Anfield Expansion: Can Liverpool Expand Any Further? | OneFootball

For Liverpool, one of the biggest problems when it comes to ticketing is that supply will always be outstripped by demand. The Reds are not only the most successful club in England, they are also one of the most popular, with so many people wanting to get a season ticket that the waiting list has been closed.

The only way that things could be improved on that front would be to expand the capacity at Anfield beyond the current 61,276 figure it is limited to. The question is, are there any plans to do so and, if so, how could the owners go about increasing the capacity any further?

How Things Currently Stand

When the owners made the decision to stay at Anfield rather than move to a new ground somewhere else in the city, they did so knowing that there would be some limitations in terms of how big the stadium could grow to become. Even so, remaining at the spiritual home of the Reds made a lot of sense, with Fenway Sports Group then doing whatever they could in order to expand the ground.

The first thing that the owners did was to give the go-ahead for an expanded Main Stand, which had long been in need of improvements thanks to the support structures that blocked the view of some supporters.

The pillars were removed, a third tier was added and an additional 8,500 seats saw the overall capacity of Anfield increase to 54,742. For a time, it seemed as though that would be where the improvements to the stadium would stop. The Main Stand was the largest of the areas inside the ground, dwarfing the Kop and looking impressive both inside and out.

Then, between 2021 and 2024, the Anfield Road End was also redeveloped. Around 7,000 more seats were added there, whilst views were improved across the board, seeing the capacity of the stadium hit its current figure of 61,276.

No More Redevelopment Plans

There is no question that Anfield has been transformed under FSG’s ownership. The look and feel of the stadium is light years away from what it was in the 1990s and early 2000s, albeit with the overall feeling of the ground as being one of the most intimidating in English football remaining in place.

The owners invested more than £200 million carrying out the improvements, but it has allowed the club’s value to shoot up and they will ultimately reap the benefits of that. In the July of 2024, however, the club’s Chief Executive Officer, Billy Hogan, said that there were ‘no plans for further expansion of the stadium’.

That is something that remains the case, which will be disappointing to those hoping to one day get their hands on a season ticket to see the Reds. Manchester United have announced plans to build a 100,000-seat stadium in place of Old Trafford, even if that seems like a pipe dream at present.

If they pull it off, it will mean that our fiercest rivals will be taking significantly more than us in match-day revenue each and every time they take to the pitch. Whilst the Red Devils are little more than a joke club at present, it won’t remain the case for long if they outstrip our match-day income on a weekly basis.

What Could Be Done in Theory?

View of Kenny Dalglish stand from the main stand gantry

The majority of Liverpool supporters want nothing more than the ability to be able to attend matches on a regular basis. The problem is, it is difficult to see how Anfield can be improved upon from here because of the layout of the ground. Behind the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, for example, is Skerries Road, which limits how much that could be improved.

Meanwhile, the Kop runs up against a road that has no way of being moved anywhere else, stopping the stand from being increased in capacity. Although fans might want it to return to being the biggest of the stands within Anfield, however that could happen is the problem.

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If Liverpool wanted to take inspiration from somewhere, they could look to the homeland of both the manager and the captain. The home of Dutch side Ajax, the Johan Cruijff ArenA, has a highway that runs underneath it. Perhaps Liverpool could consider building the Kop above the road, so as to allow the traffic to carry on even during matches. Meanwhile, our rivals Everton have opened their new stadium with extremely raked seating, meaning that they go up rather than out.

If the desire to increase the capacity of the Kop is real enough, the Reds could look to the sky rather than the road behind. There are currently no plans to increase things, but that doesn’t mean that there never will be.