Liverpool: Work to resume on new £50m Kirkby base without a timescale for completion

Construction was ceased towards the end of March due to the pandemic and there are doubts over whether Liverpool will be able to use the complex for the 2020-21 season.

A general view of Anfield (Action Images via Reuters)

Work is set to resume on Liverpool’s new £50million training facility in Kirkby, but there is currently no timescale on its completion due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The club had planned to move to the new state-of-the-art base at the beginning of July, with the first-team and academy being housed at one location.

However, contractors McLaughlin and Harvey had to cease construction towards the end of March due to the pandemic and there are doubts over whether Liverpool will be able to use the complex for the 2020-21 season.

The Premier League leaders reached a deal to sell their Melwood facility to Torus Housing Trust for £10m. The agreement includes a clause stipulating the Merseysiders could stay at the training ground for another year in the case of unforeseen circumstances.

McL&H are still assessing the impact of Covid-19 on their supply chain, and as such, cannot provide a concrete date for full delivery of the project, which was only a few weeks away from finalisation.

The firm have been following the advice of the government as well as the Construction Leadership Council to implement safe systems of work in line with the guidelines, which have been communicated to subcontractors on site.

They expect to gradually increase the numbers of staff at the Kirkby build in a controlled, phased manner.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed for construction workers to return to their jobs.

“We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work,” he said.

The construction industry has been permitted to operate in England and Wales since the start of the lockdown, but McLaughlin and Harvey opted to close all its sites as “a result of the government’s advice to protect the health and safety of its employees and contractors during the coronavirus outbreak” a Liverpool spokesperson confirmed in March.