Is Liverpool A One or Two Stadium City
You can tell that there is no premiership football for the
media to comment on when, a seasoned reporter brings out a tried, tested and
possibly answered article to try and open up the debated subject once more.
This weekend it was the turn of the debate that surrounds
whether Liverpool and Everton Football clubs should in fact pool their
resources and build a stadium that would cater for both sides of the city. The reporter is question believes that it is
the one thing that will pull David Moyes and Everton out of the horrific mess
that they find themselves in at the moment.
But Will it?
If you look back at the history of both clubs, they have
never shared a stadium. Everton were the
first club to occupy Anfield having agreed to rent the land for the purposes of
sport in 1841. They stayed there until
in the early part of 1892 there were several disputes which led to them moving
out and John Houlding forming Liverpool Football Club. This of course led to Everton taking up
residency on the other side of Stanley Park.
Now I have watched both clubs build and rebuild their stadia
throughout my life and they have now both reached the point where a major
redevelopment is necessary. Liverpool
need to increase their capacity to cope with the amount of supporters that
struggle to purchase tickets each week and Everton need to have their stadium
dragged into the 21st century (I apologise in advance if I have annoyed the
blue side of my family for stating this).
Where Liverpool Football Club are concerned, the rebuilding
of Anfield was one of the reasons that the club changed ownership four years
ago. If the words "We will have a
spade in the ground in 60 days" had meant anything, the visits I have made
to Anfield during the last two seasons would have taken place in a new state of
the art stadium built on Stanley Park.
It was not to be though and we are now looking at a stadium that has
served its purpose extremely well in its present form, a stadium that either
needs to be re-developed or indeed rebuilt on the land which is still available
in Stanley Park.
After three years of turmoil, the club was eventually
rescued last October by John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, who said that the
stadium situation was one of their main priorities. Indeed they have until the end of September
to give Liverpool City Council an answer as to what their preferred option will
be. Those options of course are of course whether to rebuild or indeed
redevelop Anfield. There have also been
rumblings around the shared stadium issue, rumblings that were I thought
finally put to bed last week by John Henry.
Everton who I suppose are Liverpool's poor relations over
the last 10 years made several moves to try and get a new stadium built. There were major discussions over whether or
not they should move to the Kings Dock, but as the dock was developed Everton
stagnated and stayed at Goodison. Then a
couple of years ago, on the blue side of the city there was talk of the club
taking up a partnership with Tesco and moving out to Kirkby. Again, this has never happened and although I
understand Tesco are again looking to move there, Everton will not be involved.
They are still at Goodison and will be for the foreseeable
future because it has emerged in the last few weeks that they appear to be in
serious trouble. The transfer window
passed the club by and with David Moyes having to sell several of his better
players the future on the pitch looks bleak.
There are also major problems in the boardroom and unless something
drastic happens, a new stadium or indeed a shared one is a figment of an
Everton supporter's imagination.
The situation at Everton is the reason why this is
particular reporter and indeed some of the more mischievous members of the
press believe that a shared stadium would the answer. In theory, yes it would certainly cut the
cost both clubs would have to find to fund the development. Sometimes though, theories simply don't
work. Liverpool could fill an 80,000
seater stadium week in and week out. Everton even if they got back to the dizzy
heights of their popularity would probably only be able to fill a 40,000 seater
one. A stadium that is half empty every
other week simply will not be a viable financial proposition for either of the
club's boards. Also as the situation
stands at the moment, Liverpool would be able to fund the development and
Everton would not.
To add a little mischief to the argument can you imagine if
the two clubs in Manchester were told they had to share the bigger of the two stadiums? Or indeed if any some crazy FA initiative
London was divided into North, South, East and West and then told the
same. The uproar would be unimaginable
and we would live in a country where football supporters had lost their own
special identities.
Which are why Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs, must
remain as the two separate entities, one RED and one BLUE, that in April 1892
John Houlding decreed them to be.
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A good many valauelbs you've given me.