25 July 2007
Liverpool Reveal New Stadium Design
Weighing in at a mere £300million, Liverpool’s Stanley Park stadium has officially been announced.
Opening in 2010 its initial capacity will be 60,000 with the potential to increase that number to over 75,000.
Looking not unlike a wad of cash in a money clip, Stanley Park seems to be designed with history and intimidation in mind. An 18,000 seating, single tier Kop is retained and the angle of the stands has been increased which would give a sheer, cliff-like appearance similar to Valencia’s Mestalla and many American Football stadia which is the more staple diet of the American Architect, HKS.
Unlike many modern stadia however, Stanley Park eschews the modern trend for bowl or symmetrical stadia (think Ladbroke Grove, New Wembley) for a more “traditional” asymmetry.
Chief Executive Rick Parry had this to say,
“The asymmetric design sets it apart from other new stadia, as it is a clear move away from what is becoming the traditional bowl model. It recognises and makes reference to the fact that English football grounds were historically asymmetric.
“We make no apologies for that, we’ve gone out of our way to embrace that culture and it works exceptionally well for both the new ground and its location within Stanley Park. This new design will be unmistakably Liverpool and instantly recognisable as our stadium.”
Rafael Benitez, who will probably be at Real Madrid or recently sacked from Real Madrid when the new stadium opens said,
“The facilities the new stadium will provide are going to ensure that the future of this club is a great one and this is what our fans deserve.”
Jamie Carragher who will be 32 and still pondering whether to train with England said,
“Everyone is excited by the new plans. They are spectacular. We’ve got a great stadium at the minute in Anfield, but the designers have come up with something completely unique. I’ve never seen a football ground like it and that’s what makes it so special.”
Master of brevity, skipper Steven Gerrard commented,
“I knew it was going to be great but after spending five minutes looking at the plans I was just completely blown away by it.”
Alvaro Arbeloa was unavailable for comment.
The question is, will they have anything to put in the trophy cabinet by then?
What Rick Parry really wanted to say was
“We have just had planning permission on our new stadium approved. It means we can move away from those pickey f#####s across the road and compete with the big boys. Everton can jog on if they think they are going to share our stadium. We should get about £1m on match days and can now charge stupid amounts to corporate big wigs who barely support our club. We have estimated that 90% of proposed increases in ticket sales will come from non-livepudlian, non footballing fans and we are happy with that. Rafa will now be able to buy other expensive misfits whilst current degenerates such as Pennant will have an estimated 20,000 more pockets to pick. It’s going to be a very busy but exciting season!”
Note to editor - Every time Parry mentioned the word stadium he made the interantional sign for the one armed bandit before exclaiming “Ching Ching” ……must be a nervous twitch!
rofl!
[…] the club with the sort of debt that the Glazers did at Manchester United. They promised to build a fantastic stadium so they could compete with their Lancastrian rivals and […]