Women's team to play games at Goodison.

[Marcus Kendall]

Have a look at the clip of todays game at Villa Park. Even a crowd of 5k or 6k which would be a big improvement on current attendances, would make it feel like playing in an empty stadium.

Saw that myself, you get the horrible echo of individual voices rather than a roaring crowd. Big stadiums are terrible when a quarter empty

 

[Vaughan]

i have never been to a womens game

i would go regularly if it was at goodison

i think many would do the same as a reason to revisit the old haunts, and then get attached to the team as its own thing

 

[tonka1878]

How the Mighty have Fallen!?

 

[WelshBlue92]

What I would do it knock down the upper tiers of the main stand, bullets and gwladys. Re-roof the remaining and have a single tier 4 sided stadium. Maintenance would be minimal and capacity would be around 15/25k (depending on what’s kept). With room to expand in future if required.
I’d also offer half price season tickets to men’s team season ticket holders, many may take up the opportunity to go back to Goodison especially at favourable rates. With the massively increased capacity for the women’s team there will be plenty of room to accommodate this.

 

[Timbucktoo]

i have never been to a womens game

i would go regularly if it was at goodison

i think many would do the same as a reason to revisit the old haunts, and then get attached to the team as its own thing

Apart from Leicester I think every other team plays at grounds that are from other clubs. City do play on the same campus as the Emptyhad and like the main ground isn`t a venue steeped in the history of the club. Would be nice to have a ladies team with their own stand alone home ground at a venue steeped in the clubs history. Would be nice if the fixture schedule worked out that folks traveling from afar could make a weekend and catch a game at BMD and at a scaled down Goodison.

 

[summerisle]

Is Marine the nearest non league club ? Save them buying a new ground.

 

[WelshBlue92]

Is Marine the nearest non league club ? Save them buying a new ground.

I think I read that they want to stay around where they are. We could certainly offer it up to them even on a temporary basis or for other teams/sports like rugby etc. it’s a potential money spinner.

 

[teppic]

i have never been to a womens game

i would go regularly if it was at goodison

i think many would do the same as a reason to revisit the old haunts, and then get attached to the team as its own thing

Exactly this. It would attract many more than they currently get for the Goodison factor itself.

 

[Kever10]

If they were going to do it, they should keep the Gwladys and Bullens stands and renovate them. Not an engineer, but sure others on here would have a better idea on how it could be done, but if it was possible to remove some obstructed views, maybe remove some of the back rows of the lower tiers with the worst views and possibly expand the concourses, but generally keep them as close as possible to what they are with reduced capacity and updated facilities.

The main stand and park end would go, and as well as introducing lower capacity stands, the main buildings could be modern and reworked to incorporate the offices, Everton in the community stuff, an Everton museum (we keep the statues there and maybe even add to them) and could even include an Everton themed Hotel with views overlooking the pitch on 2 sides, and some overlooking the park and lake on the park end side. Maybe they could even work a foot bridge across Walton Lane into the park.

Would definitely help the local businesses and pubs, and keep a massive element of the community where it has been for over 100 years.
Its also an amazing place for womens and younger age teams to play football, even host some prestigious amateur/lower league games there.

Imagine Everton fans having the opportunity to spend the night with a room overlooking Goodison Park. I think every one of us would like to experience that.

I read before they joined that the Friedkins were big into property and real estate, and with our long standing work with community projects, it would be perfect. Along with buying and renovating Nelson Dock of course.

 

[Tom Hughes]

Is this potentially an opportunity for us to "have our cake and eat it?" To own the most advanced and modern Stadium in the city, and the one with comfortably the most historic character.

The Womens team are facing rent increases at a very limited facility in WHP..... can Goodison Park once again come to the rescue? It would also cost millions to build a new stadium for the ladies.... some of the Goodison site could still be sold/converted for a major community or residential development to offset costs. The Old Leitch stands could be preserved as a historic working football heritage site, which might attract further funding. There are only 4 Leitch double-deckers still standing..... Goodison has 2 of them, from different decades.... and uniquely they are joined. Representing comfortably the largest example of early classic football stadium design in the country (the world?). These could be recertificated for say half capacity usage (or less). The enclosure and its boxes could be reused and the Mainstand largely demolished or shell remodelled as a large joint residential/community block. The Park end could be maintained as it is. Leaving a capacity of 15-25k. The site could be the new home for the county FA too, hosting local/regional amateur/school finals. The stadium could still host joint tours with the new stadium, and as these old school stadia become rarer, even more visitors to the city might want to visit.... I also think the women's and youth teams would get significantly larger turnouts than they currently get. If demand dictates, it could also be used to relay some major home games live on the big screens helping to boost the local economy on more event days. It has been stated repeatedly that the club wants to maintain a presence in its ancestral homeland. What better way to do that? What better "legacy".....?

 

[WelshBlue92]

If they were going to do it, they should keep the Gwladys and Bullens stands and renovate them. Not an engineer, but sure others on here would have a better idea on how it could be done, but if it was possible to remove some obstructed views, maybe remove some of the back rows of the lower tiers with the worst views and possibly expand the concourses, but generally keep them as close as possible to what they are with reduced capacity and updated facilities.

