Over the past decade, Liverpool have increased the Anfield capacity to improve the stadium's aesthetics and meet the demand for tickets.
The club's season ticket waiting list is so long that they haven't even been letting people join it for more than five years.
The first stage of the redevelopment was to add two tiers to the top of the Main Stand. This increased the capacity from 45,362 to 54,167 and was completed in 2016.
The next, and latest stage of the Anfield capacity increase, was to renovate the Anfield Road Stand. This increased the capacity by a further 7,000 seats, with 5,200 used for general admission tickets and around 1,800 used for hospitality.
The £80m redevelopment, which was taken over by Rayner Rowen Group, upgraded the Anfield capacity from 54,000 to more than 61,000. This significant improvement was achieved by the addition of the upper tier to the Anfield Road Stand.
The Anfield Road Stand expansion work rumbled on for longer than first anticipated, however, it was finally completed in early 2024.
Anfield new capacity
Ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season, Liverpool announced that Anfield will have an expanded capacity from the end of the last campaign.
In April 2024, 60,090 supporters attended Liverpool's 1-0 home defeat against Crystal Palace, which was the highest attendance for a league match at the famous stadium. This has now been surpassed by the attendance for the Nottingham Forest game at the start of the 2024/25 season, which saw 60,344 fans at Anfield.
This season's capacity is 61,276, slightly lower than Anfield's all-time record attendance. This was achieved during an FA Cup game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1952, when 61,905 fans were inside the ground.
Has the Anfield expansion had an impact on the atmosphere?
Since the expansion work first started eight years ago, match-going Liverpool fans have complained about how the atmosphere inside the stadium has dwindled. Adding more corporate areas is said to have made Anfield more sanitised, which is detrimental to what made the ground famous in the first place.
The latest expansion to the Anfield Road Stand has only made these complaints louder with some fans claiming that fans in the newly expanded area aren't interested in helping to generate the famous Anfield atmosphere.
Much talk of lack of atmosphere at Anfield yesterday. Is the expansion with main focus on hospitality suites and commercialisation to blame for the lack of atmosphere?. Some say the atmosphere was equally flat vs. Brentford??
— theKop1952 (@theKop1952) September 15, 2024
Could Anfield capacity increase in future?
Every football club aims to grow its stadium size in order to make more money from ticket sales and to enhance the game-day atmosphere. Liverpool FC is no exception, recently making headlines with their stadium expansion efforts. Just ahead of the 2024/2025 season, the club added 7,000 new seats, which means Anfield now has the fourth-largest capacity among Premier League stadiums.
But will there be more changes to Anfield in the near future? According to the club's CEO, Billy Hogan, there are no plans for additional expansions right now. This follows the recent upgrades that added more seating to two areas of the stadium: the Anfield Road Stand and the Main Stand.
Currently, Anfield can hold 61,276 fans, making it the eighth-largest stadium in England. It has been around for 140 years and has seen many renovations that have transformed how it looks over time. Built in 1884, Anfield is one of the oldest stadiums in the UK and holds a special place in the hearts of Liverpool supporters.
However, there are a few challenges when it comes to expanding Anfield further. One key issue is that any additional expansion could create even more traffic problems in the area, which are already significant. Another concern is that the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand can't be expanded much more due to limited space, unless the club relocates nearby homes, which has been a controversial topic in the past.
While some fans dream of enlarging the famous Kop Stand, expanding it poses logistical issues since it’s close to roads and local shops. Any plans to make it bigger would disrupt the lives of locals, especially if expansion extended over nearby roads.
In summary, while everyone wants Anfield to grow, the reality is that further expansion isn’t easy due to physical space limitations and the need to consider the well-being of the local community.
Anfield capacity: Where does it rank among PL grounds?
With Anfield now boasting a capacity north of 61,000, where does it sit in the list of Premier League stadiums in terms of capacity?
- Manchester United – 75,653
- West Ham – 62,500
- Tottenham – 62,062
- Liverpool – 61,276
- Arsenal – 60,704
- Manchester City – 55,097
- Newcastle – 52,338
- Aston Villa – 42,660
- Chelsea – 41,798
- Everton – 39,571
- Southampton – 32,384
- Leicester City – 32,259
- Wolves – 31,700
- Brighton – 30,750
- Nottingham Forest – 30,576
- Ipswich Town – 30,014
- Crystal Palace – 26,074
- Fulham – 25,678
- Brentford – 17,250
- Bournemouth – 11,464
FGG says: An iconic stadium for decades to come
In the era of new stadiums, it's always good to see an iconic stadium standing the test of time. With the expansion of the stand at Anfield, it at least looks like Liverpool will be staying at the stadium for a while more.
As the article suggests, for now at least, Liverpool moved into fourth in the Premier League capacity chart, just below Tottenham and West Ham. While Arsenal are said to be looking to expand in the future, nothing is set in stone yet. The only one likely to do so soon is Newcastle United. Plans to expand St James' Park could see it hit similar levels to Anfield, while a new stadium would see it surpass it.