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Supply and demand.

It’s a concept which Liverpool supporters have had to become very familiar with over the years.

And it reared its head again this past week as thousands of supporters suffered difficulty during the members’ sale for tickets on Tuesday and Thursday as well as the disabled supporters’ sale on Monday.

Lots of fans left staring at computer screens for hours only to miss out on tickets which they had paid a membership for the chance to get.

For disabled supporters, some queued for several hours before missing out on some of the games they had hoped to secure precious tickets for.

There were technical problems of course - the server used by LFC thought it was under attack so huge was the surge on the system - but ultimately it came down to a simple equation.

Too many supporters, not enough seats.

Tony Barrett, Liverpool’s new head of club and supporter liasion, admitted it wasn’t good enough and put it simply in a chat with the ECHO: “What’s happened this week haven’t surprised me, the issue is supply and demand, that’s what it comes down to.

“It’s about technology and systems but there aren’t enough tickets and too many fans so that presents challenges that we’ve seen this week.”

A review will now take place to look at ways the distribution of tickets can be made simpler and fairer, with a new fan forum led by Barrett at its heart.

But to get it right, he added, it couldn’t happen overnight and proper discussions would need to take place with supporters.

That delay will no doubt be frustrating to fans who had experiences such as that of Robin Hilliard, one of many to contact the ECHO about his experience this week.

Robin said: “I’ve been a loyal supporter and haven’t missed a home game for over 25 years,

“I...have been on the season ticket waiting list for over 23 years and have not missed a home since but thanks to the shambolic LFC ticket website it took me over two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday to get tickets I was guaranteed, got to the basket to pay and it crashed so I had to start the process all over again.

“Then the last tickets I needed - Huddersfield and Burnley - the sale started on Thursday. I managed to get on the website 8.17am and was met with a message over one hour’s wait

“I then noticed after waiting for hours the tickets had sold out.”

It’s an all-too-familiar tale and many fans reading this will have had similar experiences.

It is a fact of life that some fans will miss out on tickets but there must be a better and fairer way than this.

A review is right of course but this week’s chaos should also send a very clear message to club owners FSG - expanding the Anfield Road end is no longer “an option” it is a necessity.

A project team led by Liverpool’s chief operating officer Andy Hughes is currently looking at what form such expansion could take.

The club secured outline permission to extend the Anfield Road when they received permission for the new £110m Main Stand and that remains in place until August 2019, adding close to an extra 5,000 seats.

Hughes told the ECHO in May: “Anfield Road provides an opportunity to further develop our stadium in the future and the club’s position is that we’re going to start exploring the viability.

“We will follow the same robust process for Anfield Road as we did for the Main Stand. We are currently working on design, feasibility, cost, capacity and economic viability options.

“Only once we have completed this comprehensive process and come to a conclusion will it be the right time to move forward with any development programme.”

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It’s right and proper that Liverpool should be cautious but the focus of the Anfield Road team must surely now be on finding the best way of making it happen, not whether it should happen at all.

Liverpool’s Main Stand project increased capacity to 54,074 and added an extra 8,500 seats for supporters. The club was rewarded with the single biggest average attendance in Merseyside football history.

An average of 53,113 fans watched Liverpool’s home league games last season, beating the Reds’ own mark of 48,103 in 1972/73 and Everton’s 51,603 of 1962/63. More than 1 million people - 1,009,154 to be precise - watched the Reds play league football at Anfield.

There’s your demand John Henry, never mind if “ticket prices are an issue in England”.

The new Spurs’ stadium will take their capacity to 61,000, Chelsea have permission for 60,000 while Arsenal are already at 60,400 and Manchester United at a lofty 75,600.

Sticking at 54,000 can’t be the right option for Liverpool Football Club.

Expanding the Anfield Road may not be as financially attractive as the Main Stand, with difficulties in creating the hospitality levels which add value to each seat.

The project may well take longer to pay back than the six years currently estimated for the Main Stand.

But estimated costs of £40million to £45million are less than an extra midfielder these days. Less than Kyle Walker for goodness sake.

As Barrett told the ECHO this week: “The most basic engagement for a supporter is the opportunity for them to see the team play.”

It can’t happen overnight of course but Liverpool have the ability to allow more fans in to see them play.

It’s time to meet that demand with some extra supply.