Who really wants a New Stadium?

[plav]

Liverpool is my religion – Anfield is our Cathedral. I try and pay homage as I often as I can. I still get that same buzz walking up Utting Ave on a match day as I did 20 something years ago when I first started going to the match.

I maybe a traditionalist, nothing wrong in that. I fear the day, when it comes to pulling down Anfield, for me it will signal the end of Tradition & History. I would feel like the Heart and Soul of the club will disappear into a bottomless void of Corporate Hospitality & Digital Marketing.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not plugging for some anti Corporate stance – something I will touch up on in moment. I openly want investment on a Grand scale – instead of the meagre loose change that we have had in the past. If we have someone who is has a bucket load of cash – 5th Richest Man in the world according to the Forbes Rich Parade – then why do we need a new stadium? As long as he can fund big name signings, that is all I am interested in.

I think the problem doesn't reside in the Stadium - I think it is on the pitch. I think Anfield is big enough and the facilities are good enough.

[Red Chilli]

Biggest tradition at LFC is that we exist to be successful. If that means moving to a new stadium then so be it

[Rich]

Long term it isn't big enough, and long term the commercial facilities aren't good enough to stay with ManU, Arsenal, Chelsea, even the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle.

[Guest]

Mmmm ... DIC won't be there forever IMHO, so we'll have to start raking in the money through gates receipts ... That's a long term strategy. And the fact is we won't be going too far, as the stadium will still be at Anfield, isn't it ?

[nobbylad]

Without being too harsh, we'd still be standing on a grass verge if we had this mentality.

Anfield is an average stadium, with average facilities and has served us well over the years with the odd extension etc.

However, a new stadium is the way forward and will hopefully serve us for the future. It's such a pity that it will be somewhere else, but you've got to take the rought with the smooth.

[Resu]

My wild guess is that DIC will build a new stadium, get the club going on the marketing side and get the general spending power of the club up.
Then, as soon as the club can be sold for enough to cover their cost + a certain amount of profit, they will sell.
I don`t think the profit it`s possible to make on LFC is big enough to make up for the investment and risk it is to get the club profitable.
The money is in selling the club, not in the profit it can generate each year.

[IrishPaul]

Liverpool is my religion – Anfield is our Cathedral. I try and pay homage as I often as I can. I still get that same buzz walking up Utting Ave on a match day as I did 20 something years ago when I first started going to the match.

I maybe a traditionalist, nothing wrong in that. I fear the day, when it comes to pulling down Anfield, for me it will signal the end of Tradition & History. I would feel like the Heart and Soul of the club will disappear into a bottomless void of Corporate Hospitality & Digital Marketing.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not plugging for some anti Corporate stance – something I will touch up on in moment. I openly want investment on a Grand scale – instead of the meagre loose change that we have had in the past. If we have someone who is has a bucket load of cash – 5th Richest Man in the world according to the Forbes Rich Parade – then why do we need a new stadium? As long as he can fund big name signings, that is all I am interested in.

I think the problem doesn't reside in the Stadium - I think it is on the pitch. I think Anfield is big enough and the facilities are good enough.

I totally understand your feelings on this mate (as I'm sure do all LFC Supporters) but times have changed and we gotta move on to move up

We all love Anfield with a passion and it will always be in our hearts but we need a bigger stadium with better facilities and my hope is that the New Anfield will bring us more glory days well into the future

Don't forget that the main thing that has made Anfield so special over the years is Us!!! The Fans!!! So there's no reason why we can't make the new stadium as special in the future

[Dhav]

I echo the other sentiments on this thread - we love Anfield, but it is the history and the fans that make it special, nothing else. People who have been to stadiums like the Nou Camp will confirm just how average Anfield is in comparison.

[BobSkinstad]

I openly want investment on a Grand scale – instead of the meagre loose change that we have had in the past. If we have someone who is has a bucket load of cash – 5th Richest Man in the world according to the Forbes Rich Parade – then why do we need a new stadium? As long as he can fund big name signings, that is all I am interested in.

