Liverpool FC Building Foundations to Challenge with New Anfield Redevelopment

Anfield opens its doors on Saturday after a long summer of redevelopment work, with Liverpool set to play host to Premier League champions Leicester City for their first home clash of the 2016/17 campaign. The Reds’ stadium has undergone a major makeover since its last outing on May 11.

That day, Jurgen Klopp’s side played out a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in something of a meaningless encounter, with Christian Benteke’s late equaliser pushing Liverpool to the 59-point mark, far removed from the league’s top four.

An attendance of 43,210 saw the likes of Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge in action against Guus Hiddink’s Blues that day, per Transfermarkt, but when the Foxes take to Anfield on Saturday evening, a crowd of 54,167 can be expected, according to the Liverpool Echo’s Andy Kelly.

“If that is the case it will be the biggest Anfield crowd since the final home game of the 1976/77 season, a 0-0 draw with West Ham played out in front of 55,675,” Kelly reported at the beginning of September, describing the late 1970s as “halcyon days” for the club.

Under Bob Paisley, the Reds were an unstoppable force, winning 14 major honours over eight seasons, including six First Division titles and three European Cups—the equivalent of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

A passionate Anfield crowd played a significant role in this, roaring Liverpool on to glory, something club owner Fenway Sports Group is looking to recapture as their plans to redevelop the stadium unfold.

With the first phase of their expansion to be unveiled to the BT Sport cameras on Saturday, FSG will mark a milestone in planning that they hope will see Liverpool boosted significantly.

“The Kop is unrivalled. The atmosphere, I was really surprised, because we’ve heard so much about needing a new stadium,” FSG founder and Reds owner John W. Henry told Fox Soccer (h/t BBC Sport) months after securing the takeover of Liverpool. “We were surprised at how beautiful Anfield was both viewing it as an empty stadium and then with the first game. It would be hard to replicate that feeling anywhere else.”

After previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett fell short on their vow that “the spade has to be in the ground within 60 days” to be in line with their plans to build Liverpool a new stadium in 2007, as relayed by the Guardian three years later, Henry and co-owner Tom Werner opted for a different approach.

Plans to redevelop were officially finalised and announced in 2014, with the Mirror’s James Dutton reporting that Henry and Werner’s vision would end “one of the most fraught and protracted stadium sagas in sporting history.”

Work was scheduled for …

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