Hundreds of homes will no longer be built in West Derby after Liverpool FC bought back its historic former training ground.
It was confirmed on Thursday how the Reds had completed a multi-million pound deal to reclaim the iconic Melwood site to provide a training facility for its women’s team. Last December, planning permission was granted to housing group Torus for the construction of 170 properties on the site.
The company has now confirmed the sale of the location back to Liverpool FC has ended its participation in the area and the development it received the go-ahead for would no longer take place.
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The Premier League club left their home of almost seven decades to move to a £50m new facility in Kirkby in 2020. The existing LFC infrastructure at the former training ground was retained and repurposed to form the new home of the Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher Football Education Academy.
Outline planning permission for development at Melwood was granted back in 2017 with changes made to address drainage and highways issues. The scheme approved by Liverpool Council was outlined to include the construction of a three storey structure to house 96 extra care units, made up of 65 one-bed rooms as well as including eight dementia dwellings and 31 two-bed units.
Torus confirmed to the LDRS the sale marked the end of the line for the project. Chris Bowen, managing director at Torus Developments, said: “All our developments are designed to help transform places and inspire growth.
“We believe Liverpool FC is best placed to use this location to support the growth of women’s football and to maximise the benefit of the site to the wider community.”
Liverpool Women currently train at Tranmere Rovers' 'the Campus' facility on Leasowe Road, Wallasey. Andy Hughes, LFC managing director heralded the move back to the club’s historic former home.
He said: “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women’s Board to elevate and develop our Women’s first team and Category One Professional Game Academy. Now is the right time to make this move and we’re absolutely delighted that we’ve managed to take this opportunity to return to Melwood and to see it start a new chapter of Liverpool’s commitment to our women’s first team and academy.
“We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for [the] LFC Foundation. We are delighted that FEFA will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.”
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