Billy Hogan: “We Are in a Bit of a Holding Pattern”
The Liverpool FC CEO has spoken on the delay with the upper tier of the Anfield Road stand.
The delays to the full reopening of the Anfield Road stand look to continue, especially now that the contractor Buckingham Group has filed a notice of intention to enter administration.
Liverpool FC had previously hoped that the upper tier of the Anfield Road Stand would be operational by October, but that is very much in doubt now. Videos posted on social media showed that the contractors had been sent home amid uncertainty over the Buckingham Group, and that work has stopped completely since news broke last week. The capacity at last weekend’s game against Bournemouth, with the lower tier of the stand open to fans, was near 50,000.
Games that would appear to be impacted by this delay are:
- Aston Villa (3 September)
- West Ham (24 September)
- Everton (21 October)
- Nottingham Forest (29 October)
Liverpool FC CEO Billy Hogan commented on the situation press release. Read the full statement here. Here, he speaks about the next steps:
Just to speak plainly, we are in a bit of a holding pattern right now based on the news that we got on Thursday and that needs to reach its conclusion before we can truly start to take the next steps. But if Buckingham does enter into administration then we’ll need to address any delays that may arise from completing the new stand as a result of that.
Obviously we will of course work with Buckingham and any other contractors who may be appointed in the future to retain as many of the existing jobs and expertise which have been a part of the project all along. So, I guess to be clear, everyone, myself included, is looking forward to getting the stand completed and fully open but we are doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that happens and that also means working with a multitude of stakeholders behind the scenes effectively over the course of the last several days and we will continue to do that, just to make sure that we have the right expertise to get the stand completed, get it opened safely and professionally and that is ultimately our priority.
Let’s hope this gets sorted out soon, and with safety the priority.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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