SPORTS
Liverpool delay decision over Anfield refurbishment
Baku, July 13 (AZERTAC). Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre has insisted the club will not be rushed into any decision regarding a potential move away from Anfield.
Ayre had said on Sunday it was looking "increasing unlikely" that the Reds would be able to redevelop their current ground, with a move to nearby Stanley Park a more realistic option.
But speaking on Tuesday, Ayre refused to rule out either possibility.
"We`ll make the right decision at the right time, whatever that is," he said.
"No amount of pressure will force Liverpool Football Club to make a decision quickly for the wrong reasons.
"We`ve all seen and felt and discovered how the wheels can come off if you make the wrong decisions at a football club, particularly this one. With regards the refurbishment, the type of work that`s been going on [in the last nine months] has been developing plans and drawings that look at what is possible with Anfield, and that has incorporated a study into the extension of the main stand and a study into the extension of the Anfield Road End.
"Both of these, if successful, could deliver a 60,000-plus seater, which would be great, but it comes with whole other challenges and whole other areas we have to investigate."
The club have long been looking at ways to increase capacity at Anfield from 45,000 to 60,000 in order to better compete with the matchday revenues of the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.
But Ayre has defended the club`s right to take time over a decision whether to move or redevelop, despite last month claiming that the failure of previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett`s to deliver on their promise of a new stadium had "set the club back several years".
"They are their own people and so they should be. They`ll do what they think is right for Liverpool Football Club.
"While a lot of people, particularly residents, feel a little bit aggrieved that it`s been a long process, and we understand that, for these people who are now trying to make this happen, it`s been very short."
Ayre also revealed any potential move to a new stadium would also throw up a number of issues, including the naming rights to a new home for the five-time European Cup winners.
On Thursday, Reds owner John W Henry said on Twitter that there were "so many obstacles" preventing the refurbishment of Liverpool`s home of the past 119 years.
Hicks and Gillett had hoped to build a new stadium in Stanley Park but Henry, whose Fenway Sports Group successfully redeveloped Boston Red Sox`s Fenway Park stadium, favours an upgrade of Anfield.
Still, Ayre said on Sunday: "In the nine months since the new ownership, an enormous amount of work has been undertaken to explore the building of a new stadium as well as exploring a refurbishment solution.