Enfield (stadium)

The plot of land on which Enfield was located, opened in 1884, originally belonged to the brewer John Orrell, a friend of John Howding , who rented the land of the future stadium from Orrel ^[6] . Everton , after numerous riots of fans, was forbidden to play on Pryori Road, and the team needed a new venue for matches, and Orrel allowed for a small fee to use his land on Anfield Road, where a football field was soon built ^[7] . The first game played on Enfield was held on September 28, 1884 between Everton and Earlstown, where the hosts won 5-0 ^[8] .

From 1884 to 1892, Enfield served as the home arena of Everton FC ^[3] . During Everton’s stay, a small tribune was set up at the stadium for 8,000 spectators who regularly attend games, although about 20,000 standing spectators were present around the field. The first match of the first season of the Football League was played here on September 8, 1888 , between Everton and the Accrington Lancashire team. Everton quickly grew as a team and three years later, in the 1890/1891 season , he became the league champion ^[9] . However, this success was not without flaws. After the victory in 1891, Houlding bought the plot from Orrel and proposed to increase the rent from £ 100 to £ 250 annually. From the general meeting of members of the club, Houlding was forced to leave, and Everton, refusing to meet his demands, moved to Goodison Park ^[7] . Houlding was left alone with an empty stadium, and on March 15, 1892 it was decided to form a new football club. The team was named Liverpool , and their first match at Anfield was played on September 1, 1892, against , which MercySide won 7: 1 ^[10] .

The first match at Enfield as part of the Football League, Liverpool played on September 9, 1893 against Lincoln City , beating 4: 0 in the presence of 5,000 spectators ^[11] . The new tribune, built in 1895, contained 3,000 spectators and stood on the site of the modern “Main Stand” ^[12] . The stand had a distinctive red-and-white gable, like the main stand at St. James Park at Newcastle United Stadium ^[10] . Another tribune was built along Enfield Road in 1903 from wood and corrugated iron. After Liverpool won its second championship title in 1906, a new tribune was built along the Walton Break Road. Journalist Ernest Edwards, who was the sports editor of the local newspaper Liverpool Daily Post "And" Liverpool Echo ", Dubbed it" Spion Cop "(" Spy Hill ") in honor of the famous hill in South Africa , where a local regiment suffered heavy losses during the Anglo-Boer War in 1900 while attempting to seize strategic height. During the battle, more than three hundred soldiers died, many of them were from Liverpool. At the same time, a tribune was built along the Kemlin Road ^[13] .

The stadium remained almost the same until 1928, when the Kop stand was redesigned and expanded to 30,000 seats, and the roof was installed ^[14] . Many of the stadiums in England had tribunes named after “Spion Cop,” but at Enfield the tribune with that name was the largest in the country at that time ^[15] .

In 1957, the lighting was installed and on October 30 it was included for the first time in a match against Everton, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Liverpool County Football Association. In 1963, the old “Kemlin Rd” tribune was replaced with a cantilever structure that seats 6,700 spectators and costs 350,000 pounds. Two years later, a roof appeared over the entire Enfield Road podium. The largest restructuring was in 1973, when the old “Main Stand” was dismantled and rebuilt. At the same time, the lighting along the Kemlin Road and Main Stand was replaced. The new rostrum was officially opened by the Earl of Kent on March 10, 1973. In the 1980s, the front of the Main Stand was equipped with seating, and in 1982, the seating area appeared on Enfield Road. In 1982, the Schenkley Gate was established as a tribute to the famous manager Bill Shankly . The honor of the symbolic first opening of the gate on August 26, 1982 was granted to the widow of Shankly - Nessie. Along the Shankli Gate there is an inscription “ You'll Never Walk Alone ” - words from the hit Gerry & The Pacemakers , which for the fans of Liverpool has become the club’s anthem.

