Liverpool Football Club have successfully submitted applications to increase the Anfield stadium capacity in excess of 60,000.

Previous plans to develop the famous Merseyside stadium have been scrapped with the club now turning their attention to redeveloping the Anfield Road End fulfilling long-term ambitions to upgrade Liverpool's home.

The Reds had previously had planning permission for an extension to the stand which will be allowed to expire next month in order for an alternate proposal to be put in place.

Anfield Road ready for expansion

Original plans of development proposed for the addition of just 4,000 seats - taking the Anfield capacity to just over 58,000.

However, it soon became apparent that the demand for tickets outstripped the current 54,074 capacity, with the club now choosing to take a more ambitious approach to make for a larger stadium with FSG supposedly keen to go beyond the 60,000 mark.

Liverpool's next move will be to engage with the local community as well as other key stakeholders to determine key details of the club's new approach.

Liverpool FC Chief Operating Officer Andy Hughes said: “The progress that has been made during ongoing feasibility studies has resulted in us being in a position to allow the outline planning permission to lapse.

“We are committed to working with local residents, planning officials and others as we now focus on the detail behind any proposed redevelopment for Anfield Road.

“Throughout this process, we have been clear that our objective is to find the best possible solution for Anfield Road and that remains the case.”

A win for supporters

Anfield's current capacity ranks place Liverpool sixth in the Premier League in terms of the number of fans they can entertain on matchdays.

However, the club's decision to opt for a larger expansion, depending on the extent of the new plans could Liverpool leapfrog the likes of Manchester City, West Ham, Arsenal and even Tottenham Hotspurs who recently moved into their brand new state of the art 60,000-plus stadium.

Speaking in July, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said: “We are still analysing the opportunity to build on Anfield Road. We are trying to figure it out.

“When we went forward with the Main Stand expansion, which I'm very proud about, we obviously wanted to do it right so we were quiet about it. In a perfect world we will be able to figure this out.”