Kop Faithful update on the stadium issue and Anfield Regeneration

[Chinandeler Bong]

What's the betting the blocked words are "kop faithful"?

 

Or Liverpool Football Club

[kalasoma]

Or Liverpool Football Club

 

Or "chief arrogant bastard.”

[.G.]

If people copied the whole script from the facebook group page, there is a quoted paragraph that ends: "chief arrogant bastard". That may be why the email was blocked? I don't know for sure, but I chose to remove that paragraph, just in case. My emails were sent succesfully. No bouncebacks yet.

 

I copied and pasted from this thread and it bounced back

 

Chief arrogant bastard nowhere to be seen in my email

[kalasoma]

I copied and pasted from this thread and it bounced back

 

Chief arrogant bastard nowhere to be seen in my email

 

Facebook and the text in this thread are the same. Check 6th paragraph down in the text on this thread. I suggest it may be a reason for the bounce back, but not sure it's the only reason. May also be if you mass emailed.

[Kop Faithful]

Liverpool news Club could be forced scrap all stadium development plans because dispute with Liverpool City Council - News - MirrorFootball.co.uk

 

Liverpool set for war with council over Anfield

 

Liverpool face the prospect of being forced to scrap ALL their stadium development plans.

 

And that could see the Merseyside club being stuck at Anfield, without any increase in the famous old ground's capacity, because of rigid and unsympathetic deadlines set by the local council.

 

Those deadlines - over a lease needed on the parkland that sits alongside Anfield - have inspired claims from angry fans' groups that the council want to railroad through a shared stadium for the Reds and neighbours Everton.

 

Although Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson has rubbished the suggestion that he is intent on a shared stadium because he is an Everton supporter, it is true his hardline stance is threatening the Reds' attempts to expand their current capacity, which stands at less than 45,000.

 

Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, are currently studying two methods of increasing capacity: either re-develop Anfield or build a new stadium on Stanley Park, which lies between their ground and Everton's Goodison Park stadium.

 

They face a looming deadline, however, over a lease for the parkland, and have been threatened by the City Council with the removal of that lease if they don't make their mind up by September.

 

That leaves the club with a massive dilemma that poses a threat to their future.

 

They know they MUST increase capacity dramatically to stand any chance of competing with the likes of Manchester United and even Arsenal.

 

Currently, Liverpool's match-day revenue lags at nearly £3million per game behind United, because the Manchester club has a capacity almost double that of Anfield, plus a massively greater corporate capacity.

 

Liverpool know they have to get the decision over the two ground options right, because of the importance to the future of the club.

 

But the council's deadline means they don't have the time explore each plan fully.

 

While building costs are an important element of those deliberations, the onus on regeneration of the area around Anfield is also a huge factor, with the club and council at odds over who must carry the financial burden of those plans.

 

Liverpool say the council is ultimately responsible for community regeneration, while they are responsible for the club's future and the best interests of their fans.

 

In what has become a high-stakes showdown with the first side to blink being the loser, the council are forcing the club into a corner, where the losers could be both the fans and the local residents.

 

Which such massive financial decisions at stake, the deadline for the park lease means LIverpool may be forced to let it pass... which would rule out any chance of building a new stadium.

 

That would also leave open the danger that redevelopment of Anfield would not be possible.

 

With the club already adamantly ruling out a move to another site - such as a docklands area identified by the council - it leaves the threat that development plans will collapse completely.

 

Influential observers point out that would damage the club, but also leave the area a desolate building site with no chance of the regeneration the council are hoping for.

 

Liverpool were hoping a stadium naming-rights deals would finance the building of a new ground, but there is not enough time left before the lease's deadline to put that into place.

 

They will plead with the council to extend their deadline and allow the process to exhaust all possibilities, but if that request is ignored, it could spark open political warfare in the city.

 

Already, one fans' group has started an email petition, demanding that Liverpool City Council drop any idea of a shared stadium with Everton, and also the kind of support for Liverpool Football Club they believe is warranted.

 

Kopfaithful, a group that played a major role in the departure of Tom Hicks and George Gillett from the club, have set up the campaign.

 

They are asking all supporters to join them into pressurising the council into backing the club.

[Wor Horse]

This reminds me of the end of LA Noire!

[kalasoma]

Internet terrorism!

[gingerhulk]

Not sure if anyone else got a reply, but this is what i got emailed

 

Look I am more than happy to meet with you or anyone to discuss mine and the Councils position if you send my PA Adam Lewis some dates or times we will try and arrange for me to be there. However the comments you are making and the untruths you are putting about is something that I find offensive.

