Goodison Park has been the home of Everton FC since 1892 – but it won't be for much longer.
The ground – the first purpose-built for football in England – has hosted more top flight matches than any other in the country. It was also the venue for the 1910 FA Cup final replay and played host to West Germany's semi-final win over the Soviet Union in the 1966 World Cup.
Everton have enjoyed glory days at the ground, winning all but one of their nine league titles while being based at Goodison. Many fans would count the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final victory over Bayern Munich as the greatest moment in its history.
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However, the Toffees' time at the 'Grand Old Lady' is coming to an end. The club will move to a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock for the start of the 2025/26 season.
Construction of the new £500m stadium on the banks of the Mersey began in August 2021, four years after the site was chosen as the club's preference. It marks an end to Everton's search for a new stadium to replace its iconic Victorian ground – a search which began in earnest in 1996 under then-chairman Peter Johnson.
That journey took in many planned stadia across Merseyside – none of which came to fruition. Here, we take a look at the abandoned projects which led Everton to Bramley-Moore.
Suggested stadia
Suggestions for a new home for Everton seemed to begin as early as the 1960s, when Goodison was merely 70 years old. However, the club appeared to show little interest in the idea.
In February 1963, the ECHO’s Leslie Edwards revealed that a businessman had visited his office with a scheme to construct a 100,000-capacity stadium complete with a running track and underground car park in the city centre, to be used by Everton and Liverpool. Everton chairman John Moores did not like the idea, citing price concerns, and it never got off the ground.
Further suggestions were made after the Hillsborough disaster, when ECHO journalist Ian Hargraves also looked at the idea of a shared ground, referred to as a 'super stadium'. He wrote: “The finest memorial that the city of Liverpool could possibly erect to the victims of Hillsborough would be the construction of Britain’s first purpose-built sports stadium on Merseyside.
"A stadium capable of seating some 60,000 people in comfort and safety, a stadium with a track that could be used for cycling or running, a stadium linked to the city by rail and possessing parking for at least 10,000 cars, a stadium capable of taking Merseyside and Britain proudly forward into the 21st century." It did not come to fruition.
In the 1990s, under chairman Peter Johnson, the idea of Everton moving to a new stadium gathered pace. On December 14, 1996, the ECHO had a page containing arguments for and against leaving Goodison. Then, on the final home game of the 1996/97 season, Everton fans voted on the issue having been presented with a brochure showing a picture of a blue dome of a stadium on an open site, declaring: "It’s your move – the choice is yours."
Mr Johnson wrote to the fans, saying: "We have recently completed a feasibility study for the redevelopment of Goodison Park. Sadly, the study shows that this option is not viable. However, this means that we now have an opportunity to move to a purpose built stadium just four miles away which boasts all the facilities that a club of Everton’s status demands."
The location was never confirmed but Mr Johnson remained bullish about moving. There appeared to be appetite from the fans as well – some 30,000 voting slips were handed out and, despite the lack of detail, 18,374 of respondents (approximately 84%) said yes to leaving Goodison with 3,600 against.
Kings Dock
Mr Johnson sold his controlling stake in Everton to Bill Kenwright in 1999. The Wavertree-born theatre impresario then became the driving force behind the idea of the club leaving L4.
In 2000, the Blues submitted ambitious plans for a new stadium on Liverpool's waterfront. The club was one of a number of bidders to acquire land which now houses the M&S Bank Arena.
Mr Kenwright again conducted a vote among the fans and 15,049 supported moving to Kings Dock, with 2,349 instead voting in favour of redeveloping Goodison. Liverpool Vision made the club the preferred bidder for the land, seemingly paving the way for a construction of a 55,000 seater stadium with a retractable roof and a pitch that could be rolled away on wheels.
The site was also set to facilitate a housing and leisure complex featuring apartments, multi-screen cinema complex, family entertainment centre, health clinic, fitness club, hotel, bar, restaurants, shops and offices. It was due for completion in 2005.
About the plans, the chairman said: "The King's Dock is a great opportunity for Everton and one we cannot afford to miss. It is a chance for everyone at the club, from the ball boys to the office staff, from the players to the board and the supporters, to move forward together with one common goal."
The project was abandoned in April 2003 after Everton failed to raise enough money towards their share of the required £155million.
The Kirkby Project
Certainly the most controversial of the plans to move Everton to a new home was a proposed new stadium in Kirkby – outside of the Liverpool city limits. The Liverpool Daily Post revealed in 2006 that Knowsley Council had suggested three sites to Everton which could be used to develop a stadium.
Two sites were then suggested by Liverpool City Council in response but Everton were already speaking to Tesco about a joint venture in Kirkby. Terry Leahy, Tesco's chief executive and a lifelong Blue, led the project which took the name 'Destination Kirkby'.
