Liverpool have been given the go-ahead to begin a £60million, 7,000-seat expansion at Anfield which will give them the third-largest stadium in the Premier League.
The 2019-20 champions finally got the green light from Liverpool City Council on Tuesday to begin the redevelopment works on the Anfield Road stand, which will take their overall capacity to 61,000.
The increase will take them above Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester City's capacities, leaving them only behind Manchester United and Tottenham in terms of the largest Premier League crowd.
The Reds hierarchy have also applied for permission to hold six 'major events' each year, which are likely to be music concerts inside the stadium.
The build is expected to take 18 months to complete, with council chiefs finally giving the club permission after they submitted their plans at the start of December.
Work is scheduled to begin during the season via a structure to the rear of the stand, before the more 'intrusive' work takes place during the summer months when no football is being played.
There were some serious concerns raised by local residents over the impact it would have on Stanley Park, with some staging a protest there at the weekend.
It was revealed that 27 trees will need to be removed from the park for the work to take place, but Liverpool attempted to allay those fears by promising to plant 70 new ones to replace them.
Arguing against the plans, Anfield councillor Lena Simic said: 'This park was created for public benefit, it has been loved by citizens for over 150 years.'
In response, Liverpool argued that two of the trees are dead or dying and six others need to be removed as they could lose limbs and become dangerous.
Liverpool's chief operating officer, Andy Hughes, spoke in favour of the plans at the meeting on Tuesday: 'The club has been investing significant sums into Stanley Park over many years. We've spent over £20m on the restoration of the park and this proposal involves us investing more.
'We have made really significant contributions to the park and continue to take it really seriously.'
StanleyMendez
345
European clubs to Liverpool don't do that, even with 54,000 capacity, we can't cope with then what about 7,000 capacity. Anfield, the stadium that win matches for liverpool without their efforts
Seleção1
11
Liverpool, Man United, and Chelsea every time you will hear them expanding or upgrading the stadiums but you will never hear them building a new stadium. These are the big teams in English football with an old ugly stadiums, why not build a new modern stadiums for the fans.
Because it's heritage, something Citizens don't have