http://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2014/1/14/5307692/everton-new-stadium-ground-move-latest-rumoursEverton optimistic over move to new stadium
Notes from the recent Everton Shareholders Association meeting reveal that the club remain in discussions over a new ground and could move "very quickly" should funding become available, though there appears to be little tangible progress on the issue.
The Everton stadium question has hung over the club since the early 1990s, when the Toffees began to upgrade the stadium in the wake of the Taylor Report, produced following the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy in 1989.
Goodison promptly became all-seater but an opportunity was missed when the new Park End stand, constructed in 1994, only had one tier and minimal corporate facilities.
Two years later then-chairman Peter Johnson revealed his vision of a Toffees superdome on the outskirts of the city, but the doubts were raised over the move when it was scrutinised and eventually shelved when Johnson was forced out in 1998.
The turn of the Millennium presented Everton with the greatest opportunity for a new ground in the form of the Kings Dock development on the banks of the (Royal Blue) River Mersey.
Sadly, despite being preferred bidders for the development Everton were forced to pull out due to a lack of funding - many have not forgiven Bill Kenwright for spurning that opportunity.
Seven years later the club once again tried to move Everton out of the city to a new ground alongside a retail park in Kirkby. A supporters vote gave blessing to the move, but suspicions of the validity of the plans gave rise to the 'Keep Everton in Our City' group, who revealed serious flaws in the project, which was later scuppered by the Government following a public enquiry.
The silence since then has been deafening and despite the real progress being made on the field Goodison - still one of the Premier League's more atmospheric arenas - also remains a millstone round the club's neck.
It has too many obstructed view seats and the corporate facilities lag behind even that of some Championship sides. Sadly it also appears that a sympathetic, gradual reconstruction of the 'Grand Old Lady' is not possible due to the massive cost it would incur.
Bespoke materials would be needed for each stand and with three sides of the ground hemmed in by tightly-packed Victorian terraced housing, space is at a premium and any attempts to free up land a logistical nightmare.
That leaves a move to a new ground within the city boundaries. This latest revelation by chief executive Robert Elstone to the EFCSA at a meeting in December reveals that the club are in talks with the council over a new ground:
Mr Elstone explained that discussions and high level planning continues with up to one and a half days per week of his time being spent on this. Operating to a high-level brief to create a stadium that would provide for the "most atmospheric home-end in world football" he explained that consultation with the Council and finding a preferred site means this is an evolving project. Nonetheless the work is sufficiently progressed that if funding was available the Club could move very quickly.
Mr Elstone described the current work as a ‘phenomenally exciting scheme’ with council buy-in and providing a significant amount of regeneration in Liverpool. He also explained that this was on the agenda for the forthcoming Board Meeting.
Now, the cynical part of me heads straight towards the phrase "if funding was available". Lets face we would all move very quickly if we had several hundred million in our back pocket.
We can produce all the "phenomenally exciting schemes" we like but until someone comes along with cold, hard cash then Everton are stuck where they are.
The council will help all they can (I hope, even if they haven't appeared to in the past), a sponsor would contribute and the sale of Goodison should also be taken into account.
But we also have to ensure the ground is worthy of the Everton motto and not what Kirkby threatened to be - a cheap, soulless flatpack hunk of metal clamped onto a retail park in the middle of nowhere.
This revelation thrusts the stadium issue back into the public eye and Everton's head of communications Alan Myers, a real breath of fresh air since returning to the club last summer, may come under pressure to at least elaborate on what the club are doing about a new ground, seen as the key to a stable and successful long-term future for the club.
Everton FC New Stadium | Liverpool | 50,000+ | Under Construction
Plenty of talk about Everton releasing their latest plan for a new stadium within months, so instead of putting all the info in the Goodison Park thread, I'll start this new thread in the proposed section.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...kdfyCaxO6iJ4OjS5actVcAw&bvm=bv.64542518,d.ZGUEverton to announce new stadium debate within months
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, has said that he hopes Liverpool City Council and Everton Football Club will be able to make an announcement on a new stadium for the club within the next few months.
Speaking to our Everton Podcast, lifelong Evertonian Anderson said that the club and the council had been working hard together in order to develop a scheme that would suit both council and club.
“We’re looking at a number of offers from the club, and we’ve made offers to them as to how we can help progress things,” said Mayor Anderson.
“There are a number of sites that we’ve been considering and we’re doing all we can.
“I’m sure that reasonably shortly there’ll be a discussion and a debate taking place between ourselves and people of the city about something that we’ve been working on.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to put forward a suitable solution within the next couple of months.
“The council will work with the club to look at how we can support them, not necessarily in a financial investment in the club, but perhaps in the same way that we’ve done with Liverpool.
