The ECHO spoke to people living around Anfield this week about planned investment in the area
Robert Hart, 75, on Oakfield Road, Anfield
Robert Hart, 75, on Oakfield Road, Anfield(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It's a cloudy Wednesday deep into pre-season but Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium is busy. The English champions are thousands of miles away on a tour of Asia and the Premier League season does not begin for two weeks but plenty of fans make their way around the famous ground, taking in the sights.
They head in for the behind the scenes tours and to the club for the museum, as well as posing for photos at the Kop End. Down Oakfield Road, between The Kop and the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, people go about their daily business in the shadow of one of football's most iconic venues.
But for them, there are changes on the horizon. It was announced on Monday that the area around Liverpool Football Club's Anfield Stadium is set to be transformed as part of a £5m project. Liverpool City Council says it wants to create a "safer, greener and more welcoming" space around the football ground.
The proposed improvements are part of a wider regeneration effort under what is known as the Anfield Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF), which will also support matchday operations and integrate with other ongoing projects in the area. The proposals cover Walton Breck Road, Oakfield Road, Pulford Street, Back Rockfield Road, and Gilman Street, with a view to enhancing the area’s appearance, safety, and accessibility.
Derelict houses on Oakfield Road in Anfield
Derelict houses on Oakfield Road in Anfield(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Key features of the proposed scheme include improved public realm and pedestrian connectivity, new soft landscaping and planting, upgraded footways and high-quality paving and carriageway resurfacing and improved drainage.
There will also be new modernised street lighting, a new mini-roundabout at the junction of Walton Breck Road and Oakfield Road, reconfigured on-street parking, relocated pedestrian crossings and reduced road widths and speed limits to calm traffic.
The stadium itself has witnessed plenty of change in recent years, raising its capacity to 61,000 through a number of stand expansions and refurbishments. On Oakfield Road, people speaking to the ECHO said it is about time the area around the ground gets some improvement of its own.
The street, which runs from the junction with Breck Road to the Reds' ground, is home to a number of businesses, including matchday pubs The Sandon and The Church, as well as popular pie shop Homebaked. It also has a number of empty units and a prominent row of nine derelict properties - which were the subject of a row and the council pulled out of a community project to develop them in December.
Robert Hart, 75, who has lived in Anfield since the 1990s after moving from Everton, says the row of houses is emblematic of why the area needs this funding. He tells the ECHO: "They've been like that for years. If they weren't going to pull them down, they should have renovated them all.
Anfield during a Taylor Swift concert last year
Anfield during a Taylor Swift concert last year(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
"I don't think it gives off a good impression of the area. It's derelict. There's a brand new housing estate here, but why haven't they done something with those houses? They're good houses, they'd not be bad houses if they'd been done up."
The retired welder welcomes the investment, hoping it can improve the look of the area and benefit the lives of those who live there. He says Anfield is a proud community, but one which needs support.
He explains: "Don't get me wrong, I love Anfield, I love the club. Overall, I think the area needs a helping hand. It needs smartening up. Hopefully it would improve people's lives.
"I think we need more things for the community. Community centres, I used to go to the Albion House - that was a club just in Albion Street in Everton.
"My brother went to another club. There were all clubs like that when I was a kid - there's nothing for the kids like that now."
Residents, businesses and road users in the area have been invited to have their say on the £5m spending plans, with a drop-in event to be held at The Liverpool Lighthouse in Oakfield Road on August 13. At the Lighthouse, a community centre which supports the local area with food pantries, community lunches and activities, staff member Emi Gibbs is optimistic about the funding.
Emi Gibbs at The Liverpool Lighthouse on Oakfield Road, Anfield
Emi Gibbs at The Liverpool Lighthouse on Oakfield Road, Anfield
Emi moved to Liverpool from Oxford almost 20 years ago and lives in Anfield. Like Robert, the lack of facilities for young people concerns her - she wants to see a use found for derelict and empty buildings.
She tells the ECHO: "I think it's a really good thing that this money is going to be spent here. When I first moved here, I had a young son and there were lots of youth groups for him to go to.
