Stanley Park stadium under threat as Reds struggle with funding

Liverpool have been told to provide evidence of how they will fund a proposed £180m stadium by the end of this week or risk losing European funding essential to the success of the project.

The club recently received permission from Liverpool City Council for a 60,000-seat arena in Stanley Park and hope to start work by next spring. However, despite searching for almost three years Liverpool have not attracted an offer matching the chairman David Moores' valuation and are yet to confirm how they will finance the move.

Directors meet tomorrow to consider proposals, with up to six candidates - including the building magnate Steven Morgan, the US-based Kraft family and a consortium from the Middle East - interested in Moores' 51 per cent shareholding.

The club are also exploring ways of funding the stadium without Moores relinquishing ownership, such as the £100m deal that Arsenal struck with Emirates Airlines. The stadium is the centrepiece of a major redevelopment of the Anfield area, with £18m in public funding dependent on the success of the club's plans.

Councillor Flo Lucas, chair of the Merseyside Objective One committee that will provide the funding along with the North-west Development Agency, said: "I will need to see evidence by Friday, or the weekend at the very latest, that the club has the means to fund the ground. The final decision will be made on Thursday 28 September."

The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, said: "We have been speaking to the council every day and will be speaking to them on Friday. That is our regular meeting and we are not expecting it to be momentous. "