Liverpool Legend Ray Houghton Urges Club To Agree Ground Share With Everton

Liverpool Legend Ray Houghton Urges Club To Agree Ground Share With Everton
Former Red believes teams are being held back
By Matt Monaghan
Oct 7, 2010 2:09:00 PM

Liverpool legend Ray Houghton has urged the club to agree a ground share with Everton so they can compete with the Premier League top dogs again.

Plans to replace or renovate Anfield to create a 60,000 seater stadium have been discussed since the days Gerard Houllier was in control. After current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks failed to deliver, the prospective takeover of New England Sports Ventures has again moved the issue to the forefront.

One solution offered has been to see the Merseyside rivals come together to cut costs and both play in the same ground.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Houghton - who made 153 appearances for the club - believed the sides must negotiate to close the financial gap on Manchester United and Arsenal.

He said: "A joint stadium is something the clubs might have to look at. It’s holding back both Liverpool and Everton.
"Manchester United get 75,000 every game, and Arsenal apparently make £1million every home match. You relate that to Everton and Liverpool and they’re bringing in nowhere near that.

"It’s something Everton and Liverpool might have to look at. I know the fans want their own identities, but needs must and that’s the position they’re in compared to their rivals. Something has to give."
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I agree. If Inter and Milan can do it then why can't we? Besides if both clubs pay half and half to buy the stadium we could easily have a 80-90,000 seater.

Rattlehead85 wrote:This is a NO at all costs. Christ if ever there was a way of losing our identity this is it!! Understandably thier are financial reasons for it but, there are to many negatives in my book which far outweigh the positives. We loose the hillsborough memorial as is. How could we have one like the one we have planted on a shared ground? We loose the shankley and paisley gates, We loose the This is Anfield sign touching by all the players pre-match. We loose the kop!! We loose our traditions and identity full stop. It's like having your eggs without bacon, It's like having xmas without turkey. IT CANNOT HAPPEN!!

100% Agree.

NEVER, EVER, EVER! I'm surprised they're even contemplating the thought! This is Liverpool, not AC Milan and whatnot. We've got bags of history, and I for one am not prepared to let that all go through a ground share. WHAT A WRETCHED THOUGHT!!

no way!!!! you always have to have your own ground otherwise there are always problems

How would a joint stadium work out though??

I wouldn't want to share the same park with the bitters myself.. No way!

Anika wrote:This is Liverpool, not AC Milan and whatnot. We've got bags of history

So have they, if not better:

Milan has won 18 officially recognized UEFA and FIFA international titles,[7] and remains tied with Boca Juniors as having won the most in the world. Milan has won four world titles,[7] more than any other club in the world, having won the Intercontinental Cup three times and the FIFA Club World Cup once.[7] Milan has won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions;[7] only Real Madrid has exceeded this total.[8] The club has also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice.[7]

Domestically, Milan has won 17 league titles, making the club the third most successful in Serie A behind local rivals Internazionale (18 titles) and record-holder Juventus (27 titles).[9] The club has also won the Coppa Italia five times, in addition to five Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.[7] The UEFA Cup (Europa League) remains the only major competition for which the team are eligible to compete that they have never won. Milan was a founding member of the G-14 group and the European Club Association that was formed following the first organization's dissolution.[10]

NOOO WAY !!!! ..end of

No chance!!! it would be a nightmere....

Liverpool NEED their own unique ground, what colour what the seats be if we did share it with the blues??? white? black? no chance....

The owners may just work on refurbishing anfield and making it even better. They did the same with red sox. With a new stadium being built its a 50/50 situation.

Assassin wrote:The owners may just work on refurbishing anfield and making it even better. They did the same with red sox. With a new stadium being built its a 50/50 situation.

It's not been advised:

"I would discourage them [NESV] from redeveloping Anfield and would encourage them to stick to the commitment that is already in place because I think that is the best solution for everyone - for the club and the city," councillor Joe Anderson said in the Guardian.

Anderson, who welcomed the potential change of ownership as "a huge relief", continued: "It has been suggested to me that NESV would be willing to meet at the earliest possible opportunity in the event of the takeover and I would urge them to do that to give me the opportunity to find out exactly what their intentions are, because the stadium is a key part of our plans to regenerate north Liverpool.

"Those plans haven't been held up entirely by the stadium situation and it would be wrong to say that they have.

"But they have had an impact and we just want to be in a position where we have a clear sign that the stadium issue will be resolved one way or another, something Hicks and Gillett failed to do despite the string of promises they made."

You must be joking, neither set of fans will want this to happen, does not make sense at all, would lose all our traditions e.g. Shankly and Paisley Gates, this is one thing I will agree with Bluesh*tes on.