After £800m and four years, Everton's new stadium makes its grand debut

The Guardian

17-02-2025

The clue is in the name, yet it is hard to imagine now that Bramley‑Moore dock was an abandoned, neglected body of water 1,303 days ago. Twelve unexploded anti-aircraft shells from the second world war still lurked in the depths, waiting to be removed by the Royal Navy, when Everton took possession of the site on 26 July 2021. Less than four years later a magnificent, imposing, futuristic stadium has opened on the banks of the River Mersey. A torturous journey decades in the making has been worth every step.
It was July 2019 at the nearby Titanic Hotel when the architect Dan Meis unveiled his grand plans for Everton's new home. Tonight it welcomed its first guests, the 10,000 fortunate Evertonians selected via a ballot to attend the first test event and game at Bramley-Moore dock. A friendly between Everton's and Wigan's under-18s has never felt so significant, or such a privilege to observe. Future quiz question answers: Everton's Demi Akarakiri kicked the first ball and Wigan's Harrison Rimmer scored the first goal at Everton Stadium. Everton lost 2-1.
Everyone present was sat in the South Stand, a steep bank of 14,000 seats that will function as the home end when Everton relocate here next season. In all likelihood as a Premier League club, something that could not have been said with great certainty before David Moyes returned last month as manager. The views are superb, no obstructions here, and also impressive when looking out from the back of the South Stand at a panorama of the city skyline. The facilities are excellent, too. The concourses have vast amounts of space, refreshment kiosks and toilets. The upper Gwladys Street at the 133-year-old Goodison Park this is not.
Wigan's visit was the first of three test events required for Everton to obtain the licence and safety certificate to operate at 52,888 capacity next season. All four stands will be open for the second and third events, albeit at a reduced 25,000 capacity and near capacity respectively. It is estimated the stadium will attract 1.4 million visitors to the city annually, create 15,000 jobs and contribute £1.3bn to the UK economy over its lifetime.
What a quest it has been to get here. Everton went through two failed stadium projects at King's Dock and Kirkby, plus a proposal that never really got off the ground at Walton Hall Park, before settling on this site in the early years of Farhad Moshiri's ownership.
Moshiri's one positive legacy should be celebrated, even though the £750m-£800m project came close to sinking Everton at times: £55m of that sum was spent preserving and restoring heritage works at Bramley-Moore, including the original dock walls that remain under the stadium, the railway tracks that carried coal to steamships on the Mersey and the Grade II-listed hydraulic tower that forms a symbolic part of a 17,000-capacity outdoor plaza. The infill of the dock took three months and 480,000 cubic metres of sand dredged from the Irish Sea. Two porpoises had to be guided out of the dock before it was sealed for good. Architecturally, Everton Stadium is the most striking, ambitious addition to the Liverpool waterfront since the Three Graces were built in the early 1900s. They were also built on an infilled dock, St George's.
The inevitable teething problems that have arisen so far mainly concern access and have been beyond Everton's control. Liverpool city council recently announced a raft of parking restrictions within a 30-minute walk of the stadium that have caused uproar among local businesses. The restrictions, which came into effect on Monday and are scheduled to last 18 months, apply not only on match days but 365 days of the year. More than 7,000 people have signed a petition calling on the council to scrap the year-round parking restrictions. Local residents and businesses claim they were enforced without consultation.
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A new fanzone at nearby Sandhills train station – now just some tarmac and safety rails with no cover from the elements – was widely ridiculed when unveiled by the city region mayor, Steve Rotheram. The local authority has had more than four years to prepare for this transformational development, one that will have a huge impact on the regeneration of north Liverpool, and needs to improve transportation plans in the months ahead.
Everton have played their part in ushering in a new era, for the city and for themselves. The sadness of leaving Goodison is offset by a glimpse of Everton Stadium.