Julian Ward travelled through Europe to draw up plans for the Liverpool Academy renewal (Credits: Imago Images)
The Liverpool academy has probably been one of the most successful projects in European football. It has produced some of the best footballers who have served the club both sportingly and financially.
Just in the last five years, Liverpool has generated more than £200m from club-trained player transfers. This summer was the biggest hit as they made £100m from players who represented the club at the youth level.
There is no doubt about the Reds’ academy and the potential it transfers to the senior team, as the management has decided to revamp the structures.
Liverpool will spend £20m on the revamp of the Liverpool academy in Kirkby. The project is set to consist of two phases, with phase one already being completed this summer.
The Merseysiders have spent £2m on the improvement of existing infrastructure throughout the summer. There has been an addition of a padbol court, a sport that is a mix of padel, football, squash and volleyball.
A sport so diverse will definitely help bring out player creativity through the academy. The management has also added a skills area, which was inspired by setups in Roma.
Fenway Sports Group Technical Director Julian Ward visited around 25 football clubs to draw up plans for a renewal.
Quiz: Can you name the team Liverpool signed these players from?
Further additions and the bigger picture
Throughout the summer, there were also additions of cages on small-sided pitches and an overall development area, which has been named ‘The Yard’.
Floodlights were installed on the missing pitches so that the boys can always enjoy their training at their preferred time. An indoor dome is set to be installed on the current main pitch, considering the Kirkby weather conditions at times.
The artificial grass will be replaced with natural grass, as there has been a lot of research in recent years hinting at the correlation between artificial grass and high player injury chances.
The new stands will be able to host 500 spectators, and there will also be new medical and sports science areas. Academy Director Alex Inglethorpe talked with The Athletic in a recent interview, sharing his vision about the new revamp.
“It’s a big statement. We’ve always been patient as an academy, knowing where we sit in the order of things, but now it’s our turn and it’s really exciting. We’ve never had a full-size indoor facility before that would match up with a lot of our competitors.”
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