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New Anfield is back on track after £10m grant

Feb 14 2006

By Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo


Latest artist's impression of the new Anfield Stadium on Stanley Park

A MAJOR breakthrough in Liverpool FC's plans for a new stadium is revealed today.

Government officials have privately agreed to pump around £10m into the regeneration of the area around the club's planned £150m ground at Stanley Park, the ECHO has learned.

It means the Reds' stadium project is still on track after months of uncertainty.

A spokeswoman for the Northwest Development Agency, which holds the purse strings, today said no formal decision had been made.

The news of the cash boost comes a day after the ECHO revealed that property giant Peel Holdings has offered to build Everton FC a new stadium at Switch Island.

Last summer, Liverpool was told by the Northwest Development Agency it could not have £23m of taxpayers' money because £9m would be spent purely on club facilities.

Instead, the council was asked to come up with proposals to use government cash for the regeneration of the deprived Anfield and Breckfield areas.

The ECHO today learned that the council's bid has been successful, and that a grant of just under £10m is set to be rubber-stamped.

A source close to discussions said: "The agency has privately agreed to fund a sum just under £10m.

"It will not be used for the stadium itself - it will be for the regeneration of Anfield and Breckfield."

The NWDA told Liverpool last June that it cannot use public money to pay for the construction costs of the planned 60,000-seater ground.

Around £9m of the money was due to be spent on the stadium roof, soundproof wall cladding and an underground car park.

But agency officials were not opposed to Liverpool's plans for a new ground, even though they would have preferred the club to share a home with neighbours Everton.

They recognised the positive spin-offs for a new stadium for the Anfield area, including a job-creating plaza on the site of the current ground.