'Red Issues' - Praise for Parry & Co.
Last updated : 15 July 2002 By Peter Talbot, Kop Talk
It's the time of year where season tickets are a popular choice of topic on the
Kop Talk forum.
Many people ask how long the waiting list is. Many people have a moan about how long they've been waiting on the list. Some people even boast that their season ticket has just arrived in the post!
Whatever situation you find yourself in regarding season tickets, you'd have to agree that the club are struggling to meet the growing demands of the fans. Of course, that is why the club are planning to build a brand new stadium in Stanley Park to try to please more fans.
I read a letter in the Liverpool Echo last week from a fan that was angry at the club's decision to build a 55,000-seater stadium as opposed to the 70,000-seater that was initially proposed. This fan is on the waiting list for a season ticket and was looking forward to taking a massive jump to the front of the queue with more season tickets becoming available in a bigger stadium. The reason he is angry is because the club has decided it wants to build a slightly smaller stadium than the 70,000-seater that was initially announced. Let's not forget that the proposed new stadium will hold 10,000 more fans than the current Anfield stadium. Granted there will still be fans forced to wait for a season ticket when we move to Stanley Park, but I can't believe that anyone would think that the LFC board would do anything that was not for the better for the club.
When the plans for the 55,000-seater stadium were announced, Rick Parry made it clear that the reason for the smaller stadium was so that they could ensure that Gerard Houllier's transfer budget would not be affected.
Houllier, himself, insists he is still in the process of rebuilding the squad - a five-year plan that began when he took over from Roy Evans. To me, it seems sensible that the club are making sure the progress of the team is priority. If the club spends more money to build a bigger stadium, Houllier will not have the financial backing he needs to continue his rebuilding.
Financially, in the long term, it would be more beneficial for the board to build a 70,000-seater stadium. But in doing so, they would be forced to severely reduce the transfer funds they give to the manager. No one would want us to move into a 70,000-seater stadium with the team going back to struggling to qualify for the UEFA Cup again would they?
It pleases me that we have a board that is not solely concerned with putting money in their pockets. They want success for the club, for the players and for the fans. I'm fully behind their decision and I hope everyone else is too.
After all, we don't want to end up millions of pounds in debt like some other Premiership clubs, do we?