“We’ve invested quite a substantial amount of money around the area [of Anfield] and I’m sure Liverpool Football Club would be the first to admit that.
“We’re working with Everton and I’m confident that we’ll be able to put a proposal forward shortly.”
No Groundshare
When asked about the potential for a ground share with Liverpool Football Club, Anderson was determined that both clubs have their own proposals that are so far advanced that the idea of a share is now dead in the water.
Adding that he would have been behind such a scheme, he said, “I think it could have worked, it’s not going to work, but the thing that I want is for both clubs to be successful and have money coming out of their ears and buy the top players without worrying about a groundshare or whatever.
“But if it saves you tens of millions of pounds a year and you can work together then I would have been supportive of it.
“But it’s not going to happen. The proposals from both clubs are so far advanced now that it’s academic, so let’s move on from that.”
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=113448501&postcount=720Lots of rumors doing the rounds that an announcement in imminent. I chatted to Elstone last year in the USA on the pre-season tour and he said the favoured site was Walton Hall Park. We'll see.
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http://toffeeweb.com/season/13-14/comment/talkingpoints/27102.htmlThe following account has recently been published following a meeting between the Club and Everton Shareholders Association with Robert Elstone at Finch Farm.
There was a very brief discussion concerning progress of a proposed new stadium during which Mr Elstone confirmed that discussions were ongoing with the Council and potential partners. There is a favoured site, about which he’s excited, but he wasn’t (obviously) able to confirm our views as to where it might be.
The Club is working with leading architects who in turn are working to the general brief of creating an atmospheric stadium. One key element of the brief is for fans to be as close to the pitch as possible, with a defined home end. The main stand should be of a high standard and including all the necessary corporate and hospitality facilities. Mr Elstone also confirmed that the Club will not be using the design from the Destination Kirkby proposals but a completely new design.
The issue, as ever, looks to be at the early stages without any mention of the funding required to realise such an ambition... anyone got any idea though where the potential site could be? (Stop s******ing at the back!)
I like the design of the first picture. It looks more classy and one of the best stadium ive ever seen.
http://www.clickliverpool.com/sport...iver-new-stadium-search-update-next-week.htmlEverton FC set to deliver new stadium search update next week
Everton are expected to deliver a fresh update on their search for a new stadium next week.
A series of sites within the city's boundaries for their new home continue to be assessed, with Blues chief executive Robert Elstone revealing last year that Liverpool City Council were consulted about one potential location near to their long-standing Goodison Park abode.
Earlier this month the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, claimed that supporters could expect an announcement on Everton's relocation plans before the beginning of next season.
And the Everton Shareholders' Association have revealed that Elstone will provide a progress report to stakeholders on the situation during next Tuesday's General Meeting.
"With both Everton and the side from across the park enjoying this years on field activities these are exciting football times for our great city," read a statement.
"Additionally both clubs appear to be making significant progress off the field, most notably with their intentions to improve stadium facilities.
"The other side is intent on developing their existing stadium having abandoned the previous option of a new build. Indeed only this week artists impressions have shown the size of their ambition for a 54,000 capacity stadium.
"For our part, our CEO Robert Elstone spends up to a third of his time working on our new stadium scheme – one he described, back in December 2013, as phenomenally exciting.
"From the Kings Dock and Destination Kirkby disappointments to now the club has been, and remains, committed to a ‘new build’ as Goodison is not considered viable for development.
"Stadium location and securing funding are critical to the Everton project. Whilst rumours and opinion abound about the potential location, staying within the city is a must; our Chairman Bill Kenwright favours Walton Hall Park.
"Very little else is known about the detail although Mr Elstone has said that it will be a new design, not a Destination Kirkby rehash, have an atmospheric home end and a high standard main stand. Beyond that we know very little.
"However, that is about to change as Mr Elstone intends to cover the new stadium opportunity at the forthcoming General Meeting.
"Pretty much everything that can be said will be presented on the evening when Mr Elstone will update Shareholders with the current status of the search for a new stadium and happily take questions on the subject.
"These are exciting times indeed, a progressive manager leading a progressive team being backed by real progress off the field."
Everton identify site for new 50,000-seater stadium not far from Goodison
Everton have identified a site for a new 50,000-seat stadium but require council support similar to that behind Manchester City's move to the Etihad Stadium, including the possibility of becoming tenants, before relocating from Goodison Park.
Everton have worked closely on stadium proposals with Liverpool city council since the collapse of their controversial "Destination Kirkby" project in 2009. One site, believed to be Walton Hall Park, not far from Everton's historic home, has emerged as the preferred option and plans have advanced to the design stage, with the stadium part of a wider regeneration scheme.
