Liverpool Football Club have purchased their former Melwood training ground in West Derby, Liverpool, for their women’s team to use. The men’s first team vacated the site in November 2020 and moved to a new build at their existing academy base in Kirkby. The land was originally planned to be turned into a modern, multi-generational housing complex by affordable housing group Torus, but the Robbie Fowler-Jamie Carragher academy moving in changed those plans. As part of the move, the crest of the LFC Women’s team, which had been training at Tranmere’s base on the Wirral, will be changed to the official club crest to bring the two operations closer together.
Managing Director Andy Hughes said, “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women’s board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and category one professional game academy. We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for LFC Foundation. We are delighted that FEFA (Fowler Education and Football Academy) will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people. We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”
Torus will use the funds from the sale of Melwood to build much-needed homes across Merseyside. Meanwhile, developments continue apace at Anfield, where the 282-tonne roof of the old Anfield Road stand has been removed to make way for the completion of a new stand which is due to open for the start of next season and expand the ground’s capacity to 61,000.