Anfield
Anfield existed before Liverpool did. The ground opened in 1884 on land leased from John Orrell, and its first tenant was Everton, who beat Earlestown 5-0 there on 28 September that year. A rent dispute pushed Everton out in 1892; the site's owner, John Houlding, founded Liverpool to take their place, and the new club won 7-1 against Rotherham Town in its first match at the ground. Liverpool have played there ever since.
The name has never been sold. No sponsor has attached itself to the stadium since it opened, and the closest the club has come to renaming any part of it was in 2016, when the Main Stand became the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand. The one FA Cup final staged at Anfield, in 1989, was a Merseyside derby with no love lost — Liverpool against Everton, played there by the FA's decision rather than tradition.
Rebuilding has been near-constant since the 1890s, but the sharpest turn came after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, when 96 Liverpool supporters died at the Sheffield ground; the Taylor Report that followed converted the terraces to all-seating through the 1990s. The Main Stand was expanded again in 2014-2016, and the Anfield Road end was rebuilt between September 2021 and August 2023, adding around 7,000 seats and taking capacity to 61,276. The pitch runs on a GrassMaster hybrid surface, refitted in 2017.
The record attendance, 61,905 for an FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 February 1952, still stands; the all-seater era's best is 60,704, set against Manchester United in December 2023. Since 2019 the ground has doubled as a concert venue, hosting Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift.
Who plays here
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Liverpool
190 matches
Recent matches here
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Aug | Liverpool — Nottingham Forest | 2:2 |
| 16 Aug | Liverpool — Como | 0:0 |
| 9 Aug | Liverpool — Monaco | 2:3 |
| 2 Aug | Liverpool — Leeds | 2:4 |
| 30 Jul | Liverpool — Wrexham | 1:0 |
| 25 Jul | Liverpool — Sunderland | 4:2 |
| 24 May | Liverpool — Brentford | 1:1 |
| 9 May | Liverpool — Chelsea | 1:1 |