LIVERPOOL - New Everton Stadium (52,888)

Everton 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.

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The 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!)

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Mayor Anderson said: “It's a good deal for us and for them.

“We will get revenue from it, and it frees up money for the club.

“When I was approached to see if we could assist, we were happy to, and after a few months of negotiation it was done.

“This nails the lie that the council does nothing for Everton. We will do what we can when we can.”

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Everton 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."

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E21 said:

That would be great for the city but I don't think ken has at least £300 million sitting in the bank. Unless, he wants to sell the club and with a planning permission and a good looking project designed, the price would be a lot higher. Some mega rich oil dude would be easier to "catch"! )

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hajj_3 said:

Arsenal's 60,000 capacity stadium cost £300m and the wages for london builders is much higher than in liverpool. There have been new 30,000 stadiums built for £100m in the uk over the past 10yrs so i'd expect the cost to be between £200-250m.

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E21 said:

Are you serious? Arsenal officially announced that it cost£ 400 million, I suspect it must ve cost a lot more than that. To build something of that size in London- no wonder they are still paying back to the Arabs for the loan they took. And will be for years to come. I reckon the whole project must ve come to £550-600 million at least.

For £200m you can build a stadium of the poorest quality, might as well redevelop goodison park.

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We Can Be Heroes said:

The most costly part of a stadium build is the VIP/ Corporate areas fit out. That is why the Emirates was so costly, and also why the projected Spurs stadium is expected to cost so much. It also explains why a lot of the large German WC stadiums built for 2006 were so cheap. There was very little in the way of corporate areas.

A new Everton stadium probably wouldn't require the same level of corporate facilities... There is less of a market for corporate areas in Liverpool than London, and therefore reducing the cost significantly.

£200m is probably a little low but I would expect the figure to be much lower than the Emirates.

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E21 said:

For £200m you can build a stadium of the poorest quality, might as well redevelop goodison park.

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mckeenan said:

I doubt it very much. I have a personal rule: Each tier adds 10-20M per stand (depending on capacity). That's why one-tiered stadiums very usually are cheaper than two-tiered, which are cheaper than three-tiered, etc. And between, there are mixed approaches (one tiered + a two tiered main stand, etc). The main structure of the building is the main expenditure. If you also want a fancy roof, that also adds a lot. If you also want underground levels, that's is expensive. But the VIP facilities are relatively cheap. How much cost to prepare a Box? A couple of TVs, some nice furniture, some kitchen appliances (fridge, etc.)... £ 13.000/box, maybe?. If you have 80 boxes, that's around £ 1m. And shared VIP areas more or less are the same: carpets, furniture, some big TV screens... how much could it cost? another £ 2m? If you also add restaurants and other facilities, it could add up to £ 5m maybe? The only thing is that they use to add a narrow middle tier just to place the boxes there, and the amount of extra space that you'll need in the whole stand strcture. Anyway, I don't think that VIP facilities are such expensive compared with the whole stadium. In fact, they are by far the most profitable seats...



I agree. I don't know why, but building costs in England are over the European average, even over Germany average costs too. I hope that they keep Goodison, it is a classy stadium, and to find a better replacement will be tough and very expensive.

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hajj_3 said:

Arsenal's 60,000 capacity stadium cost £300m and the wages for london builders is much higher than in liverpool. There have been new 30,000 stadiums built for £100m in the uk over the past 10yrs so i'd expect the cost to be between £200-250m.

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E21 said:

Are you serious? Arsenal officially announced that it cost£ 400 million, I suspect it must ve cost a lot more than that. To build something of that size in London- no wonder they are still paying back to the Arabs for the loan they took. And will be for years to come. I reckon the whole project must ve come to £550-600 million at least.

For £200m you can build a stadium of the poorest quality, might as well redevelop goodison park.

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Robert Elstone, Everton’s Chief Executive, has admitted moving to a new stadium is a ‘priority’ for the club to maintain its development.

As redeveloping Goodison Park makes no sense in terms of practicality or expense, Everton have been in talks with Liverpool City Council about finding a suitable site on which they could build.

The most appealing location, at this stage, is believed to be Walton Hall Park, which is just over a mile from Goodison, but Everton’s board are continuing to discuss their options.

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