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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Laura Hartley

Liverpool Women to switch crest after 'truly historic' £13m move

Liverpool Women will next season switch their crest to the club's official one.

The news comes as the club repurchases the historic Melwood training facility, which will be used for the women's team to train at as their permanent base moving forward.

As the ECHO reported in January, Liverpool have been in talks with affordable housing trust Torus over buying back the training base that was home to the club for 70 years.

Liverpool officially ended their association with Melwood in November 2020 when they made the emotional move to the new £50m AXA Training Centre in Kirkby.

READ MORE: Liverpool complete 'truly historic' repurchase of Melwood Training Ground

READ MORE: Leighanne Robe lifts lid on 'full circle' Liverpool moment and emotional exit

On the change of the crest, a statement from the club said: "As part of the move, the LFC Women crest will move to the official club crest to further demonstrate the team's inclusivity and being very much part of Liverpool FC."

The club's move to offer the women's team an elite facility at Melwood will enable their continuation in competing at the highest level, while attracting, developing and retaining the best talent in the game.

The ECHO understands Liverpool have paid around £13m to buy back the grounds of the West Derby venue and the club's managing director, Andy Hughes, talked up the significance of a return to a place that was synonymous with the Reds for decades.

“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," said Mr Hughes.

“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 (The Fowler Education And Football Academy) will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people."

Torus announced two years ago that Melwood would be retained after the housing trust had agreed a lease with Fowler and fellow Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who teamed up to amalgamate their respective academies, and Reds MD Hughes took the opportunity to thank the pair for their help in the process.

Mr Hughes added: “We would like to thank Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher for their work with Torus since we left the site in 2019. We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to reengaging with them in the near future.”

Chris Bowen, managing director at Torus Developments, added: “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.

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