New Everton Stadium

[Tom Hughes]

It’s archaic. I loved it when I was younger because when the crowd got going it was exciting but now it’s just a reminder how much the club has regressed. Fresh start and a new Everton when we move hopefully.

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

 

[AndyRJ]

Surely an actual fence/wall would be a better option than having a view of an unsightly Waste plant?

I'm pretty sure it said something in the planning docs about the club fixing banners/advertising etc to the fence. I'll try find it.

 

[AndyRJ]

I'm pretty sure it said something in the planning docs about the club fixing banners/advertising etc to the fence. I'll try find it.

This was it. I'm not sure whether it's something they will do in isolated places or along the full length.

I do think that the wind issue has influenced the choice of fencing though as it needs to be relatively permeable but also able to reduce the wind impact on supporters.

 

[Dr Baxter]

As someone who’s not built like that, I agree completely. Only good seats for general admission are in the top balcony, and even then the concourse is a cinder block nightmare.

Has all the charm of having a pint in a multi-storey car park.

 

[phil_t98]

I am thinking of giving the first game at the new stadium to one of my YouTube subscribers, had a difficult year myself personally and people help support it so think it might be a nice thing to do

 

[peteblue]

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

Excellent post …..

 

[AndyC]

As someone who is 6’5” and 20 stone neither I, nor the 3 rows behind me, will be too sad to get a decent view from a decent seat.

It’s never been the same since we were forced to go all seater. Goodison just wasn’t designed for it.

At 6'5" mate, don't hold your breath for much more leg room at BMD... the overall increase over Goodison is minimal.

 

[Chewbacca]

At 6'5" mate, don't hold your breath for much more leg room at BMD... the overall increase over Goodison is minimal.

Don’t worry, I’m emigrating to Australia before it opens. When I do come back for a holiday it will be on a corporate ticket.

 

[Damo_1878]

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

That was Bill Kenwright's time at the club in one word:

Regression

Companies that fail to move with the times ultimately die. We should have had a new stadium either at GP or on the docks all done and sorted within the last 20 to 10 years

Ultimately, given the cockhanded manner of financing, I fear our fans are going to get absolutely annihilated by ticket price increases to fund the debt and it's debt interest

So rather than being happy to have a new stadium, we are going to likely all be feeling excess pain

We've seen what this club is like over this Castore fiasco (what company agrees a merchandising deal without any say on pricing of it's branded products?)

BMD I fear has been build too small and that missing 10,000 which could have been filled and would have helped finance the thing, will be an deadweight on the club

Much like Bill Kenwright's 20 years at the club. He's been an anchor which our fans have been dragging for literally decades. Most other clubs would have ejected him long ago

 

[Exeter_Gently]

Don’t worry, I’m emigrating to Australia before it opens. When I do come back for a holiday it will be on a corporate ticket.

Wishing you all the best in your new life and hope it all works out....but I'll never understand moving to a country where everything is trying to kill you.

 

[AndyRJ]

At 6'5" mate, don't hold your breath for much more leg room at BMD... the overall increase over Goodison is minimal.

I sit in the paddock and the 700mm at Bramley Moore would be a vast improvement IMO... although granted I'm not 6'5"

Seat spacing is barely any different though, maybe gain an extra 50-100mm.

 

[Daytripper]

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

I was simply giving my own feelings on the matter, I’m hoping in the years to come the new home is a catalyst for an Everton that is substantially better than what has been the last few decades and not a repeat of the behaviour of what’s transpired. I called it archaic because that’s what I believe it’s become.

Having said that I certainly can appreciate the emotional and important feelings people have for the place and it’s not my intention to be dismissive of those thoughts.

 

[maccavennie]

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

Brilliant post Tom, love that your brother popped into your mind just by the familiarity of a view and something you done together.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'm going to cry like a baby when Goodison is no more. If I'm lucky I might get to one or 2 more games this season, but if I don't I've got a lifetime worth of memories stored in my mind. Goodison got me through some tough personal times as a youngster so I will be forever in debt to it's size, scale, beauty, presence, welcome and majestic aura and the excitement every single time you see her creeping into sight when going to the match.

 

[Leylo]

For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.

Brilliant post Tom

 

[James Patrick]

You’d assume UU will likely need some level of extra security on match days which the club may need to even cover the costs for. Assuming tickets are to be checked to allow entry through the perimeter wall of BMD first and then scanned at the turnstiles in the stadium itself?

There is still a risk of idiots scaling that fence to get into the fan zone between the wall and the turnstiles. May need to razor wire atop those fences yet.

Why would they need extra security on UU when the fan zone will be open to all and you'd still have to navigate turnstiles.