Why Anfield pitch looks brown – and how it will be resolved for new season

With the latest Anfield Road footage showing that the pitch has lost its colouring with the work taking place, some have shown concern about whether the surface will be ready for the new season.

The development of the new stand has gone up a notch since the final home game of 2022/23, with cranes seen on the pitch while the structure’s previous roof was fully removed.

It is set for completion in time for the start of 2023/24, with the club sending a request to the Premier League to allow their opening game to be played away from Anfield.

One thing supporters have noticed since the introduction of the two cranes inside the stadium is that the field of play now looks in significantly worse condition than it did during last season.

This has prompted worries about how it will look once the work is completed and whether it will be back up to standard come August.

The reason for the discolouration is that the pitch is grown predominantly on sand, meaning that it drains exceptionally well but goes brown extremely quickly when the ground staff are unable to add water to it.

In order to get the pitch ready in time for the first home game of the new campaign, the turf will be relaid following the completion of the roof removal and after the cranes and pitch covering have been taken away.

A test event will take place prior to the beginning of the new season to ensure that both the stadium and pitch are fit for purpose.

Speaking last month, stadium operations manager Paul Cuttill explained that the nature of the test event remains uncertain but revealed the plan for getting Anfield matchday-ready as quickly as possible.

“We don’t know at this point what the test event will look like due to the work that is taking place on the pitch for that four-week period,” he told The Athletic.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, June 6, 2023: An aerial view of Anfield, the home stadium of Liverpool Football Club, showing the ongoing construction of the new Anfield Road expansion. The redevelopment of the stand will see 7,000 more seats added taking Anfield's overall capacity to more than 61,000. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

“Once that period is done and we lift the covering off the pitch, we’ve then got to relay the pitch and get ready for the start of the season.

“The critical thing for us is to make sure the pitch is pristine.

“Once the roof has come off and we can lift the covering off the pitch, we can then assess how long it is going to get the pitch to that standard and then we look at what the test event might look like.”

The fixtures for the 2023/24 Premier League season will be released on June 15 at 9am (BST), with the opening weekend scheduled for August 12/13.

Fans will have to wait slightly longer than that to see the Reds back in action at Anfield, with the first home game set to take place the following weekend commencing August 19.