Liverpool hope to draw GAA games to expanded Anfield

Liverpool hope to attract GAA games to an expanded Anfield stadium.

The club unveiled plans to expand their Anfield Road stand by adding 7,000 seats in a new scheme which will take the ground’s capacity up to 61,000.

“The plans for the proposed Anfield Road Stand expansion include exploring the opportunity for permanent permission to hold concerts and other major events at Anfield, including other sporting events such as Gaelic games and American football outside of the matchday calendar,” read a statement on the Liverpool website.

The club is owned by Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, who have hosted the GAA’s Fenway Hurling Classic in three of the last five years. Those games involve an adapted Super-11s game, played on a smaller pitch.

The Anfield pitch is too small to accommodate a full-sized hurling or football game.

Liverpool are proposing a redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand which will take the ground’s capacity to 61,000 (Handout photo provided by Liverpool FC/PA)

Existing planning permission for the ground, which had proposed an increase of 4,800, had been allowed to lapse and a new, larger proposal looks set to be formally submitted next spring after two phases of public consultation, the first of which has just begun.

There is no timescale as yet for the completion of the new stand, which will have small hospitality capacity, with the majority of seats outlined for general admission tickets, and no further development is being considered at this time.

It’s understood the scheme will cost in the region of £60million.

Liverpool’s plans for redevelopment of Anfield will see the stadium extended towards Stanley Park, closing a section of Anfield Road (Handout photo provided by Liverpool FC/PA)