I went to Everton’s new stadium opening – and these are the reasons to be excited (with one negative) about £800m ground, writes LEWIS STEELE
On the walk along to Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, you are met with two contrasting views. To your right, echoes of the past with industrial buildings that have stood for centuries; to your left, a glance into the future.
This stadium looks like something from a science-fiction movie, a giant structure that stalks the skyline wherever you are in the city when one cranes the neck towards the banks of the Mersey.
Mail Sport sat towards the back of the South Stand of the 52,888-seater stadium – surprisingly not too chilly amid worries the wind from the river could wreak havoc – for the first test event of several planned, with 10,000 punters in the house for an Everton Under 18s friendly match.
The match itself was insignificant, though the name of Wigan U18 midfielder Harrison Rimmer, who scored the first goal here, will make quite the pub quiz answer for Evertonians in years to come. This event was a chance to show off the fruits of years worth of labour.
Everton first floated the idea of moving homes in the mid-1990s and, after several failed attempts, finally got the green light for this site – a £800million project – and first put a spade in the ground in summer 2021.
The first step was to fill the dock which involved a dredger painstakingly making 130 round-trips 20 miles into the Irish Sea on a 24-7 operation. It collected 480,000 cubic metres of sand from the sea-bed and fluidised it in order to pump it into the water-filled Bramley-Moore Dock.
Everton’s state-of-the-art stadium has finally opened its doors for the first time in a test event
The Toffees welcomed 10,000 supporters to experience the features of their team’s new home
The match, played between Everton’s Under 18s and Wigan Athletic’s counterparts, concluded with a 2-1 defeat for the Toffees, with 16-year-old Ray Robert scoring the club’s only goal
During its construction, the stadium was recognised as the largest single-site private sector development in the country. When construction commenced, only the now-scrapped High Speed 2 was larger.
On that walk from the nearby Titanic Hotel to the stadium, we stroll past a Grade II listed hydraulic tower and engine room, which was built in 1883 and played an integral role in life here back in the day. The tower is being restored and sits in the 17,000-capacity fan park.
Just next to that is a shrine to Michael Jones, a 26-year-old Evertonian who died in an accident when working here as a construction staffer.
We also walk past The Bramley-Moore Hotel pub, whose landlord has hit the jackpot. The boozer has stood there since 1848. Despite the cold February day, hundreds of fans stood outside, sank pints and sang I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.
With that pub on a road punters would not usually walk down unless coming here, it was perhaps their busiest day since this place was a fully-operational dock. Many other firms are sensing a business opportunity in the vicinity of the ground.
There could be some money in those flogging spaces to park your car, with options extremely limited nearby.
Roads around the vicinity of the dock were shut at 5pm, meaning one elderly gentleman on X said he had to arrive at 4.30pm then stand in the cold, just to get close enough.
That was perhaps the only negative to report from this first official event, aside from the score – a defeat – and the pitch which was cut up a number of times, though it will be pulled up and laid again ahead of the first official match here in the summer.
David Moyes’ side will leave Goodison Park at the end of this season to move into their brand new home, marking 132 years since their very first game at the iconic and historic ground
The £800million project will be capable to host up to 52,888 fans from the 2025-26 season
Hospitality seating was not operational in this match but 36 sofa-like seating options – called ‘loges’, like in cinemas with cup-holders – that were visible. Mail Sport got a sample of some of the fancy food options, which the culinary chief said he wants to be ‘Instagrammable’.
Those included salt and pepper chicken tenders, a posh take on a sausage roll and a bright blue-iced ‘Toffee doughnut’. It was not cheap, mind, with a packet of crisps costing £1.95. No alcohol was sold at this test event.
Everton legend Peter Reid, famous boxer Tony Bellew and representatives from owners, The Friedkin Group were in the house for the famous night.
Sadly for Everton fans, the first goal-scorer here, Liverpool fan Rimmer, gestured ‘six’ to the South Stand – a nod to the number of European Cup wins for the red half of Merseyside – when he scored the first goal. Things can only get better!
