Everton prepare next step for their new stadium ahead of move to 'citadel for the future'
Everton are getting ready to move into their new £800million stadium at the end of the season and will stage the second of three test events on Sunday as their Under-21s play Bolton Wanderer's B-team
Less than a mile from Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is the landing stage where millions of people departed Liverpool to chase their dreams in the New World. The hope, at least for those who are of a Blue persuasion in a city only divided along lines of football loyalty, is that the latest 55,888-capacity home of Merseyside’s original club will become a place where ambitions and aspirations can be realised.
Everton will depart Goodison Park after 133 years at the end of the season, although the storied old ground just a five-minute walk away from their first base at Anfield, will continue to be used by the club for the foreseeable future.
Their “new gaff” on the city’s unmistakable waterfront has already been dubbed ‘the Fourth Grace’ because of its proximity to the Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building.
Everton Stadium is the first famous structure that passengers see when their ferries or luxury liners arrive in the mouth of the Mersey from the Irish Sea.
With its steep-sided stands, built to help the fans bring the intimidating Goodison atmosphere with them from L4, to the luxury corporate lounges and state-of-the art dressing rooms and facilities, it doesn’t fail to impress.
From pitch level, even with the ground empty and the water sprinklers on, the thought of 14,000 supporters forming a Blue Wall of noise is enough to send a shiver of anticipation down the spine of any Toffee. Everton will stage the second of three test events today, with more than 26,000 fans granted tickets to watch a game between the club's Under-21 team and Bolton Wanderers B.
Everton Stadium has been eight years at £800million in the making. The club has had to overcome objections from UNESCO and financing issues exacerbated by the pandemic and war in Ukraine to complete the project.
The Friedkin Group who saved the club with a takeover last year will not forget the vision and generosity of former owner Farad Moshiri when he could have easily withdrawn his support. American architect Dan Meis has built a citadel for the future by incorporating much of Everton’s glorious past.
There are echoes of Archibald Leitch, the Glaswegian who designed Goodison, Anfield, Old Trafford, Highbury Stamford Bridge and many other legendary football cathedrals, in the brickwork and latticed fences outside the stadium.
Polished grains of sand have been sprinkled into the royal blue forecourt so that any glint of sunshine mirrors the shimmering waters of the Mersey. But, as with everything, it will be people who eventually turn the stadium into the iconic home it deserves to be. Names like Dixie Dean, Tommy Lawton, Joe Mercer, Alan Ball, Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey, Peter Reid and Kevin Ratcliffe forged their legends at Goodison, a stage for games during the 1966 World Cup.
Everton Stadium will be a venue for Euro 2028. It is hoped it will also host a European club final, rugby internationals and pop concerts. Nothing is off the menu - just ask Adam Bateman, the Culinary Director who is responsible for making sure fans are well fed and watered. Bateman was once Richard Branson’s personal chef. His resume includes running a Michelin star restaurant in Switzerland.
Yet it was Delia Smith who first showed him the way around a professional kitchen, when one of the perks of joining her apprenticeship scheme was a free season ticket for Norwich City. Scousers have come to love salt and pepper chicken thanks to a thriving Chinese community in Liverpool that dates back almost 200 years.
The delicacy will form part of an exciting new menu that also includes old staples like pies and pints as well as new treats like the Everton Toffee Donut.
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