ANFIELD OFF LIMITS FOR ENGLAND

THE FA have decided not to take any England games to Anfield because of Liverpool’s ban on journalists from The Sun, despite struggling to find a suitable ground in the north to host the side’s final Euro 2020 warm-up game against Romania next summer. England have not played at Anfield since a friendly against

Uruguay in March 2006, and will not return on June 7 next year even though the FA have limited options for the Romania fixture, which was announced earlier this week without a venue.

With Wembley unavailable due to preparations for Euro 2020, Gareth Southgate wants England to play in the north to build nationwide support for his side ahead of the tournament. But Anfield has been deemed off limits despite the fact other stadiums are unavailable. Old

Trafford has been booked to host the Soccer Aid charity game on the same day, the Etihad Stadium is unavailable as remedial work needs to be done on the pitch ahead of a programme of summer concerts and goodison park is unsuitable due to its dated facilities and access issues. The FA have held talks with Newcastle about using St James’ park, but are yet to agree a deal.

Sportsmail has been told Liverpool’s ongoing issues with The Sun have precluded them being considered by the FA, and the club are unwilling to alter their position. The newspaper have been prevented from reporting at Anfield since February 2017 because of their historic coverage of the hillsborough disaster, a ban which was extended to The

Sun’s rugby league journalists earlier this year when they were denied entry to the Magic Weekend at the ground. The rugby Football League accepted Liverpool’s right to ban Sun journalists, but the FA appear to be unwilling to get involved in what they regard as a private dispute. The governing body wrote to Liverpool, along with a number of other northern clubs, to inquire if they were interested in staging an England game next summer, but negotiations never got off the ground.