Ste Leftley, August 29th 2008
It seems so long ago that I met with Peter Brian from Ayrefield Plant Ltd who had been given the job again of starting Enabling Works on the newanfield project.
Here we are in late August but as we have learnt the global market conditions have forced Liverpool FC and it's owners, Mr Hicks and Mr Gillet to once again delay the building of the stadium.
If we are to believe that this is the case and as we are spending well in excess of £300 Million, it could well be better to wait 8 months.
As we are buying materials in Dollars we could wait until the Dollar-Pound exchange rate is more favourably to the American owners and this may see a reduction in the overall spend on raw materials for the staduium, especially if the UK is heading into a resession.
The Liverpool ECHO reporter Tony Barrett understands it will be another year before construction will start.
Club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett had hired London based PR firm Freuds to make a formal announcement confirming the delay on September 1.
But with speculation surfacing over the past 24 hours they have been forced to admit the Reds’ stadium dreams have suffered another massive blow.
Back in April, Tom Hicks informed us through a Sky Sports interview, saying the credit crunch would have no effect on the stadium plans, a line he stuck to the month after the collapse
Then, when plans to build a Glorypark development in Arlington, Dallas, were abandoned the following month because of the credit crunch, Hicks again denied there was any possibility market conditions would force any delay to Liverpool’s Stanley Park project.
But the club have now admitted they have no choice but to delay the plans with a revised completion date in time for the 2012/13 season.
Here is how Liverpool FC confirmed that the building of their new stadium will be subject to delay.
A spokesman for the club said: "Our commitment to building a new world class LFC stadium is undiminished. Like many other major development projects in the UK and overseas we are affected by global market conditions and as such work on the project will be delayed in the short term. We will use this period productively and progress the proposals for the stadium to increase its capacity to 73,000 seats."
Speaking back in June after Laing O'Rourke had started Enabling Works, Co-chairman George Gillett said: "This is a significant milestone for the club and I am delighted that the design received full planning consent and that we are now on site.
"We have been working very hard over the last six months to move the details of the design along but this is the first tangible evidence for fans that a New LFC Stadium will be built.
The Daily Telegraph (uk) reports, there are now serious doubts over whether the two Americans will raise the necessary finance for a project that is estimated to cost £350 million.
Next year, they must also either extend or refinance the £350 million loan that they took out with the Royal Bank of Scotland and the American bank, Wachovia, in January.
The latest setback to the credibility of Hicks and Gillett has prompted renewed calls for them to sell the club, with Dubai International Capital's takeover offer of about £400 million still on the table.
"We feel the Americans have no intention of building the stadium," said Jay McKenna, a spokesman for the Spirit of Shankly supporters' group.
"There is a lot of anger. It does not just affect the Liverpool fans, but also the wider community – regeneration is linked to the new stadium. The best thing they could do is step aside for new owners to come in."
Liverpool City Council also described the announcement as "disappointing" and warned that they would have to consider revised plans to increase the capacity of the stadium to 73,000.
It also adds to the air of soap opera surrounding the club, although the relationship between Hicks and Gillett is said to have improved significantly in recent months.
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