(Reuters) – Liverpool’s new upper tier in the Anfield Road stand will remain closed until the end of the year, the Premier League club said on Thursday, as a further delay of the expansion project sees fans’ tickets cancelled for the Oct. 21 game against Everton.
The new tier, which will increase Anfield’s capacity by 7,000 seats to more than 61,000, was initially expected to be ready for the 2023-24 season. However, delays and a change of contractor means there is a reduced capacity of around 51,000.
“We’re going to have to maintain the status quo for the remainder of the calendar year, essentially meaning capacity at Anfield will remain the same as for the previous home games that we’ve seen this season,” said Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan.
That includes the visit of local rivals Everton for which Liverpool had already sold tickets, planning on having some of the upper tier open for the Merseyside derby.
“Ultimately we won’t be in a position to be able to provide seats for those fans who have purchased those tickets in the upper tier,” Hogan said.
“Our team has identified who those supporters are and they will be reaching out directly to those supporters next week.”
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
