Merseyside dockers club primed for housing 

Persimmon Homes has won approval to build 232 houses and apartments at the 12.5-acre site of the disused former workers club in Anfield, after acquiring the site for an undisclosed sum.

The former Merseyside Dockworkers Sports & Social Club, most recently known as the Edinburgh Park Dockers Club, has been vacant and derelict for almost a decade. The grounds had previously hosted sports and social activities for Merseyside dock workers, their families and the wider community since 1949, but was more recently the home of grassroots and amateur footfall in Liverpool.

Persimmon purchased the site from the Edinburgh Park Dockers Club and now intends to deliver a residential scheme comprising a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom mews houses, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and a series of semi-detached and detached houses – 232 units in total – to “give the site a new lease of life”. Liverpool City Council approved the housebuilder’s application last week.

The club was advised on the sale by national law firm Weightmans as well as investment agents at Avison Young and the sale process was highly complex, spanning nine years, due to opposition over the potential future use of the site and other issues.

Jim Davies and Mike Tighe, representatives of the Edinburgh Park Dockers Club, said: “This has been a lengthy process that involved engagement with multiple stakeholders, including [government agency] Sport England, to ensure we delivered the best possible outcome for this site.

“The plans from Persimmon Homes will give the dockers club a new lease of life, welcoming families and young professionals to a new community in Anfield.”

And Weightmans partner Clive Bleasdale added: “This is a great result for the dockers club. Formerly a valuable community asset, supporting amateur football in Liverpool for more than 60 years, it has become disused over the last decade and become a target for break-ins and antisocial behaviour.

“Now, the land will be brough back into productive use, welcoming a new community of residents without sacrificing any green space, with all training land reallocated close by.”