Melwood will always hold a special place in Liverpool hearts.
The Reds first set up their training camp there in the 1950s after deciding that practicing on the Anfield turf was damaging the grass there, but Melwood soon deteriorated into a scruffy, unkempt mess.
The legendary Bill Shankly arrived at Anfield in 1959 and set about transforming Melwood into of the world’s elite training grounds, and his work was continued every day up until Monday, when there doors were closed on the training complex for the final time.
Liverpool spent the last three years working on a new £50m training complex in Kirkby which will allow them to join up with the team’s academy sides, and the Reds have now made the switch to their new home.
It was an emotional day for everyone involved with Liverpool, and stars of both the past and present hopped on social media to pay their respects to Melwood, which will now be redeveloped into 160 homes.
“Mixed emotions, really mixed emotions,” manager Jurgen Klopp told Liverpool’s official website when asked for his feelings before the move. “I am happy about going to Kirkby and very sad about leaving Melwood, to be honest.
“So, it’s strange; I didn’t think properly about it so far, but my PA is obviously already moving all my stuff out of my office so I realised step-by-step that the place already looks different.
“I will miss it, but that’s how it should be. Melwood was really good, it was important – an important place in my life, so I will miss it. But Kirkby will be great.”
Shankly’s improvement of Melwood is often seen as the catalyst for Liverpool’s emergence as one of Europe’s elite teams in the late 60s and throughout the 70 and 80s.
After winning two First Division titles in 1963/64 and 1965/66, Liverpool went on to lift the trophy a further 11 times between 1973 and 1990, before ending their 30-year wait for another title under Klopp in 2020.