Robert Elstone, the club's chief executive, confirmed a new stadium "remains a big priority" at Everton's general meeting at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on Tuesday . Everton hope a new build will finally attract fresh investment as happened to City following their move to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003. But they also need the financial support that City received from their local council, plus an arrangement on the ownership structure, before committing to the move.
"We're not ruling out any of the sites that we've identified and that the council has presented to us but there is one site that's getting more attention," Elstone confirmed before the general meeting. "It has been getting more attention for a number of months, it's been worked on very carefully and diligently, not only by Everton but by the council, planners, architects, advisers, cost consultants, regeneration experts, solicitors and so on.
"There is a lot of work going into something that we're excited about and we hope it comes to fruition. If it does come to fruition we think it would be something that the city will be very proud of and we're certain our fans will be very proud of but we have to reflect that in our case it's quite a different economic model to some of the clubs who have moved historically. When they've moved they have had big shortages of capacity and big waiting lists and in that sense the economic model has been relatively compelling and if they build it then they'll fill it and it will pay for itself. In Everton's case that's not quite as cut and dried. For us it's as much about future-proofing, it's potentially about attracting new investment, but the business case on a day to day basis is less than compelling which is why the board is currently looking not only at this opportunity but also the associated risks and the debt that the club might have to take on to deliver it which may or may not be the right thing for us to do. That's exactly where we are in terms of the project and that consideration is ongoing by the board. We will need a collaboration with a number of partners, the principal partner being Liverpool City council, but there is a degree of optimism, perhaps cautious optimism, but definitely optimism and we wouldn't be investing in what we're doing without thinking it had a chance of success."
The Everton board is expected to decide on the financial viability of the scheme in the next few months. Everton have worked on a stadium plan with Liverpool city council before, the aborted Kings Dock project, but Elstone believes the wider economic benefits of Manchester City's move has brought fresh impetus to their latest partnership.
"We need the council to be supportive, financially and entrepreneurially, and at the moment there are signs that they are being that and that has to be welcomed, we are delighted with that," he said. "As a case study you can present Manchester City as a great example of what can be achieved through a sporting led regeneration and that's a tremendous blueprint that we hope we can follow."
Elstone added: "If you've got a new stadium with 10,000 extra seats and you fill it every week it generates about £5m per year. When you've paid for extra security, maintenance, cleaning, lighting, heating, £5m per year might be the wages of one Premier League player or one and a half Premier League players. It comes back to the economic imperative of this which is if we build a new stadium we're not going to be signing three or four Champions League players on the back of that new stadium. That's why this is more challenging for the board than it might have been in Arsenal's case or one or two other clubs who have moved stadium."
Everton also projected a healthier financial position at the general meeting, largely on the back of the new record-breaking broadcasting deal. Unaudited figures for the current financial year forecast a turnover of £117m compared to £86m in 2012/13, with wages falling to 55% of turnover compared to a Premier League average of 72%, and predict that net liabilities will drop from £42.7m in 2012/13 to £12.9m in 2013/14.
Everton have identified a site for a new 50,000-seat stadium but require council support similar to that behind Manchester City's move to the Etihad Stadium, including the possibility of becoming tenants, before relocating from Goodison Park.
Everton have worked closely on stadium proposals with Liverpool city council since the collapse of their controversial "Destination Kirkby" project in 2009. One site, believed to be Walton Hall Park, not far from Everton's historic home, has emerged as the preferred option and plans have advanced to the design stage, with the stadium part of a wider regeneration scheme.
Robert Elstone, the club's chief executive, confirmed a new stadium "remains a big priority" at Everton's general meeting at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on Tuesday . Everton hope a new build will finally attract fresh investment as happened to City following their move to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003. But they also need the financial support that City received from their local council, plus an arrangement on the ownership structure, before committing to the move.
"We're not ruling out any of the sites that we've identified and that the council has presented to us but there is one site that's getting more attention," Elstone confirmed before the general meeting. "It has been getting more attention for a number of months, it's been worked on very carefully and diligently, not only by Everton but by the council, planners, architects, advisers, cost consultants, regeneration experts, solicitors and so on.
"There is a lot of work going into something that we're excited about and we hope it comes to fruition. If it does come to fruition we think it would be something that the city will be very proud of and we're certain our fans will be very proud of but we have to reflect that in our case it's quite a different economic model to some of the clubs who have moved historically. When they've moved they have had big shortages of capacity and big waiting lists and in that sense the economic model has been relatively compelling and if they build it then they'll fill it and it will pay for itself. In Everton's case that's not quite as cut and dried. For us it's as much about future-proofing, it's potentially about attracting new investment, but the business case on a day to day basis is less than compelling which is why the board is currently looking not only at this opportunity but also the associated risks and the debt that the club might have to take on to deliver it which may or may not be the right thing for us to do. That's exactly where we are in terms of the project and that consideration is ongoing by the board. We will need a collaboration with a number of partners, the principal partner being Liverpool City council, but there is a degree of optimism, perhaps cautious optimism, but definitely optimism and we wouldn't be investing in what we're doing without thinking it had a chance of success."
