Opponents: Liverpool

Date: Sunday 16 January

Kick-off: 2pm

Capacity:  53,394

Post code for sat-nav: L4 0TH

Opened in 1884, Anfield was originally home to the blue half of Merseyside, Everton playing their home games there until 1892. However, a dispute between the Everton committee and the stadium owner, John Houlding, saw The Toffees move across Stanley Park to Goodison Park, leaving Anfield without a team to use it.

Houlding decided to form a new club, Liverpool FC and Athletic Grounds Ltd, to occupy the ground. Their first match at Anfield was a friendly played in front of 200 people on 1 September 1892, against Rotherham Town. Liverpool won 7–1.

Between 1895 and 1906, the modern Anfield took shape with work done on all four sides of the ground. It was during this period that the Walton Breck Road stand, more famously known as the Spion Kop, was built.

The name came from a hill in South Africa where a local regiment had suffered heavy losses during the Boer War. More than 300 men had died, many of them from Liverpool, as the British army attempted to capture the strategic hilltop. By 1928, the Kop could house 30,000 spectators; the largest Kop in the country at the time. In the same year the topmast of the SS Great Eastern, one of the first iron ships, was rescued from the ship breaking yard at nearby Rock Ferry, hauled up Everton Valley by a team of horses, and erected alongside the new Kop. It still stands there, serving as a flag pole.

As a result of the Hillsborough disaster, when Police mismanagement led to overcrowding and the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans, The Kop was made all seater in 1994, reducing the capacity of the single tier stand to 12,390.

There are three prominent memorials around Anfield. The Paisley Gateway at the Kop, The Shankly Gates at the Anfield Road end, and the Hillsborough memorial on 97 Avenue. The memorial those who died on 15 April 1989 is always decorated with flowers and tributes, while at the centre of the memorial is an eternal flame, signifying that those who died will never be forgotten.

DID YOU KNOW?

Redevelopment of the Kemlyn Road Stand was delayed by a decade after two elderly sisters, Joan and Nora Mason, refused to leave their house at No 26 Kemlyn Road. The sisters left in November 1990 with the new stand, renamed the Centenary Stand, finally opened in September 1992.

HOW TO GET THERE

STADIUM INFORMATION

Stadium access for visiting supporters has changed at Anfield with no through road on Anfield Road. Brentford fans must approach the stadium via Dahlia Walk onto 97 Avenue (Blue Route) as there is no access from the direction of Arkles Lane. At the end of the game when leaving the stadium, please turn left.

WHERE TO EAT/DRINK

The Arkles on Anfield Road is known as the away fans' pub. A little further away from the ground you have the Flat Iron and the Cabbage Hall. Both of these pubs are about a five minute walk from the away end.

There are plenty of pubs in Liverpool city centre that you are able to drink in pre-match before making a short trip to Anfield using public transport. Many away fans congregate in the Concert Square and Mathew Street areas of the City.

All adult supporters must fill in a Covid-19 Self Declaration form and be able to show proof of an NHS COVID Pass or negative test result within the last 48 hours

Get yourself match ready here