The stadium work at Anfield continues as the Merseyside club announced the plans to reallocate close to 1,000 seats so as to improve the provisions of disabled supporters. The move is also expected to start in May in hopes of meeting the needs of the Accessible Stadia Guide.
The plans for the rework should see the number of wheelchair bays increase from 195 to 250 at Anfield and the Liverpool Echo reported that a number of season ticket holders will have to be relocated as well.
While fans might be worried about the construction work, the Premier League club have allayed fears and stated that there will be no decrease in the 54,000 capacity of the club. Liverpool even started this season playing a number of games away from home as the stadium dealt with more work.
Andrew Parkinson, the Liverpool FC operations director, spoke about the new construction taking place at the club and added that this move is being planned to make the match experience of the disabled fans much better.
“As a football club, we have a long-standing commitment to supporting our disabled fans and making changes to the stadium to improve their matchday experience.
“Over the past five years, we have made an incredible amount of progress by working with our disabled fans to listen and understand the areas that needs improvements that are important to them.
“The LDSA (Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association) and supporters committee are fully supportive of our planned approach and the progress that’s been made recently.
“This latest redevelopment work means further significant construction is planned at Anfield this year and we are working with the city’s licencing and planning teams to ratify the proposals.
“Making these further developments this summer will see Anfield Stadium achieving the required number of wheelchair positions as stated in the Accessible Stadia Guide.
“The work will mean that some season ticket holders in general admission seats will be affected by the changes and we will work with them on finding an alternative seat. We will be in touch with those directly affected and we thank them for their understanding.”
It is being reported that the move will also allow disabled fans to be placed in the away section as well, which will be a boost for the disabled travelling supporters. The stadium is also going to have 150 extra amenity and easy access seats which will be a bonus for all fans who aren’t able to use the regular seating arrangements at Anfield.
The move is being lauded by many and Keith Graham, chair of the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, and Katie Price, disabled supporters representative on the supporters committee, said:
“The proposed work is the culmination of many years of dialogue.
“We have always advocated the need for increased accessibility at Anfield, for all disabled supporters, in order to meet the recommended requirements of the Accessible Stadia Guide.
“We welcome LFC’s commitment to making this a reality by August 2017 and look forward to greater numbers of disabled supporters having the opportunity to attend matches at Anfield.”
Hopefully, the construction work will not affect Liverpool’s season like it did this season as the Premier League side expect more European football come the start of next season. And the extra support from all the fans should fuel them on.