"Over the last ten years, probably before covid, a lot of them have shut down because funding has stopped.
"A lot of stuff for kids to do went - for the adults as well. Groups that parents could go to in school time have all gone because funding has stopped.
"A lot of buildings have been left derelict. The area needs a bit of money spent on it to overturn things, do the buildings up, maybe get rid of some and make them green spaces. There are a few eyesores.
"I think Anfield should have been more of a priority. It's a football ground area so you get a lot of tourists around here. When they come and see the area, it might not be what you expect.
"There are empty buildings - you don't want that, you want to give off a good impression. The priority has to be tidying up the buildings. The derelict ones need to be done up and used for something or even knocked down and made into a green space."
It is a view shared by David Inglis, 69, who has lived in Anfield since 2005. Asked about the £5m plans, David tells the ECHO: "I think that has to happen - more green space, tidy up the road. I think people would get a good impression of the area when they come to the football.
David Inglis, 69, on Oakfield Road, Anfield
David Inglis, 69, on Oakfield Road, Anfield
"I definitely think the area needs regeneration. Too many buildings in the area are in a state of disrepair, there are issues with the roads."
In March 2025, a boost arrived for the Anfield SRF when Liverpool City Council bought land in the shadow of the stadium, allowing it to move forward with the regeneration of a key site. The local authority paid £381,441.92 to Your Housing Limited (YHL) to acquire its land interests on the 2.5 acre site known as Anfield Square.
According to council documents, it agreed to buy 18 freeholds and leaseholds from YHL, which date from when there were houses on the site. The plot, comprising land north of Walton Breck Road and east of the stadium, has been cleared and the deal brings the full site under council ownership.
It now intends to market the site for development. The council's delegated authority report about the purchase states: "The initial vision for Anfield Square’s long-term use envisages a thriving, best in class development comprising a mix of leisure, entertainment and employment uses, encouraging public interaction and providing essential public amenities.
Anfield Square, lying in the shadow of Liverpool FCs football stadium
Anfield Square, lying in the shadow of Liverpool FCs football stadium
"Development will be of exemplary quality in building design, place-making and sustainability, enhancing this global visitor destination, encouraging civic pride and providing community benefits. Successful redevelopment would bring people together in a safe, inviting, and inclusive environment, stitching together the wider regeneration area."
Emi believes that delivering more social and affordable housing should be at the heart of regeneration in Anfield. Through her work at the Lighthouse she says she meets plenty of people who are struggling to make ends meet and she wants them to be helped to reduce their financial worries.
As of September 2019 (the latest figures), the council ward that covers Anfield was the 10th most deprived area in the country. Anfield also falls under the Liverpool Riverside parliamentary constituency, which is the most deprived in the country.
"The area definitely needs more social and affordable housing", says Emi. "There is a waiting list for people to get social housing.
"I've been here for 18 years and I'm still in a private landlord's house. I'm still waiting on Property Pool to get somewhere, but I'm not high priority because I'm in a two-bed house and I've only got one son.
"But my rent is twice as much as what I'd pay in social housing. We need more affordable options. Bills are more expensive, food is more expensive.
"A lot of people come here because of that. It's not necessarily people who are on benefits, it's people with full time jobs that come here because their wages just don't cover their rent, their council tax, or their day-to-day living costs."
Overall, Emi is very happy that Anfield will be receiving what she views as a welcome financial boost. She says: "I think people around here need some hope. They need to know it's not going to be like this forever. Life can be quite tough for a lot of people around here.
"The place needs tidying up, a boost and a feeling that we've not just been forgotten about - that we matter as well. It can't just be the football ground that gets done up.
"That looks all new and sparkly but now the rest of the place needs its turn. We need some money invested in us."
When the funding was announced on Monday, Councillor Nick Small, the city council's cabinet member for growth and economy, said: "We’re proud to be bringing forward a scheme that reflects the voices and needs of our residents.
"From better lighting and safer crossings to new green spaces and improved accessibility, this project is a direct response to what people have told us they want to see.
"I encourage everyone to take part in the consultation and help shape the future of Walton Breck Road.”