Liverpool Football Club’s proposed move away from the historic Melwood training ground is well-known and it was reported by a number of news outlets, including BBC. It was decided that the first-team training facilities would be relocated to Kirkby, in what was a proposed £50m project which was agreed to be funded by the Fenway Sports Group.
The Melwood Training Ground is where the Liverpool first team trains and Kirkby is where Liverpool’s Youth Academy is located. The academy was opened in 1998 and it enabled Liverpool to focus more on their youth system to develop young superstars.
Now, the latest development is that the plan for the entire project has been revealed on constructionnews.co.uk. New facilities are set to be built at the 34.6 ha site and they include first-team pitches, a full-sized covered pitch, and the creation of an area for parents of academy players. The existing academy facilities will also be refurbished and expanded as part of the plans.
As reported by the same source;
The scheme has been designed by Architect KSS, who also designed Liverpool’s new main stand at Anfield. According to the architect’s design and access statement, the project is intended to be sustainable “from conception to completion”, with local materials and subcontractors to be used on the project “where practicable”.
The club earlier submitted a hybrid application to Knowsley Council, with detailed plans of the academy extension and new football pitches. Other facilities, including the new training centre for the first team, new external sports court, and the full-size indoor pitch, have been submitted for outline planning approval.
The plan is that the new training centre will be a two-storey building located at the centre of the site, with a gross internal area of 91,500 sq ft. The majority of the new development will be centered on part of the neighbouring Eddie McArdle playing fields, which will be acquired from the Knowsley Council.
Liverpool FC’s project has already been to public consultation, which ran in March this year, with 94 percent of the 66 comments received supporting the expansion plans.
Are you excited by this new plan?
