A date has been set for when Everton FC will play a competitive match at its new £750m stadium on Liverpool waterfront for the first time. Tony McDonough reports
Everton FC chief executive Colin Chong has confirmed when the team will play their first competitive matches at the new Bramley-Moore Dock arena.
When work started on the £750m 52,888-capacity arena at Liverpool Waters on the waterfront, there was a hope the club could kick off the 2024/25 football season at its new home.
It later became clear the likely construction completion date would be in the final weeks of 2024 and that schedule remains in place. There was then debate as to whether the team would start playing in the stadium during the 2024/25 season.
Now it has been decided, after consultation with fans, that it would be better to finish the 2024/25 season at Goodison Park and move into Bramley-Moore for the start of the 2025/26 season.
In his latest blog, Colin Chong said: “I recently had the pleasure of attending a meeting with our Fan Advisory Board. The meetings are always honest and frank, providing both the fans and the club an opportunity to discuss key matters impacting supporters.
“While the committee summary of that meeting is available for supporters to read online, I wanted to give all Evertonians an explanation and some background on one of the key club decisions we confirmed directly with the FAB.
“This was the confirmation that the first competitive football fixtures for our senior men’s side will take place at our new stadium at the start of the 2025/26 season.
“Firstly, and to be absolutely clear, our decision to not move in mid-season is not because of a construction delay.
“It is a club decision driven by a combination of commercial insight, a comprehensive review of the logistics required, an analysis of the potential impact upon our football operations and, importantly, fan feedback.
“Everton Stadium remains firmly on track, as scheduled, to be completed in the final weeks of 2024.
“We will need to conduct test events at our new home, which will allow us to stress-test the stadium in a number of different ways in order to obtain our safety certificate. It will also give Evertonians a chance to see and sample the new facilities.
“Some of our test events will involve crowds of varying capacities, while others will need to be operationally focused and only involve our own staff. We will, of course, provide more details on how Evertonians can get involved and register for those events in due course.”