, but this did not affect the capacity. Liverpool played the first three Premier League matches of the 2016–17 season away before returning to Anfield.