https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/impressive-designs-revealed-what-could-15563795.amp?Impressive designs revealed for what could be Merseyside's newest football stadium
City of Liverpool FC have ambitious off-field plans as they bid to rise up the football pyramid
BY JOE THOMAS
11:10, 26 DEC 2018
These stunning images showcase the designs at the heart of what could be Merseyside's newest football stadium.
The competing plans reveal the impressive scale of City of Liverpool FC's ambitions as they rise up the footballing pyramid.
The proposals mean the region has the prospect of two new football stadiums - with Everton's Bramley-Moore Docks bid also being progressed.
Fan-owned COLFC announced it had signed an exclusivity agreement for the old Fazakerley playing fields off Longmoor Lane in February.
Club directors are now waiting for the Liverpool Council site to undergo a contamination report - the results of which will influence the decision over which proposals to go ahead with.
If the site can be completely cleared of a mound previously dumped on the grounds it would give the club scope to build a 5,000 capacity, fully accessible stadium complete with a fan zone, state-of-the-art training facilities and an education block.
The Studio RBA designs would see the purple stands spring up alongside the junction of Longmoor Lane and Aintree Lane - next to the Leg Iron social club.
Alternatively, the mound may have to be pushed to edges of the site to create a crater.
In that case the stadium would sit inside the hole, with two terraces covered by a transparent roof and the rest of the pitch surrounded by an informal fan area that could be developed at a later date.
The LJ Architects' plan would also include training pitches and education facilities.
While the plans may seem ambitious for a club less than three years old, they are being matched by COLFC's on-field performances.
The club's first team is fighting to win its second promotion in its first three years and currently sits at the top of the Hallmark Security League Premier Division.
Promotion would take them to Division One of the Northern Premier League - the eighth tier of English football.
The first team attracts some of the highest attendances of the lower rungs of the football pyramid, with a crowd of 649 watching the 4-0 win over Runcorn Town earlier this season.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has even paid a visit to take in some of the work the club's community teams have been involved in.
Fundraising to the value of £500,000 has already been committed to #ProjectL10, with a £1m community shares scheme also underway.
The club has been based at Bootle FC's Delta Taxis stadium while it has searched for a genuine home.
That could come in the form of the site, which is owned by Liverpool Council.
Hopeful the plans could provide vital regeneration to the surrounding area, which takes in Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton, chairman Paul Manning said: "The site is an eyesore currently and a blight on the lives of the local community, with whom the club is working closely to bring about a fantastic solution that can be enjoyed by the entire City Region.
"The ongoing regeneration of north Liverpool is crucial to the proposed success of the Liverpool City Region and we feel that #ProjectL10 has all the potential attributes required to kick start the local communities in Walton Vale, Fazakerley, Aintree and Kirkby.
"COLFC is already in discussions with partner organisations who would be able to use the campus for education, community, meetings and of course the excellent football facilities that #ProjectL10 will offer, allowing football clubs from across the city, country and Europe to play and train there."