Liverpool confirm major Academy redevelopment plans | OneFootball

Liverpool Academy set for transformative redevelopment

Liverpool’s Academy in Kirkby is preparing for its most ambitious transformation since opening in 1998, with the club unveiling plans to overhaul facilities that have long been central to the nurturing of homegrown talent.

Indoor pitch to change training landscape

At the heart of the redevelopment will be a new full-size indoor pitch, the first of its kind at the Liverpool Academy. A dome will rise over the current main pitch, attached directly to the Academy building. The move, as Academy director Alex Inglethorpe admitted, feels like a shift in status.

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“It’s a big statement,” he said. “We’ve never had a full-size indoor facility before that would match up with a lot of our competitors. While I’m all for toughening them up in the Kirkby wind and rain, there are a lot of days when we have to cancel training or the quality of a session is compromised. It’s going to make a massive difference.”

The project will also deliver a new grass pitch outdoors, complete with a 500-seat stand, providing a focal point for matches and ensuring that players develop in an environment closer to professional conditions.

Investment in science and development

The redevelopment extends beyond pitches. Medical and sports science areas will be upgraded, ensuring Liverpool’s youngest prospects benefit from world-class facilities from the earliest age groups. It is part of a wider strategy that has seen the club invest heavily in infrastructure: new stands at Anfield, the AXA Training Centre at Kirkby, and the women’s team moving into a refurbished Melwood.

As Inglethorpe noted, patience has been key. “We’ve always been patient as an academy, knowing where we sit in the order of things, but now it’s our turn and it’s really exciting.”

Innovation built on European research

This latest phase follows recent additions, including small-sided cages, a padbol court, and upgraded floodlights. Each has been designed to sustain enthusiasm and innovation in players who arrive as young as six years old.

“We’re constantly trying to evaluate and innovate,” Inglethorpe explained. “The boys are here from six years of age, four times a week – you can’t lose that magic, you have to find new ways of them really wanting to be here.”

The vision has been shaped by extensive European research. Julian Ward, Fenway Sports Group’s technical director, studied more than 25 academies across the continent to build a blueprint for Liverpool’s own evolution.

Building towards first-team success

For Inglethorpe, the ambition is clear: “The mission statement is to get boys into the first team who are capable of competing for the biggest trophies. This investment will undoubtedly help us with that.”

Liverpool’s Academy has always been more than a training ground. With these changes, it becomes both a promise and a statement of intent—a declaration that the club’s future will be built with as much care as its present.