Everton keen to ‘race ahead’ with move to Kirkby

Aug 25 2007 by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

An external image of what Everton's new stadium could look like

EVERTON FC said last night it meant to race ahead with its plans for a new stadium in Kirkby, after fans yesterday backed a move away from Goodison Park.

It leaves Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley with just a matter of weeks to come up with a rival plan to keep the club within the city.

Officials at Goodison insisted the Yes vote, supported by 59% of fans with 41% against, meant the club had crossed a key hurdle in its ambitions for a new ground.

Within weeks, the club, Knowsley Council and Tesco are expected to sign a contract that will immediately bring the full planning process into play.

One leading Everton official said: “Had there been a No vote, it would have given Liverpool City Council more time, a year or two. The Yes vote literally means that Warren Bradley and the council have to come up with something in a matter of weeks.” Having secured a Yes vote from its own fans, the focus will now switch to winning the hearts and minds, and the support of Kirkby people.

An independent consultation exercise has revealed that most Kirkby people want to see a regenerated town centre but the stumbling block for many is the proposal to link the regeneration with the building of a 50,000-seater stadium for Everton FC.

Ironically, the site earmark- ed for the Everton stadium was owned by Liverpool City Council until the early 1970s when it was handed to the newly-created Knowsley Borough Council for nothing.

Last night, Liverpool council leader Mr Bradley renewed his call for Everton to remain within the city boundaries. He said: “Liverpool City Council remains keen that Everton FC stays within the city boundary. The sites we have suggested to the club remain on the table. We are willing to meet at any time and in any place to discuss the options we have put forward.”

The Goodison vote is just one piece of the jigsaw. The next one is the planning implications in Kirkby.

Knowsley’s decision-making cabinet will now study the results of the public consultation which gauged public opinion towards the project that would see one of the country’s biggest Tesco Extra stores built opposite the town centre.

The supermarket, providing around 150,000 sq ft of shopping area, would go hand-in-hand with a complete facelift for the town centre and the new Everton stadium.

The advantage for Everton FC is that it will effectively take ownership of a new stadium for an outlay of between £10m and £20m, with Tesco picking up the bill for constructing the shell of the stadium, essentially saving the club £75m, and Knowsley providing the land.

The sale of naming rights and proceeds of the sale of Goodison Park for housing development would raise most of the money needed by the club to fit out the stadium.

It has been described as “the deal of the century”, and even if a site becomes available within Liverpool, there are so far no sugar-daddies stepping forward to provide the kind of package currently on the table via Tesco.

Knowsley’s executive board, headed by Cllr Ron Round, has already endorsed the project with open arms.

Waiting on the substitutes’ bench are Bestway’s directors, who have offered their site off Scotland Road for a new Everton stadium.

larryneild