Anfield Stadium is a football stadium, located in Liverpool in England. A home to the Everton FC during 1888 to 1891, Anfield has been a home to the Liverpool FC since the club was formed in 1892.
The 134-year-old stadium has a seating capacity of 54,074, making it the sixth largest football stadium in England. The stadium has four stands namely the Spion Kop, Main Stand, The Kenny Dalglish Stand and Anfield Road.
A statue of Shankly is situated outside the stadium who was former Liverpool manager.
History
The stadium was opened in 1884 and was originally owned by John Orrell, who was a minor land owner. The first match at the ground was played between Everton and Earlestown on 28 September 1884.
Anfield's first league match was played on 8 September 1888, between Everton and Accrington FC.
The first international match hosted at Anfield was between England and Ireland, in 1889.
Anfield was also the home venue for several of England's international football matches in the early 1900s, and for the Welsh national team in the later part of that century.
The capacity of the stadium was reduced when it was converted to all seater stadium in 1994.
Other Events
Apart from football, Anfield has been the venue for many other events. During the mid-twenties, Anfield was the finishing line for the city marathon. Other sports played in this stadium are Boxing, Basketball, Rugby and Tennis.
In May 2002, there were plans to replace Anfield stadium initiated by Liverpool F.C. and build a new stadium near Anfield stadium but was not successful to build a new stadium due to economic crisis.
Redevelopment
The home team are planning to increase the capacity of the home stadium to around 60,000. They can once again increase the number of fans they can accommodate, following the completion of the new Main Stand last summer.
The redevelopment would cost around £40 million to £45 million and provide around 5,000 extra seats.
Liverpool have had outline planning permission in place for Anfield Road since 2014. The standard three-year time frame would have been due to lapse in September 2017, but it has emerged that the club actually have until August 2019 before planning permission expires.
The new Main Stand, increased the capacity to around 54,000 with a further 8,500 seats, actually, but for most of the season the ground floor has been a building site with temporary facilities in place.
