Everton identify site for new 50,000-seater stadium not far from Goodison
Everton have identified a site for a new 50,000-seat stadium but require council support similar to that behind Manchester City's move to the Etihad Stadium, including the possibility of becoming tenants, before relocating from Goodison Park.
Everton have worked closely on stadium proposals with Liverpool city council since the collapse of their controversial "Destination Kirkby" project in 2009. One site, believed to be Walton Hall Park, not far from Everton's historic home, has emerged as the preferred option and plans have advanced to the design stage, with the stadium part of a wider regeneration scheme.
Robert Elstone, the club's chief executive, confirmed a new stadium "remains a big priority" at Everton's general meeting at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on Tuesday . Everton hope a new build will finally attract fresh investment as happened to City following their move to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003. But they also need the financial support that City received from their local council, plus an arrangement on the ownership structure, before committing to the move.
"We're not ruling out any of the sites that we've identified and that the council has presented to us but there is one site that's getting more attention," Elstone confirmed before the general meeting. "It has been getting more attention for a number of months, it's been worked on very carefully and diligently, not only by Everton but by the council, planners, architects, advisers, cost consultants, regeneration experts, solicitors and so on.
"There is a lot of work going into something that we're excited about and we hope it comes to fruition. If it does come to fruition we think it would be something that the city will be very proud of and we're certain our fans will be very proud of but we have to reflect that in our case it's quite a different economic model to some of the clubs who have moved historically. When they've moved they have had big shortages of capacity and big waiting lists and in that sense the economic model has been relatively compelling and if they build it then they'll fill it and it will pay for itself. In Everton's case that's not quite as cut and dried. For us it's as much about future-proofing, it's potentially about attracting new investment, but the business case on a day to day basis is less than compelling which is why the board is currently looking not only at this opportunity but also the associated risks and the debt that the club might have to take on to deliver it which may or may not be the right thing for us to do. That's exactly where we are in terms of the project and that consideration is ongoing by the board. We will need a collaboration with a number of partners, the principal partner being Liverpool City council, but there is a degree of optimism, perhaps cautious optimism, but definitely optimism and we wouldn't be investing in what we're doing without thinking it had a chance of success."
The Everton board is expected to decide on the financial viability of the scheme in the next few months. Everton have worked on a stadium plan with Liverpool city council before, the aborted Kings Dock project, but Elstone believes the wider economic benefits of Manchester City's move has brought fresh impetus to their latest partnership.
"We need the council to be supportive, financially and entrepreneurially, and at the moment there are signs that they are being that and that has to be welcomed, we are delighted with that," he said. "As a case study you can present Manchester City as a great example of what can be achieved through a sporting led regeneration and that's a tremendous blueprint that we hope we can follow."
Elstone added: "If you've got a new stadium with 10,000 extra seats and you fill it every week it generates about £5m per year. When you've paid for extra security, maintenance, cleaning, lighting, heating, £5m per year might be the wages of one Premier League player or one and a half Premier League players. It comes back to the economic imperative of this which is if we build a new stadium we're not going to be signing three or four Champions League players on the back of that new stadium. That's why this is more challenging for the board than it might have been in Arsenal's case or one or two other clubs who have moved stadium."
Everton also projected a healthier financial position at the general meeting, largely on the back of the new record-breaking broadcasting deal. Unaudited figures for the current financial year forecast a turnover of £117m compared to £86m in 2012/13, with wages falling to 55% of turnover compared to a Premier League average of 72%, and predict that net liabilities will drop from £42.7m in 2012/13 to £12.9m in 2013/14.
