Anfield Stadium: where it is, history and capacity of Liverpool’s home ground

Liverpool is one of the eighth finalists in the Champions League, in which they will receive Real Madrid on Tuesday, February 21, 2022.

The first leg will be played at Anfield and the return leg will be held at the Santiago Bernabéu. In this way, goal invites you to learn all about the location where the Reds want to get strong.

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CAPACITY AND SPECIFICATIONS

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Anfield Stadium, Anfield Road, Liverpool L4 0TH, was built in 1884 and was the home of Everton until 1892. The Toffes had to leave it for financial reasons and it was left to new and neighboring rivals, Liverpool Football Club.

The dimensions of the pitch at Anfield are 101 x 68 m (111 x 74 yd), which is just above the FA recommendation. The grass is mowed twice a week during the season and four times a week during breaks.

The stadium consists of four stands: Spion Kop, Main Stand (“Main Stand”), Centenary Stand (“Centenary Stand”) and Anfield Road (“Anfield Road”). The record attendance of 61,905 was set during a 1952 FA Cup match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton. However, with the installation of seats for each spectator, Anfield’s capacity was reduced to 54,074 people.

While the stadium currently hosts Liverpool matches, it was also the venue for Euro 1996, hosting group stage and quarter-final matches.

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HISTORY

Opened in 1884, it was originally owned by John Orrell, a brewer and friend of John Houlding, who would later become the founder of Liverpool. Orrell decided to let Everton rent the property, and the first match held there was on 28 September 1884 between Everton and Earlestown.

In time, Everton refused to meet the financial demands of the lease and moved to Goodison Park. Houlding was left with an empty stadium and formed a new team to occupy it. The team was Liverpool, who played their first game at Anfield on 1 September 1892 against Rotherham Town Football Club and the locals won 7-0.

In 1957 the lighting system was installed and on 30 October of that year the lamps were first lit for a match against Everton, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Liverpool County Football Association.

In 1989, after the Hillsborough tragedy, the Taylor Report recommended installing all-seater seating in all stadiums nationwide by May 1994.

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OTHER ANFIELD APPLICATIONS

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Anfield has hosted numerous international matches and was one of the venues used during Euro 1996; the stadium hosted four matches in that competition, three of which were in the group round and one in the quarter-finals.

The first international match at Anfield was a match between England and Ireland in 1889, which ended in a 6-1 win for the English. England also played Wales three times at this stadium, in 1905, 1922 and 1931, with the English winning all three matches.

The most recent international match held at Anfield was England’s 2–1 win over Uruguay on 1 March 2006. Anfield has also hosted five FA Cup semi-finals, the last of which was in 1929.

Anfield has hosted many other events and boxing matches were regularly held at the venue during the war years. Professional tennis was even played at Anfield once, when an exhibition match was held between US Open champion Bill Tilden and Wimbledon champion Fred Perry.

In the mid-1920s, Anfield served as the finish line for the city marathon. In July 1984, American evangelist Billy Graham preached at Anfield for a week to over 30,000 people per night.