For the record I work for the electorate of this City and no one else. My interests are to support you the club and more importantly the people of Anfield

 

Joe Anderson

[coop]

Bit of an attitude from him.

[kalasoma]

If Mr. Anderson is working for the electorate of the City, he obviously isn't listening to a good number of them regarding the subject of Liverpool FC and it's future. If he wants that continued support, he needs to reconsider the position on a ground share, because he will lose that support if he ever stands a chance of re-election. Until then, he's standing in the way of progress. Our progress.

 

Or words to that effect.

[robslappa]

Bit of an attitude from him.

 

Cage, well and truly rattled.

[TheHitman]

For an evertonian, that was quite polite. If he is claiming they are false, how come he is not threatening legal action.

 

The council are in a difficult position though, from what I gather all funding from regeneration money from the government has obviously been cut. Throw in FSG are a business looking to make a profit, so the council are right, their first priority is to try and get value for the taxpayer.

 

I don't know what the numbers people are discussing, but It seems fair for the council to ask for a small contribution to redevelop the area. On the other hand, it does not cost any money to extend any dates.

 

So they should certainly be accommodating, although the residents of L4 are the real victims of this.

 

If we all lived there after hearing broken promise after broken promise we would be fuming. I know it is different ownership, but do you think that matters to those who live in the present situation.

[RoboRiise]

Missed this, been away from here for a few days.

 

Gentlemen, as ever I doff my cap to you.

 

RoboRiise - Internet Terrorist (Retd.)

[Chinandeler Bong]

Bit of an attitude from him.

 

To be fair he has a right to defend himself given the seriousness of the accusations against him.

[Coro]

 

Kop Faithful has learnt that the council are still attempting to force Liverpool FC into a groundshare with Everton and have recently presented the club with proposed plans for a shared stadium at the central docks (http://onfinite.com/libraries/1529119/54a.jpg)

 

Those plans have been around for a while Liverpool Waters - Page 35 - SkyscraperCity

[Chinandeler Bong]

Yeh, with all due respect to Kop Faithful, this needs more research and sharing of information with other parties to evaluate the true nature of this issue.

A lot of serious accusations being made with little or no hard evidence to back it up.

Tread carefully guys.

Its already made the Mirror and yet where are the indisputable facts ?

[FranStan]

I really, really hope the OP isn't based on information from the Liverpool Preservation Trust which is quoted in the release.

 

LPT is a one man band, not really a Trust as it isn't registered with the charity commission and is bascially just a platform for its one member/chairman/founder Wayne Colquhoun to criticise any plan for new developments in the city.

 

I would hate to see the lads from KF being used by a third party to further his/his own vendetta against developments in this city. Hope the lads aren't basing all of this just on LPT info.

 

If anyone wants to read more about LPT this is a decent read

 

Liverpool Preservation Trust

[Anubis]

Just taking a step back for a moment, I seem to recall that the stadium planning involved an EU grant to assist with the costs of the regeneration of the Anfield area, and that the grant had a time limit on it. I assume that time limit has expired. If the Council are pissed at us, and it was down to the flip-flapping over the proposed new stadium and the loss of the regeneration grant, then I can understand why they may not be as helpful as they could in the present, and why they may be looking to us to make good the cost of the regeneration.

[Kop Faithful]

We've had no contact with the Liverpool Preservation Trust and only provided a link to their website to highlight the relationship between the council/Anderson & Peel Holdings.

 

The blog is a very interesting read about Liverpool's world heritage site.

[zigackly]

Is anyone going to take up Anderson's invitation to go and talk to him?

[Mathewbet1]

I think the meeting would be something like this

[Anubis]

[YOUTUBE]l6QVYjljUDg[/YOUTUBE]

[zigackly]

I was thinking more like Dougie's meeting with Gillett ...

[FranStan]

We've had no contact with the Liverpool Preservation Trust and only provided a link to their website to highlight the relationship between the council/Anderson & Peel Holdings.

 

The blog is a very interesting read about Liverpool's world heritage site.

 

i meant the forum i linked to rather than Wayne's LPT blog.

 

The info and quotes from LPT, coupled with the graduates posting on skyscraper city two years ago with the drawnings linked to in the KF release just all seem a bit weird when put together.

 

Why would Liverpool city council make a presentation to LFC using pictures and diagrams that an australian graduate posted on Skyscraper city two years ago?

