Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan reveals discussions for next step in Anfield plan

 

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan reveals discussions for next step in Anfield plan

Liverpool have been in dialogue with the mayor’s office about how to improve transport links

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan says discussions have been held over how to better improve transport to Anfield for match days and concerts.

The redevelopment of the Anfield Road End is set to be completed and open to fans in January, with the £80m project having been hit with delays due to the collapse of former construction partners Buckingham Group into administration back in September.

The completed redevelopment will see capacity at Anfield increased by a further 7,000 seats, helping to better satisfy demand for tickets in taking the capacity up to 61,000. With the Main Stand having undergone a major revamp in 2016 at a cost of £120m, where an additional 8,500 seats were added, the capacity of Anfield has increased by 34% in the past seven years.

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With more fans than ever coming to Anfield, improving connectivity between the city and the stadium is very much on the agenda for the club.

Speaking as part of a panel at the University of Liverpool’s Vice-Chancellor’s Conference at the Liverpool Maritime Museum on the city’s economy on Tuesday, Hogan said, via Business Live: “Nothing’s a quick or easy win that relates to transport.

“We’ve talked to the mayor and his team about how we improve that connectivity.”

Hogan said the “ability to jump on transport” was vital to a venue like Anfield, and that improved transport would be “super important” on match and concert days but would also help the wider community in Anfield all week long.

Also speaking at the event Stephen Jones, director at thinktank Core Cities UK, said: “There are some big public transport things that are hard, like train or metro.”

But he said there are smaller things that could be done more quickly to connect Liverpool’s stadiums to the city centre- such as improving walking routes to make them more welcoming.

Earlier this month, in an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside, Liverpool City Region’s metro mayor, Steve Rotheram, said that the collaborative nature of the devolved local authority means that the mothballed plan for a tram network could be reintroduced to service the stadiums of Everton and Liverpool.

Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Rotheram said: “People ask about why we have this combined authority, why have we got a metro mayor? We have got a metro mayor because if we had what we have now in 2012 then we would have a functioning tram system in the city and city region.

We didn’t have it because our local authorities didn’t work together as cohesively as they currently are. Two of them fell out, they bought some stuff, had to scrap all that, the money went back to the government and we lost the lot. Everybody lost out. We don’t have that now as we have six local authorities working together.

“It’s not about affordability. We had the money. There was a falling out about the process, which meant that we didn’t get that first line that was going to go from Liverpool to Kirkby, and from Liverpool to the airport.

What we are trying to do now is retrospectively see whether we can fit something in, but a lot of that land in the corridors have had other things built on them in the intervening 20 years.

“There is potentially an alternative solution, and I’m looking at that. It is something that at some stage we will be telling the public about, but it can connect to Bramley-Moore, for instance, as we need to do more on that.

But also Anfield. Anfield has just expanded and when that development is completed there will be another 10,000 people that need to get away from that area, so we’re looking at transport solutions, but we’ll only do it because we have devolution and a metro mayor that heads up a combined authority, in other words people working together.”

The footfall in and around Anfield will increase significantly again next summer, with the return of live concerts and the stadium set to welcome three sell-out dates for global pop star Taylor Swift and two for another pop music icon, Pink.

While the summer past saw no live concerts held at Anfield due to the redevelopment of the Anfield Road End, previous years have seen acts such as the Rolling Stones, Elton John and the Eagles perform at the home of the Reds, something that has helped generate millions of pounds worth of additional revenue for the club.

The Taylor Swift dates for June next year as part of her Eras Tour have seen unprecedented demand for tickets. “Taylor Swift has been the most popular ticket we’ve ever had,” commented Hogan.

With more fans heading to Anfield both in and out of the football season, improving connectivity is a priority.