Because he's not doing this because he's got a few gazillion dirhams burning a hole in his pocket. In fact, he's not doing anything; DIC is. You're assuming this is going to be an Abramonich style takeover. It's not. It's a private equity buyout. Private equity firms like to put in the cash, see the acquired target turn over a tidy profit, and then sell on. In other words, the investment plan requires the club to be self-financing. That's why the new stadium is so crucial to the project.

[Red Chilli]

My wild guess is that DIC will build a new stadium, get the club going on the marketing side and get the general spending power of the club up.
Then, as soon as the club can be sold for enough to cover their cost + a certain amount of profit, they will sell.
I don`t think the profit it`s possible to make on LFC is big enough to make up for the investment and risk it is to get the club profitable.
The money is in selling the club, not in the profit it can generate each year.

What a sensible post

Question is, who would buy them out?
We'd need to be successfull too.

[ElRobbie]

Simply because he isn't a Roman Abramovich and he wont be spending loads of money on the club without some sort of return and basically ploughing hundreds of millions of his money in to the club without seeing it grow on and off the pitch.

What you're basically saying is that he should take on the burden of a club in debt and spend loads of money out of his back pocket without seeing the club grow and make more money, its ridiculous really. He will naturally want some sort of return for his investment and he should be allowed that as long as the club is debt free and growing and succesful, I don't see why he shouldn't.

The stadium is a massive part of making the club secure financially in the future and is a massive part of the profits a club makes each year, staying at Anfield is not an option. It's niaive to suggest him doing that, he'd have to be obsessed with the club to plough millions in without any return.

[Redlife]

:

Question is, who would buy them out?
We'd need to be successfull too.

I think you're right in asking that. I doubt their strategy is to buy and sell us on - at least not at anytime in the foreseeable future.

Make the club self-sufficient, yes. Turn a profit year on year, yes. That makes good sense.


But there are far easier ways to make money than by 'fixing up' and selling on a football club. In fact I'd say that's one of the worst ways. It's too costly and too risky. The only way this mooted investment makes sense is if it's planned as long term.

[captainfog]

Without being too harsh, we'd still be standing on a grass verge if we had this mentality.

Anfield is an average stadium, with average facilities and has served us well over the years with the odd extension etc.

However, a new stadium is the way forward and will hopefully serve us for the future. It's such a pity that it will be somewhere else, but you've got to take the rought with the smooth.

In 100 years time fans will probably have the same feeling towards the new stadium as we do towards the one we have now.

Change for the sake of change is no good but change for the sake of progression is vital

[Mumsafan]

Me. I want a new stadium.

[Redspin]

Liverpool is my religion – Anfield is our Cathedral. I try and pay homage as I often as I can. I still get that same buzz walking up Utting Ave on a match day as I did 20 something years ago when I first started going to the match.

I maybe a traditionalist, nothing wrong in that. I fear the day, when it comes to pulling down Anfield, for me it will signal the end of Tradition & History. I would feel like the Heart and Soul of the club will disappear into a bottomless void of Corporate Hospitality & Digital Marketing.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not plugging for some anti Corporate stance – something I will touch up on in moment. I openly want investment on a Grand scale – instead of the meagre loose change that we have had in the past. If we have someone who is has a bucket load of cash – 5th Richest Man in the world according to the Forbes Rich Parade – then why do we need a new stadium? As long as he can fund big name signings, that is all I am interested in.

I think the problem doesn't reside in the Stadium - I think it is on the pitch. I think Anfield is big enough and the facilities are good enough.

Anfield as it stands is nowhere near big enough. I hardly get to games now because it's next to impossible to get a ticket (I live dahn sarf). The ground has been totally rebuilt since I first started going so it's not the same stadium. Only the rectangle of grass is the same size and appearance. No-one was too bothered about losing all the heritage and traditon when we bulldozed all parts of the ground. History and tradition are one thing, but the ground is just bricks and mortar at the end of the day.