[Kop Faithful]

Liverpool new stadium Anfield Everton council leader Joe Anderson throws club lifeline EXCLUSIVE - News - MirrorFootball.co.uk

 

City Council leader Joe Anderson is ready to offer Liverpool a lifeline, as the club’s future hangs in the balance.

 

Plans to dramatically increase crowd capacity are under serious threat because of planning issues, and deadlines for taking up the lease on building land.

 

Liverpool set for war with council over Anfield

 

Club officials are acutely aware the gap between themselves and Manchester United is growing ever wider, because of their bitter rival’s massive attendance advantage on matchday, especially in the corporate area.

 

If that gap isn’t closed soon, then Liverpool fear they will lose their status as a world leader in the sport, and be forever relegated to the second tier of the game.

 

The club has been feverishly exploring two opposing options, on whether to redevelop Anfield or build a new stadium on nearby Stanley Park.

 

But with a deadline soon to run out on the lease over the park, and Liverpool no nearer to resolving finance issues relating to the two projects, they are now faced with the danger of doing neither…and falling behind.

 

Anderson though, has pledged to offer every help possible to the club to achieve their aim of increasing capacity, to allow them to remain amongst the elite of world football.

 

The council recognise the business advantage such a status brings to the city, and the leader insisted that, despite claims from disgruntled fans’ groups, he has absolutely no agenda against either football club in the city.

 

“We realise the issue over the lease is a difficult one for the football club, and we have already extended the deadline for a period of six months to allow time to explore all options,” he explained.

 

“What we can’t do is give an open cheque and an open guarantee, because ultimately while we have a responsibility to the club and the fans, we also have a responsibility to the people in the Anfield area, who have been living in squalor for 10 years.

 

“But we recognise there are new owners who have to explore all decisions, and if they can demonstrate there is a real need for more time to make that decision, then we are prepared to extend the deadline further.

 

“From our point of view we have always had a good relationship with the club, and we’ll bend over backwards to do whatever we can to support the decision they make.”

 

It is a complicated issue that has come down to something of a stand off between the club and the council over the opposing plans to develop Anfield or build a new stadium.

 

Some fans have expressed fears the leader has an agenda to build a shared stadium on dock development land in the city, but Anderson has dismissed that idea as “absolute nonsense”.

 

The reality is actually very different. Liverpool were leaning towards building a new stadium on Stanley Park, but have so far been unable to secure the naming rights for the new ground that would provide sufficient funds to get it built.

 

If they take on the lease on the land and then don’t build, it will be a crippling future cost that would prove seriously damaging.

 

But with the September deadline looming over the lease, if they don’t take up the right to develop the land, they will be left with only the chance to expand the Anfield stadium…and that is fraught with danger.

 

Central government planning controls – which have nothing to do with the local council – would most likely lead to a lengthy enquiry that would delay development, and could prevent it altogether.

 

As one club official admitted, there is now a very real danger of Liverpool being forced to remain with their current 45,000 capacity, which would damage the club and the local economy.

 

LFC is a prize asset to the council, because they are one of the few world-leading businesses in the area, and that is why Anderson is determined to offer support.

 

But he insisted Liverpool must demonstrate progress in their decision over the future, whether that means redeveloping Anfield or building a new stadium.

 

“I am really disappointed with what some people have been claiming, because it is a load of tripe. Any decision over a shared stadium is a decision for the two football clubs, and nothing to do with us,” Anderson added.

 

“Likewise, we can’t simply grant compulsory purchase orders that will allow houses next to Anfield to be knocked down to increase the stadium capacity. There are central government guidelines, and there has to be a demonstrable regeneration of the area.

 

“A bigger stadium on its own doesn’t regenerate the area, so we have work with the club to ensure the criteria is met. And we are not just working with Liverpool. We are speaking with Everton too on an almost weekly basis about their plans for relocation.

 

“In the end, we will do all we can to help Liverpool, because they are an important business element of the city. But we have to protect to residents of the area too.”

 

Ideally, Liverpool would like more time to explore the option of increasing capacity at Anfield, but that still seems a difficult option, and their most likely course is to build a new stadium.

 

That though, would be dependent on getting the financial backing a naming rights deal would provide, and again, the club needs time for that to happen.

 

Anderson’s offer yesterday, which he exclusively revealed to the Mirror, will ease the pressure on the club, but they know they still face a huge milestone in the club’s history, as they attempt to secure their future amongst the world elite.