Liverpool FC and Anfield:
Liverpool Football Club was founded in March 1892 by John Houlding. The Anfield Road stadium, which had opened in 1884, was home to Everton Football Club until 1892 when negotiations to buy the land led to a disagreement between the Everton committee and Houlding. Everton Football Club moved across Stanley Park to its new home – Goodison Park.
Left with an empty stadium, Houlding soon formed Liverpool Football Club to occupy it, appointing John McKenna as manager of the new club.
Liverpool’s first Football League game at Anfield was played on September 9th 1893 against Lincoln City. Liverpool won 4-0 in front of 5,000 spectators.
McKenna led his squad of thirteen players to the second division championship title in his first season, never losing a single game.
Nowadays, Anfield is one of the world’s most famous footballing venues, thanks to the club’s successes at home and in Europe. It holds 45,522 spectators across four stands: the Anfield Road end, the Centenary Stand, the Kop and the Main Stand. The Anfield Road end and Centenary Stand are two-tiered whereas the Kop and Main Stand are single-tiered.
Away fans are located in the Anfield Road end of the ground, sharing the stand with Liverpool fans. Views from the rear rows are severely restricted.
How to get there:
By car:
A journey by car from Birmingham to Anfield will take in the region of two hours, depending on traffic.
Using the A38 (M) (signs for Sutton Coldfield/Coventry/Wolverhampton/M6/M5/M40/M42), exit onto the M6 toward the M5 at Junction 6.
At junction 21A, exit onto the M62 toward Liverpool/Warrington (N)/Southport/M57.
After 14.9 miles, continue onto Bowring Park Road/A5080, taking a slight right after 0.1 miles to stay on Bowring Park Road/A5080.
After a further 0.2 miles, merge onto Queens Drive/A5058 via the ramp to Bootle/Southport/A565/Ring Road.
Continue for a further 2.9 miles then turn left onto Utting Avenue, travelling 0.7 miles before continuing onto Arkles Lane.
After 0.2 miles, turn right into Anfield Road, where the stadium is located.
Postcode for sat nav users: L4 0TH
Due to regeneration work around the stadium, parking is even more restricted than usual. One safe (paying) option is the St. Domingo Car Park in Walton, which opens three hours before kick-off. Use postcode L5 0RS if using a sat nav.
By train:
London Midland trains run between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street. The journey takes just over ninety minutes.
Upon arrival in Liverpool, the best option if you wish to continue to travel by train is to head to Sandhills Station from Liverpool Central or Moorfields, where special ‘Soccer Buses’ will be waiting to take spectators to within easy walking distance of Anfield. Services run two hours before and after kick-off.
Bus services 17a, 17b and 17c from the bus station, which is approximately five minutes’ walk from Liverpool Lime Street, also drop spectators outside the ground.
Where to drink:
The Arkles, located at 77 Anfield Road, close to the Anfield Road end of the stadium where away fans are seated, is the away fans’ pub of choice. The pre-match atmosphere is generally lively here, although the pub does get very busy and it can take customers quite a while to get served.
The Flat Iron, located at 377 Walton Breck Road, five minutes from the ground, is another away-friendly pub. Like The Arkles, The Flat Iron does get very busy so it is a good idea to arrive early.
On County Road, there are several ‘Everton’ pubs whose staff will happily serve away fans. The Brick, located at 44 County Road, is one such establishment.
Close to County Road, there is a Wetherspoons called The Thomas Frost (177-187 Walton Road) that away fans are welcome to use.
Alcohol will be served to away fans at Anfield, although West Midlands Police advise us that the sale of alcohol will stop tomorrow should staff at the ground find away fans’ behaviour unacceptable.
