Management of match day is the biggest job of the week according to Stadium and Operations manager Ged Poynton. Here he explains how he and his staff cope with the pressures of an average match day at Anfield.

"First of all you have to employ stewards who have to be trained to NVQ level 2, a nationally accepted training standard in England," says Poynton.

"Then there are the huge number of files and bits of paperwork that have to be signed off. 

"From the flow rates, first-aid reports, procedures, stewards' reports and the attendance...They all need checking and logging. 

"Every match also develops additional problems. There may be complaints. Maybe there's someone with a disability who feels they haven't been handled properly or maybe it's one of the few fans who have been arrested. There's always something. 

"On the plus side, you also get letters with compliments and all that has to be dealt with too. Obviously the bigger the match the more paperwork there is."

While the overall responsibility of ensuring match day runs smoothly falls firmly at his feet, Poynton admits his job would be almost impossible if he didn't have the full support of what he refers to as 'the team behind the team'. 

"On a match day we have up to 1200-1400 people working for us," he says. "There can be up to 550 stewards amongst that number. 

"Then there's the turnstile operators and security. We've also got around 50 full-time ground staff between Anfield, Melwood and the Academy. 

"I haven't even mentioned maintenance and catering, but you get the picture. 

"Once you start the season, it's like a machine. You go up and down the gears to suit the level of the matches.

"First of all you need to clean the stadium. Then you have to fix things that have been broken. It's not easy maintaining a building of this size, particularly when you realise you've got over 4000 lamps as well as the floodlights. There's always lights going out and always handles coming off doors. 

"So you see, there's lots of maintenance involved and we've also got to look after the pitch. 

"People don't realise it, but all this is going on every day of the week. The only thing we don't plan on a match day is how the team and players will approach the game. Everything else goes through here. It's all about a team around a team."