'The football ground looks all new and sparkly, but now it's time the rest of us had some investment'

IT’S a cloudy Wednesday deep into preseason, but Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium is busy.

- By DAN HAYGARTH

The English champions are thousands of miles away on a tour of Asia and the Premier League season does not begin for two weeks, but plenty of fans make their way around the famous ground, taking in the sights.

They head in for the behind the scenes tours and club museum, and pose for photos at the Kop End. Down Oakfield Road, between The Kop and Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, locals go about their business in the shadow of one of football’s most iconic venues.

But for them, there are changes on the horizon. It was announced on Monday that the area around Liverpool Football Club's Anfield Stadium is set to be transformed as part of a £5m project. Liverpool City Council says it wants to create a “safer, greener and more welcoming” space around the football ground.

The proposed improvements are part of a wider regeneration effort under what is known as the Anfield Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF), which will also support matchday operations and integrate with other ongoing projects in the area. The proposals cover Walton Breck Road, Oakfield Road, Pulford Street, Back Rockfield Road, and Gilman Street, with a view to enhancing the area's appearance, safety, and accessibility.

Key features of the proposed scheme include improved public realm and pedestrian connectivity, new soft landscaping and planting, upgraded footways, high-quality paving and street resurfacing and improved drainage.

There will also be new street lighting, a new mini-roundabout at the junction of Walton Breck Road and Oakfield Road, reconfigured on-street parking, relocated pedestrian crossings and reduced road widths and speed limits.

The stadium itself has witnessed plenty of change in recent years, raising its capacity to 61,000 through stand expansions and refurbishments. On Oakfield Road, people speaking to the ECHO said it is about time the area around the ground gets some improvement of its own.