Premier League rivals could have built bizarre ‘Siamese-style’ stadium but abandoned idea

Liverpool and Everton share a historic rivalry that goes back generations.

The two clubs are less than a mile apart and for many years there had been talks about the two clubs collaborating on a new stadium project.

Anfield and Goodison Park are both historic stadiums, but as the years went by it was evident that both needed serious upgrades.

Both Liverpool and Everton explored all possibilities of renovating, expanding or ultimately building new arenas.

Getting enough funding together for these projects proved to be the biggest barrier, and that led to talks about the possibility of groundshares or collaborations.

Liverpool had plans approved in 2003 for an all-new 60,000 seater stadium in Stanley Park, that would have opened in 2006, but a lack of funds saw the project never get off the ground.

Under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, new plans were unveiled for a futuristic stadium that would hold 60,000 people and be expandable to 73,000 in the future.

Hicks and Gillette again struggled to get the money together for this project, which led to talk of a possible groundshare with rivals Everton.

In 2010, it was reported that a new stadium would be co-financed between both clubs. The Toffees themselves saw plans for a new ground in Kirkby rejected.

Both clubs strenuously denied that there had been talk of collaboration, but it received support from Liverpool City Council who urged them to do so.

This was because it would have boosted the city’s chances of hosting matches at the 2018 World Cup, but that tournament ended up going to Russia anyway.

To tackle these issues over funding, one consortium, the Mersey Stadia-Connex Group, proposed a radical ‘Siamese-style’ stadium that it said would save the clubs between £180m