NEW STADIUM GETS THE GREEN LIGHT

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The construction of Liverpool Football Club's new home will begin in the spring after the city council approved revised plans for a 60,000 stadium.

The new Anfield, which won't now be completed until 2011, will have the potential to hold significantly more than 60,000 and another planning application is likely to be submitted once building work gets underway.    Chief executive Rick Parry told Liverpoolfc.tv: "This is very good news and we're obviously very happy. We got unanimous approval from the planning committee which is very gratifying.    "Building work will now begin in the spring. I don't want to be any more specific than that.    "This gives us the ability to build a structure, and that structure would be capable of taking significantly more than 60,000.    "There will be a follow up application for whatever we decide the capacity could be."    Parry claimed that while the opening will now be 12 months later than originally thought, the end product would be worth the wait.    He added: "We will be very proud of what we have. Whether it will be the best depends on what other clubs do in the future, but we're certainly setting our sights high.    "We want a great team and a great stadium. The message for the fans is it will give us the revenues to make sure we continue to compete on the pitch. That's the whole purpose of the exercise.    "It's not about building monuments, it's making sure we're competitive."    Parry also revealed how he'd spoken to co-chairman Tom Hicks and George Gillett straight after this afternoon's decision was made.    "We've obviously let them know and it's fair to say they are very pleased. We haven't had time for lengthy discussions yet because this is hot from the press.    "People are excited by this. All the credit is down to Tom and George. It was their initiative - they decided to stop and draw breath on these plans."    The club now has to wait four months for any legal challenges or intervention from the secretary of state.