Liverpool’s failure to relocate from Anfield to a new stadium on Stanley Park has cost the club a startling £49.6million.
The club’s accounts have unveiled the mess that was created by the doomed reign of former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The figures, which were released on Thursday, revealed a loss before tax of £49.4m for the financial year ending July 31, 2011, a rise from the previous year’s £19.9m.
Hicks and Gillett, who said they would have a ‘spade in the ground’ within 60 days following their arrival in February 2007 – wanted to build a futuristic 70,000-capacity glass and steel stadium on Stanley Park and commissioned Dallas-based architects HKS.
The plan was scrapped, though, following Fenway Sports Group’s takeover in October 2010 and, as a result, the costs have been called a major ‘exceptional item’ in the accounts.
That term has also been used to describe the termination costs that former manager Roy Hodgson received along with other key backroom figures.
Even still, the fact that almost £50m was wasted without Liverpool being any closer to making a decision about what to do next – either staying at Anfield or moving to Stanley Park – will alarm fans.
“We have written off a huge amount on the stadium project,” said managing director Ian Ayre. “A big chunk relates to the HKS project – which is now defunct.
“We come under daily pressure from people for a decision on what we are doing.
“One thing we have consistently said is that we will make the right decision in the long-term interests of Liverpool Football Club.
“We have to be very mindful of the cost of doing anything. The cost of building a new stadium is significant. Equally if we refurbish Anfield, the cost is significant. It is about finding a solution that works.”
Should Liverpool proceed with a new build – the club still have designs in place with Manchester architects AFL – obtaining naming rights is crucial.
Ayre, who insisted that Liverpool not being in the Champions League wasn’t “the end of the world”, added: “In terms of a new stadium, we have a design, we have planning permission and we have a site. But the economic model for a new stadium has to be underpinned by significant investment by a naming rights partner. That just takes time.” – Daily Mail