The Everton board is expected to decide on the financial viability of the scheme in the next few months. Everton have worked on a stadium plan with Liverpool city council before, the aborted Kings Dock project, but Elstone believes the wider economic benefits of Manchester City's move has brought fresh impetus to their latest partnership.
"We need the council to be supportive, financially and entrepreneurially, and at the moment there are signs that they are being that and that has to be welcomed, we are delighted with that," he said. "As a case study you can present Manchester City as a great example of what can be achieved through a sporting led regeneration and that's a tremendous blueprint that we hope we can follow."
Elstone added: "If you've got a new stadium with 10,000 extra seats and you fill it every week it generates about £5m per year. When you've paid for extra security, maintenance, cleaning, lighting, heating, £5m per year might be the wages of one Premier League player or one and a half Premier League players. It comes back to the economic imperative of this which is if we build a new stadium we're not going to be signing three or four Champions League players on the back of that new stadium. That's why this is more challenging for the board than it might have been in Arsenal's case or one or two other clubs who have moved stadium."
Everton also projected a healthier financial position at the general meeting, largely on the back of the new record-breaking broadcasting deal. Unaudited figures for the current financial year forecast a turnover of £117m compared to £86m in 2012/13, with wages falling to 55% of turnover compared to a Premier League average of 72%, and predict that net liabilities will drop from £42.7m in 2012/13 to £12.9m in 2013/14.
Announcement expected within the next 7 days.
More info in the link:Everton FC have finally confirmed they want to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.
The club wants to quit its Goodison Park home to move the short distance up the road, in order to increase capacity and operate from a modern stadium that would generate more revenue.
Club chairman Bill Kenwright said: “On my journey to our home games, as I pass Walton Hall Park, I inevitably think that I am only a minute away from our beloved Goodison. For several years now I’ve also thought, if only it was available for our new stadium, it ticks all the boxes.”
Liverpool council wants to see a comprehensive regeneration of the area and believes more than 1,000 jobs could be created in the process.
The council will be involved as an official partner, along with housing association Liverpool Mutual Homes, which will build new homes as part of the overall regeneration scheme.
But city leaders insisted there would be none of the demolitions that have been a necessary part of Liverpool FC’s long-running new stadium saga, and city mayor Joe Anderson said the public would be fully consulted on their views ahead of any development.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/everton-plan-build-new-stadium-7776712
From www.toffeeweb.com
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Probably as likely as my numbers coming up in the Lottery on Saturday (I don't have numbers and don't buy a ticket), but outline plans drawn up by Trevor Skempton showing that with a little land grab, Goodison could be redeveloped and hold up to 80k, long term.
If only the gobshites in charge would've implemented this ten years ago..
Probably as likely as my numbers coming up in the Lottery on Saturday (I don't have numbers and don't buy a ticket), but outline plans drawn up by Trevor Skempton showing that with a little land grab, Goodison could be redeveloped and hold up to 80k, long term.
If only the gobshites in charge would've implemented this ten years ago..
80,000 in that landlocked site? Please. Skempton is after a commission.From www.toffeeweb.com
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Probably as likely as my numbers coming up in the Lottery on Saturday (I don't have numbers and don't buy a ticket), but outline plans drawn up by Trevor Skempton showing that with a little land grab, Goodison could be redeveloped and hold up to 80k, long term.
If only the gobshites in charge would've implemented this ten years ago..
80k is a lot but you could increase the capacity and have great cavernous ground there. School and streets would need re profiling like - why not incorporate the school in a stand, replace the same number of homes in some mid/high rise overlooking the park?
That's included in the second diagram, Toad (90 degree pitch realignment). It's the green bit at the Gwladys St/Bullens corner. There's more on Toffeeweb about the Blue Union meeting on Saturday, but I won't post the link, to save your eyesight.
Personally, if I was the billionaire owner of EFC, I'd move the pitch SE and realign at around 45 degrees and do what Tottingham are doing. The buyout for the scrappy and the few dozen houses between the Bullens and the cemetery would probably cost the same as McGeady's contract over five years..
While Mr William Kenwright CBE is Chairman, Everton will stay at an undeveloped Goodison Park. The most we can hope for is some new blue gravel and paint every couple of years.
How many other Premier League Chairman have overseen 3 failed ground moves and remain in place?
So it appears Everton are in terminal decline.What a shame.
Tranmere for the title..
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