Liverpool look for naming partner

Liverpool have ruled out renaming Anfield but have revealed they are trying to find a “naming partner” in the event they move to a new stadium.

The club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, are eager to increase capacity.

But they have not yet decided whether redeveloping the Reds’ present home or building a new venue is the way to go.

“We are activelty seeking a naming partner if we move to a new stadium but will definitely not consider renaming Anfield,” said Reds chief Ian Ayre.

Liverpool’s managing director was speaking to BBC Sport’s Dan Roan in his first television interview since being appointed to the position last week.

He added: “I’m enjoying it. It’s a great football club and there are a lot of positive things going on – a great new ownership structure and the team seems to be on the up.

“I’ve always felt it’s the biggest and best football club in the world and there are good times ahead.”

Even in the darkest hours we had around ownership and debt our business continued to grow Ian Ayre Liverpool managing director

Ayre was promoted from commercial director, a position he held under previous owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

The duo’s reign became increasingly bitter and acrimonious because of the levels of debt they placed on the club and they were forced to sell for £300m in October 2010.

Ayre said the fact that the club had emerged from such a difficult period proved how strong it is.

“Even in the darkest hours we had around ownership and debt our business continued to grow,” he commented.

“That shows Liverpool is bigger than any one person and it’s a global football brand, which makes it slightly different from other clubs.

“It can survive those things and always will. That shows the strength of the team involved on the football and non-football sides. Now we’re in a very positive phase.”

Liverpool were one of the Premier League’s biggest spenders during the January transfer window, splashing out in the region of £58m on Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.

Ayre said: “We all feel very positive about the business we did in January. We find ourselves with a better squad as a result, although there’s still a lot to do.

“We are also confident we acted within our means during that process. It was great to see Andy Carroll get one on the board for England in the 1-1 draw with Ghana on Tuesday and hopefully it won’t be too long before he does for Liverpool.”

He said there was no news on whether caretaker manager Kenny Dalglish would be given a permanent deal or not.

“We’ll all work to get to an outcome on that as quickly as possible,” he said. “When we’ve got something to say our fans will be the first to hear about it.”