Liverpool and Everton could have ended up with ‘Siamese-style’ stadium

Liverpool and Everton share a fiery rivalry that goes back to the 19th century, with both sides' stadiums just a mile apart.

Anfield and Goodison Park are only separated by the famous Stanley Park in the city of Liverpool, boasting the shortest distance between any two teams in the Premier League.

There have been talks for several years about the two clubs working together on a potential new stadium project despite both clubs having historic stadiums.

The Merseyside clubs explore all possible avenues including renovating, expanding and building a new stadium all together, but the obstacle of money stood in the way of any big plan.

Liverpool actually had plans approved in 2003 for a new 60,000 seater stadium in Stanley Park, but a lack of funds put a halt on the project.

The plan consisted of building a 60,000 capacity stadium with room to expand to 73,000 later down the line, but due to struggling to generate the funding, talks led to a possible groundshare with arch-rivals Everton.

In 2010, news broke that a new stadium would be financed by both clubs, as Everton saw plans for a new stadium of their own rejected, though both clubs denied any talk of a collaboration.

Liverpool City Council supported this idea and urged the clubs to work together as it would have improved England's 2018 World Cup bid, though Russia eventually won the bid.

The Mersey Stadia-Connex Group proposed a unique and peculiar 'Siamese-style' stadium that would have saved each club around £200m and consisted of a 60,000 capacity stadium for the Reds, and 50,000 for the Blues.

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Plans also included 150 executive boxes, a 300-bed hotel with pitchside views, and a 1,350 space underground car park.

Liverpool and Everton publicly rubbished the idea, with a spokesman at the time saying: "We remain committed to building our new stadium in Stanley Park."

Any plans for a new Liverpool stadium at all were out of the question when Liverpool FC owners FSG announced plans to redevelop Anfield instead, to increase its capacity.

Everton are also waiting for construction to complete on their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, which is set to be ready ahead of the 2024/25 season, and will be the only ground in Liverpool used at Euro 2028.

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Topics: Everton, Liverpool, Premier League, Football

Joshua Nair

Freelance football writer.

@joshnair10