In 1987, a police room was added to Kemlin Road. In 1989, after the tragedy at Hillsboro , the Taylor Report ordered that all stadiums in the country be refurbished by May 1994 so that only the seats were left ^[16] . In 1992, a second tier was added to the “Kemlin”, accommodating 11,000 individual seats. Plans to expand the rostrum were even earlier, but two elderly residents, areas of which were adjacent to Kemlin Road, refused to move their houses, and plans had to be postponed. When one of them died, the others decided to move out, and expansion plans were launched ^[17] . The new tribune was officially opened on September 1, 1992 by UEFA President Lennart Johansson and renamed Centenary Stand. The Kop was reconstructed in 1994 after the Taylor Report and is only equipped with seating in the last place, the capacity of the rostrum significantly decreased to 12,390 ^[15] .

On December 4, 1997, a statue of Bill Shankly, cast in bronze, was presented in the center of the square in front of the Kop stand. The 8- foot statue depicts a Shankly figure with a club scarf around his neck in a familiar pose accepting applause from fans. The statue is written "He made people happy. ” ^[18] The Hillsborough Memorial is located next to the Shankly Gate and is always decorated with flowers in memory of the 96 fans who died at Hillsboro. An eternal flame is lit in the center of the memorial, demonstrating that those who died tragically would never be forgotten ^[19] . The next change to Enfield was made in 1998, when the renewed two-tiered Enfield Road platform opened.

Entrance to the stadium is carried out using radio frequency identification smart card ( RFID ). This system was introduced in 2005 on all 80 turnstiles of the stadium.

The field is surrounded by four covered stands:

• Spion Cop;
• Main Stand;
• Kenny Dalglish Stand;
• "Enfield Road".

The Main Stand tribune is a three-tiered, Kenny Dalglish Stand and Enfield Road are two-tiered, and the Kop is a single-tiered one.

The Kenny Dalglish Stand tribune was originally called Kemlin Road, but after the second tier was completed, the tribune was renamed to the centenary of the club's Centenary Stand. However, in 2017, the tribune was renamed again in honor of the Kenny Dalglish club legend ^[20] . The capacity of the stands with a total of 11 762 seats - 4600 seats on the upper tier and 6814 on the lower.

Tribune "Enfield Road" accommodates only 9074 viewers, of which 2,654 places on the upper tier, 6,391 on the lower tier and 29 places for the disabled.

The Kop tribune was originally built as an open tribune with a capacity of approximately 30,000 spectators, the roof was added in 1928. However, after the tragedy at Hillsboro and the subsequent Taylor Report, a new Kop was built with a capacity of 12,409 seats.

Under the “Main Stand” there are locker rooms for coaches, referees and players. The stand for 12,277 seats, consists of 9,597 ordinary seats, 2,409 in the paddock, 177 seats for senior staff, 54 seats for the press, 32 seats for people in wheelchairs, 36 seats for people with poor eyesight, and space for one personal assistant, also provided headphones with full commentary of what is happening on the field.

Above the stairs, which leads down to the field, hangs a sign: "This is Enfield." Its goal is to simultaneously intimidate an opponent and bring good luck to those who relate to it. Accordingly, the players of Liverpool and the coaching staff passing below are touching the sign with one or both hands.

• Duncan Adams. A Fan's Guide: Football Grounds : England and Wales. - Hersham: Ian Allan Ltd, 2007. - 224 p. - ISBN 0711032688 . - ISBN 978-0-7110-3268-2 .
• Matthew Graham. Liverpool. - 2 re edition. - Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing, 1986. - 128 p. - ISBN 0-600-50254-6 . - ISBN 978-0600502548 .
• Simon Inglis. The Football Grounds of England and Wales. - Beverley: Willow, 1983. - ISBN 0-00-218024-3 .
• Stephen F. Kelly. You'll never walk alone. - London: Queen Anne Press, 1988. - ISBN 0-356-19594-5 .
• Stan Liversedge. Liverpool The Official Centenary History. - London: Hamlyn Publishing, 1991. - ISBN 0-600-57308-7 .
• Leo Moynihan. The Liverpool Miscellany. - London: Vision Sports Publishing, 2008. - ISBN 978-1-905326-46-4 .
• Tommy Smith. Anfield Iron. - London: Bantam Press, 2008. - ISBN 0-593-05958-1 .

• Virtual tour on the official club website (English)
• Stadium Description at WorldStadiums.com (English)
• Enfield (Neopr.) . gidotur.ru - "Attractions around the world . " The appeal date is May 9, 2019.