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Line 25: '''Anfield''' (sometimes known as '''Anfield Road''') is a [[football (soccer)\|football]] [[stadium]] in the district of [[Anfield, Liverpool\|Anfield]], in [[Liverpool]], [[England]]. An [[UEFA Stadia List\|UEFA 4-star rated stadium]], it is the home of Liverpool F.C - England's and UK's most successful club, having won the league championship 18 times and the [[UEFA Champions League\|European Champions League]] a total of 5 times. ==Stadium features== It was the unflagging passion of Liverpool's noisy fans that earned ''Fortress Anfield'' its reputation as the most daunting ground for visiting teams. Appropriately, Anfield's incessant barrage of melodious singing and uproarious chanting - familiar enough now, but virtually unknown elsewhere at the time - quickly caught-on in Britain after fascinated TV sports cameramen began focussing on the antics of the Anfield fans in the early 1960s. Manager [[Bill Shankly]], who engineered the club's dominance of English football in the [[1970s]] and [[1980s\|80s]], had a sign proclaiming "This Is Anfield" [<ref>http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/interact/downloads/wallpapers/this_season/800x600/fowlerunwa_800.jpg~~] [~~</ref><ref>http://www.liverweb.org.uk/anfield_tunnel.jpg] </ref>mounted on the wall above the exit from the players tunnel, which was "to remind our players who they're playing for, and remind the opposition who they're playing against". Many of the Liverpool players reach up and touch the sign as they pass underneath it for good luck. Nationally most prominent during the 1970s and 80s but already engrained in Liverpool tradition, Anfield's legendary 'Boot Room' was an alcove where match strategies were planned. While outside the old stadium stands the famous "Shankly Gate" with the immortal words: "You'll Never Walk Alone" inscribed upon it. Line 44 ⟶ 45: At a further meeting on 15 March 1892 Houlding was outvoted and the club decided to leave. A building fund was immediately set up and £1,517 pounds raised to purchase a new ground. The chosen location was [[Goodison Park]] on the north side of [[Stanley Park, Liverpool]], less than a mile away, and was purchased for £8,000. == ~~The~~ Stands == [[Image:anfield wide view.jpg\|thumb\|centre\|700px\|A panoramic photo of Anfield, looking from the Kop stand towards Anfield Road Stand.]] Liverpool proceeded quickly to develop Anfield. The first stage was the provision of a significant Main Stand, completed in [[1895]] with a highly distinctive half-timbered gable that proved a landmark in English football until its demolition in the early 1970s to make way for the current Main Stand. Line 62 ⟶ 63: * '''Anfield Road Stand''' - rebuilt in [[1998]], with a capacity of 9,074, including the away fans section. The Away fans are located on the lower tier, where just under 2,000 seats are available. This stand is also shared with home supporters, some of whom will be sitting in the small seated tier above the away fans. The ground incorporates several notable features, including a memorial to the 96 fans who died in the [[Hillsborough disaster]]. There is a statue of [[Bill Shankly]] [<ref>http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/papers/roger/FootballStadia/14%20STATUE%20OF%20BILL%20SHANKLY%20ANFIELD%20LIVERPOOL.jpg]</ref>, as well as a pair of gates at two entrances to the stadium, the Shankly Gates [<ref>http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/danny/anfieldgates.jpg]</ref> and Paisley Gates [<ref>http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/papers/roger/FootballStadia/15%20PAISLEY%20GATEWAY%20ANFIELD%20LIVERPOOL%20FC.jpg]</ref>, named after Shankly and his successor [[Bob Paisley]]. Floodlights were installed in [[1957]], and first used in a game against [[Everton F.C.\|Everton]].▼ ~~A chart showing the seating stands can be seen here:[http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/tickets/stadiumplan.htm]~~ == Difficulties of ~~Expanding~~expanding ==▼ ▲The ground incorporates several notable features, including a memorial to the 96 fans who died in the [[Hillsborough disaster]]. There is a statue of [[Bill Shankly]] [http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/papers/roger/FootballStadia/14%20STATUE%20OF%20BILL%20SHANKLY%20ANFIELD%20LIVERPOOL.jpg], as well as a pair of gates at two entrances to the stadium, the Shankly Gates [http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/danny/anfieldgates.jpg]and Paisley Gates [http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/papers/roger/FootballStadia/15%20PAISLEY%20GATEWAY%20ANFIELD%20LIVERPOOL%20FC.jpg], named after Shankly and his successor [[Bob Paisley]]. Floodlights were installed in [[1957]], and first used in a game against [[Everton F.C.\|Everton]]. ▲== Difficulties of Expanding == Due to the difficulties of expanding Anfield beyond its current boundaries (an entire terraced street had to be demolished to make way for the Centenary Stand expansion), Liverpool are expected to leave the ground in the next few years. The plans, originally approved in February 2005, needed to go before [[Liverpool City Council]] for a second time some 12 months later to ensure that the proposed stadium complied with new planning regulations. It was reported on [[11 April]] [[2006]] that the plans had passed without amendment. The club now looks for [[George N. Gillett Jr.]] and [[Tom Hicks]] to help fund the £160m, 60,000 all-seater stadium, after agreeing the taking over from soon-to-be former chairman [[David Moores]]. Work is to start in April 2007.