Association completes sale of land to LFC as club plans new training base for women’s team

But LFC now plans to use the Melwood site as a new training base and academy for its women’s first team.

The club also has plans to use the site for community outreach facilities for its LFC Foundation programmes, as well as to educate young people through the Fowler Education and Football Academy (FEFA).

A planning application will be brought forward to support these aspirations in due course. This will require the support of local residents and the community.

LFC said it had searched for alternative sites in the years since it sold the site to Torus, but decided that “Melwood is the perfect fit for many reasons”.

This is because it will allow the women’s first team to continue to compete at the highest level, attracting, developing and retaining the best talent in the game.

Torus has confirmed it will use the funds from the sale of Melwood to continue its strategy of increasing the number of much-needed homes across Merseyside.

Chris Bowen, managing director of Torus Developments, added: “All our developments are designed to help transform places and inspire growth. We believe Liverpool FC is best placed to use this location to support the growth of women’s football and to maximise the benefit of the site to the wider community.

“Although we will not be delivering this development, Torus will continue to seek other opportunities to develop affordable homes in Liverpool and to help local communities thrive.”

As part of the move, the LFC Women crest will switch to the official club crest.

Andy Hughes, managing director at LFC, said: “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and Category 1 Professional Game Academy.

“Now is the right time to make this move and we’re absolutely delighted that we’ve managed to take this opportunity to return to Melwood and to see it start a new chapter of Liverpool’s commitment to our women’s first team and academy.

“We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for the LFC Foundation. We are delighted that FEFA will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.

“We would like to thank [former Liverpool players] Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher for their work with Torus since we left the site in 2019.

“We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”