Liverpool clubs snub stadium share plan

Liverpool and Everton will definitely not share a stadium, the local authority confirmed yesterday. The clubs had agreed to consider a proposal to share Liverpool's planned new £120m stadium, which is to be built very close to their present ground, Anfield, in Stanley Park, following pressure from the local authority and regeneration body, the North West Development Agency.

Liverpool and Everton will definitely not share a stadium, the local authority confirmed yesterday. The clubs had agreed to consider a proposal to share Liverpool's planned new £120m stadium, which is to be built very close to their present ground, Anfield, in Stanley Park, following pressure from the local authority and regeneration body, the North West Development Agency.

They met the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, last month, although neither club displayed great enthusiasm for the idea.

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said yesterday that both clubs had formally rejected the proposal. "It is disappointing both sides have been unable to reach agreement on a joint stadium," he said. "However, the existing plan for a new Anfield is part of a major regeneration of the Anfield-Breckfield area and we fully intend to help deliver that because of the economic benefits it will bring to an area that badly needs them.

"Of course, we will also do everything we can to help Everton find a 21st-century solution for the club and its fans."

Peter Kilfoyle, the Liverpool Walton MP who helped to broker talks between the clubs and Caborn, said: "It is not really surprising. There was never much enthusiasm for the idea. Liverpool was well down the track with its own plans and Everton was struggling to raise the money needed."

The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, now wants to focus on the club's own plans for a new stadium. He said: "The joint stadium proposal has been thoroughly examined over an extended period of time and has now been rejected.

"But as we have consistently pointed out, this is much more than just a new ground for Liverpool Football Club.

"It has always been about the regeneration of north Liverpool and the benefits it will bring to a local community that desperately needs them.

"With the issue now finally resolved, we hope that all parties involved can pull together to get this project delivered as quickly as possible."