Home from home for Everton star - Champion Newspapers

ANFIELD & WALTON
1 May 2013 Vol 20 • Issue 18
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Letters 12 · Crossword 16
Home from home
for Everton star
Royal salute
for Sadie’s
Garden
IN WITH A SHOUT OF
OWNING STADIUM
Fans’ group Spirit of Shankly want
Anfield listed in new planning law
SUPPORTERS could take ownership
of Anfield football stadium if new
proposals from Liverpool supporters’
union Spirit of Shankly are given the
go ahead.
They have made an application for
the ground to become an Asset of
Community Value, which means the
stadium would be prevented from
being sold without supporters having
an opportunity to purchase it.
Further to this, the Spirit of Shankly
would be automatically notified if any
movements to sell the stadium or the
surrounding areas come into place.
This application does not act as a
guarantee that the Spirit of Shankly
would automatically purchase the
stadium, it just ensures that they
would be told about the plans before it
goes public and would be given the
opportunity to bid if they wish to.
Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State
for Communities and Local
Government, commented on the news
directly to the supporters union
Report by Holly Rummens
saying: “Football stadiums are not
only the heart and soul of every team,
they are rooted in and loved by the
neighbourhoods that surround them.
“Thanks to the new rights we’ve
created, today football fans are
exercising their community right to
keep the beautiful game at their
team’s spiritual home by protecting
their stadium’s future.”
The application is being made under
the Community Right to Bid which is
part of the Localism Act 2011. If
valued land, buildings or even
football stadiums go for sale the local
community has a fairer chance to save
them.
If Anfield is accepted as an Asset of
Community Value then Liverpool City
Council must be notified by Liverpool
Football Club if they have any
intention to sell the stadium.
Paul Martin, spokesperson for Spirit
of Shankly, said: “Safeguarding the
long term future of the club is vitally
important to us. This application
provides us with an opportunity to
influence any future sale of the club by
being part of that process.
“It also ties in with the union belief
that football clubs are of vital
importance to their local community
and are best protected in the hands of
their supporters.”
He added: “Anfield matters to so
many people, whether that be those
who attend football matches, those
who work there or those who live
within close proximity. Given that any
sale of the stadium would feature as
part of the sale of the football club, it
would provide us with a window of
opportunity to put together a suitable
bid for the stadium.”
Spirit of Shankly will be informed if
their application is successful in
around eight weeks time.
holly.rummens@champnews.com
Spirit of Shankly spokesperson Jay McKenna at a protest in 2010
–Picture by John Johnson
Spirit of Shankly fans at a protest in 2008
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