The main stand and park end would go, and as well as introducing lower capacity stands, the main buildings could be modern and reworked to incorporate the offices, Everton in the community stuff, an Everton museum (we keep the statues there and maybe even add to them) and could even include an Everton themed Hotel with views overlooking the pitch on 2 sides, and some overlooking the park and lake on the park end side. Maybe they could even work a foot bridge across Walton Lane into the park.

Would definitely help the local businesses and pubs, and keep a massive element of the community where it has been for over 100 years.
Its also an amazing place for womens and younger age teams to play football, even host some prestigious amateur/lower league games there.

Imagine Everton fans having the opportunity to spend the night with a room overlooking Goodison Park. I think every one of us would like to experience that.

I read before they joined that the Friedkins were big into property and real estate, and with our long standing work with community projects, it would be perfect. Along with buying and renovating Nelson Dock of course.

I think like all things cost is the biggest factor. I’d imagine completely renovating Bullens /Gwadys Street end would be prohibitive.
It’ll be a shame to see parts of those iconic stands go, but at least some of Goodison will remain and perhaps some aspects like the Leitch pattern could be preserved.

In terms of bang for buck the best option would be to keep the paddock, (potentially lower Bullens, Lower Gwladys, Family enclosure (all re-roofed) and Park End as is. Capacity would be around 20k and the stands could always be renovated/upgraded in future pending cash flow/profitability.

 

[Gwladysstreetlad]

Why wouldn’t you just let the women’s team play in the new stadium? Smacks of a hand-me-down.

Partly because there's a good chance thst to many games getting played would wreck the pitch. But mostly because the womans team barely get 2000 for a "big game" and the money generated from that wouldn't cover the wages for turnstiles staff at the new place, never mind anything else. Ultimately the woman need a new purpose built stadium that can hold around 5k that can potentially be extended down the line when/if there's ever enough a demand for it.

 

[Vaughan]

If they were going to do it, they should keep the Gwladys and Bullens stands and renovate them. Not an engineer, but sure others on here would have a better idea on how it could be done, but if it was possible to remove some obstructed views, maybe remove some of the back rows of the lower tiers with the worst views and possibly expand the concourses, but generally keep them as close as possible to what they are with reduced capacity and updated facilities.

The main stand and park end would go, and as well as introducing lower capacity stands, the main buildings could be modern and reworked to incorporate the offices, Everton in the community stuff, an Everton museum (we keep the statues there and maybe even add to them) and could even include an Everton themed Hotel with views overlooking the pitch on 2 sides, and some overlooking the park and lake on the park end side. Maybe they could even work a foot bridge across Walton Lane into the park.

Would definitely help the local businesses and pubs, and keep a massive element of the community where it has been for over 100 years.
Its also an amazing place for womens and younger age teams to play football, even host some prestigious amateur/lower league games there.

Imagine Everton fans having the opportunity to spend the night with a room overlooking Goodison Park. I think every one of us would like to experience that.

I read before they joined that the Friedkins were big into property and real estate, and with our long standing work with community projects, it would be perfect. Along with buying and renovating Nelson Dock of course.

if we could remove the obstructed views we should have just stayed, imo

 

[Davideeyore]

What I would do it knock down the upper tiers of the main stand, bullets and gwladys. Re-roof the remaining and have a single tier 4 sided stadium. Maintenance would be minimal and capacity would be around 15/25k (depending on what’s kept). With room to expand in future if required.

Ridiculous idea.

Goodison as a spectator stadium needs to be flattened. End of.

If there was the will then I'd maybe reconfigure the site with a new non-league type stadium. Similar to Marine (5,000) for £8m. It would still leave plenty of room around the site for redevelopment with community facilities and houses.

 

[Kever10]

if we could remove the obstructed views we should have just stayed, imo

Not all obstructed views, i meant the back few rows of the lower tiers, whereby the concourse could perhaps be expanded. Which means if we stayed, rather than upgrading to 52888, we would be reducing capacity with todays spacial requirements. You only have to see just how much bigger the new ground is than Goodison to see this. Its enormous and totally dwarfs the entire site.

The Bullens and Gwladys both currently hold about 21000 seats combined. Even if you lost 1/2 of those lower tier seats, you could be looking at still having 12-15000 seats in a historic stadium. Another 12-15000 new seats in the reworked, modernised Main Stand and Park End sites would still be an impressive arena with all the assitional benefits mentioned.

As weird as it sounds, i dont mind the odd obstructed view, which is pretty much what most people who dont sit in the Paddock, Lower Gwladys, Family Enclosure or Park End has in some form or another as it stands. Unless you sit directly behind a post, which noone wants, hence the new ground.

As Tom said, its a real opportunity to keep 1 of the City's most iconic locations for future generations. You only have to see the amount of people travelling from all over the world to try and get a glimpse before we move, some of whom dont even have tickets. There is definitely a market there if done right. And seeing as spending on the womens team doesnt affect PSR, its a free hit. We could even sell the site to them. Win win.