The 50,000 capacity stadium would have been part of a retail park, alongside a huge new Tesco store. The ground would have cost the club £78m, with the supermarket chain providing £52m of "value".
36,662 Blues voted on the issue in August 2007 but fewer Blues were supportive of moving than in previous polls. 15,230 voted in favour with 10,468 against, while a further 10,901 abstained.
There was fierce dissent to the plan from some corners of Everton's fanbase. A movement called Keep Everton In Our City was formed, which was vociferous in its opposition to the Kirkby plan.
However, the project fell apart when plans were rejected by the Labour government. Then-communities secretary John Denham decided in 2009 that it would breach shopping policies which discourage supermarket chains from sucking business away from town and city centres.
The government's decision was met with a mixed response, with some saying it was a missed opportunity to help regenerate Kirkby. However, those who wanted to keep Everton in the city of Liverpool felt vindicated.
Walton Hall Park
The next relocation effort remained in North Liverpool. However, plans did not make much progress.
A site in Walton Hall Park was located during the 2010s and Everton asked architects to come up with designs, giving them a brief of a “thrilling” stadium with “the best atmosphere in the world of football”.
Architecture firm IDOM, which worked on the famous Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, came up with a striking proposal for a sloping bowl – pictured above.
About the design, IDOM explained: “With the idea of moving on from the limitations of its Goodison Park stadium, Everton FC invited a number of architects to come forward with proposals for the stadium with the best atmosphere in the world of football; a thrilling, inspiring and intimidating stadium, set in a new location in Walton Hall Park.
“The programme for the stadium, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators, includes stands for 17,000 local fans (Home End), 4,000 premium seats, 4,000 seats for parents and children in the family zone near the pitch, a vibrant Fan Zone and the club’s community action body offices: Everton in the Community as a built-in part of the maximum level services offered at the stadium.”
However, the plan to build in a park was met with objection from local campaigners and opposition politicians. In May 2016, the club and the city council announced that the plans had been cancelled.
The club has since used the park to construct its 2,000 capacity women's stadium, which opened in 2020.
Bramley-Moore Dock
Farhad Moshiri's tenure as Everton owner has seen the club move largely backwards on the pitch, spend vast amounts on players who did not live up to expectations at Goodison and be docked 10 points for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules. However, the Iranian billionaire has succeeded in finding the Toffees a new home.
Monaco-based Mr Moshiri made the search for a stadium a priority after buying a controlling stake in February 2016. He worked with Mr Kenwright – who stayed on as chairman – to make it happen.
In October of that year, club officials plus then Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and architect Dan Meis visited proposed stadium sites at Stonebridge Cross in Croxteth, and the waterfront Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall.
Supporters pushed for the option at the riverside and Mr Kenwright announced at the club's 2017 AGM that Bramley-Moore was the preferred site. Plans progressed and for a while it looked as if the stadium, complete with a running track, could be a host venue for the Commonwealth Games. It formed part of Liverpool's bid for the 2022 games, but the city lost to Birmingham in the race to host.
Everton purchased the site in March 2017 and started a public consultation a year later, proposing a 52,000 seater stadium. The consultation provided a "vote of confidence" with 94% of respondents agreeing that the waterfront site is an appropriate place for Everton to build a new ground.
In July 2019, Mr Meis' designs were revealed to much excitement. Meis Architects proposed that the stadium – without a running track – would use “traditional” brick, glass and steel, ensuring the ground looks at home in the dockland setting. Final designs were revealed in December 2019 as the club submitted a planning application to the city council. Well over a year later – in February 2021 – the local authority approved the plans, though original architect Mr Meis was no longer involved.
The government rubber stamped it in March 2021 and the club announced work could begin. A brush with UNESCO followed – Liverpool lost its World Heritage Status due to developments on the city's waterfront – which include the new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. According to UNESCO, the waterfront plans had resulted in an "irreversible loss of attributes".
Nonetheless, the project continued and ground was broken in August 2021. Work has progressed since and it now has the look of a stadium, with its shape clear and some seats in place.
The project was hit by tragedy in August of this year when contractor Michael Jones, 26, died after an incident at the construction site. An inquest into his death opened later that month, hearing that he died after getting trapped between a machine he was working on and a beam in the stadium.
Earlier this month, Everton confirmed that the club will move into the new stadium at the start of the 2025/26 season. Leaving Goodison will be a real wrench for Evertonians – saying goodbye to one of the sport's great traditional grounds, which is capable of creating an atmosphere like few others, will not be easy.
But after decades of searching, the Toffees have a new home on the banks of the Mersey. Unlike many planned before, the stadium is taking shape before our very eyes.
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