Nerve 24 - IF you build it they will come... This is Anfield

IF you build it they will come….. This is Anfield

Football, as the national game, inspires both positive and negative emotions in equal measure. Those who follow the game tend to support a particular club for life: football helps to shape their identity but in return demands tremendous loyalty.

With the establishment of the premiership in 1992, competition on and off the pitch has increased exponentially as individual clubs compete against each other for TV revenues and world class players. Liverpool Football Club along with other clubs nationally, has been forced to maintain its alpha league status through maximising its revenues. Unlike several premiership clubs Liverpool did not float the club on the stock exchange. Instead it has sought to raise revenues by increasing the entrance fee for live games, putting up the cost of season tickets as well as seeking to generate a world-wide fan base through playing international friendlies outside the regular season, and embracing global business partnerships to generate additional income streams.

Champions league football is seen as crucial to maximising revenues and status. These are essential factors in both attracting world class players and also meeting the demands of an ever expanding wage bill. In the modern era a significant proportion of revenue is generated from television but match day revenue is still crucial; hence the need to expand the capacity of the stadium. This need for expansion has brought the club into conflict with the people living in close proximity to the ground.

On The The Terraces - Lothair Road

Thus the pressures faced by clubs in the premiership, as they jockey for position, has tended to create a distance between the traditional fan and their local roots as they continue to build an international brand on the world stage of football.

This work explores two of the major sources of conflict between the club and its local supporters, who have increasingly been priced out of watching live games at their local stadium as ticket prices increase season on season on season.

These pictures explore in great detail another facet of this strained relationship as the club seeks to expand the capacity of the stadium. These plans have brought the club into conflict with the local community as many residents have been forced to leave their homes, and those who have remained in the area have been left to cope with serious issues linked to urban blight.

On The Terraces - The View from Lothair Road

These images were first shown in an exhibition at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston. Christine Physick, a Liverpool based artist, is looking for a venue here to exhibit this work.

The three images are linked to concept of 'space'. The space in question is Lothair Road / Rockfield Road in Anfield, the subject of the ongoing dispute about who owns the space, and the right to somewhere to live, as LFC pushes forward its plans to extend the footprint of the football ground.

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