Gerrard's Anfield agony
Steven Gerrard admits he will be gutted when Liverpool finally leave Anfield.
Steven Gerrard admits he will be gutted when Liverpool close the doors on Anfield for the last time.
The Liverpool skipper says he is fully behind the plans to build a new 60,000 stadium in Stanley Park, but admits it will be a huge wrench to leave behind the club's spiritual home.
"In a perfect world, we'd have stayed on the Anfield site and redeveloped that, but that option was always a non starter," said the England midfielder.
"It will be a proud moment for me if I get the chance to lead Liverpool into the new era as captain in a new stadium.
"But that is a long way down the road from where we are at the moment. The new investors have spoken a lot about winning and being successful, which I am
sure is music to everyone's ears.
"That is all we want as players, to be successful long-term. That is what the manager Rafael Benitez wants and the supporters are used to success and they
want more."
Gerrard says the only way Liverpool can match the success of Manchester United is to have a stadium big enough to generate the finances needed to compete at the top level.
"I'd love to stay at Anfield, but you have got to look at the bigger picture," he added in an interview in the LFC magazine.
"As a player I want to be up there competing for every single trophy we can win. When you look at United and Arsenal they are pulling more punters into the ground than we are, and it makes a difference to our revenue over the season. We are playing catch-up every season.
"I see the pros and cons in the move for financial reasons. To win things, the time has come for us to go for it (a new stadium)."
But Gerrard says he is torn between realism and the romance of Anfield.
"My feelings on the stadium move are mixed, to be honest. The Liverpool supporter in me says I want to stay at Anfield because it's the spiritual home.
"It is where I came to watch my heroes as a kid and it is where I always dreamed of playing when I was young and kicking a ball about in Huyton.
"It has got this sense of history and tradition about it, and I still feel the same walking down the tunnel and up the steps to the pitch today as I got when I made my debut for the team."
