The redevelopment of Liverpool Football Club's new stadium will start in May, a joint statement by the club and the city council today confirmed.
Top level talks at the weekend between the club's new owners George Gillett, Tom Hicks, and chief executive Rick Parry with city council leader Warren Bradley and director of regeneration John Kelly gave the go-ahead to the multi-million pound redevelopment.

Work on the final legal agreements between the city council and club is almost complete which will allow work on the new stadium to start next month under the existing planning permission granted last year.

A joint venture company will be set up by the end of this month to deliver the comprehensive regeneration of Stanley Park and the new Community Partnership Centre.

Tenders for the refurbishment of Stanley Park will go out in April with a contractor to be appointed and work starting by the end of July, with the work completed by the end of 2008.

A review of the 60,000 capacity of the new stadium is being carried out by the club and consultations with fans are already underway.

Councillor Warren Bradley said: "It has long been the dream of fans, and the ambition of the club, to build a fantastic stadium to rival the best anywhere in the world. Today, the decisions are now in place to turn the dream of a new Anfield into a reality.

"We have worked tirelessly with the club and its new owners, and the final agreements are now almost in place to allow the work to start in a matter of weeks. A world-class stadium, fit for a world-class club and a word-class city, is now a real prospect.

"The benefits will reach out much further than football. Our agreement will secure the massive regeneration of the Anfield area and the transformation of Stanley Park. Today will go down as a significant date in the history of the club and the city."

Liverpool FC's chief executive Rick Parry said: "We have been working for many years with the city council and the community to deliver not just a new stadium but also the regeneration of north Liverpool.

"Our new owners have taken the sensible decision to review the plans to enable us to create an even better stadium that will serve the needs of the club and the fans for the next 50 years. Already, some very exciting ideas are emerging and we are working closely with the city council on the best way forward.

"We are all endeavouring to ensure that the plans can be implemented, as soon as possible while at the same time ensuring there is no delay in the regeneration process.

"We are delighted with the working relationship we have with the city council. Our goals are the same; to create an incredible facility that the whole city can be proud of."

Today's announcement has effectively ended the possibility of a joint stadium for the city's two Premiership clubs. Despite full and frank talks between the city council and the two clubs, the proposal had too many unknowns and would have created significant delays which could have put the entire new Anfield and Stanley Park project at risk.

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