CEO: Atmosphere will be central to Bramley-Moore design

To enter the footballing elite, we must have a ground that's capable of holding a minimum of 60,000 and one that could be a venue for European finals etc.

Would we fill it every home game? Why not? A modern stadium with superb facilities, a fabulous location and excellent rail links is a start. Let's not forget, too, the ambition that gave us Goodison Park with a capacity of 78,000.

Even if the ground wasn't sold out every week, modern technology would enable seats to be released in a way that wouldn't leave the sort of gaps you see at Man City.

Bring it on!

Treat away fans respectfully, allocate good viewing locations, but stick them out of the way. Reduce any advantage to the opposition.

"We're looking at the incremental cost of adding those one, two, three, four thousand seats beyond where we currently are to see if it's economically viable".

I read that as not one, two, three, four thousand above Goodison Park capacity, but beyond current draft designs. Hope I'm right. Gotta be, hasn't it?!

I would love to see the Leitch criss-cross around a tier. Perhaps the running track could be installed level with the 2nd tier?

I'm staggered that he's still in situ in the brave new world of Farhad Moshiri and under the daily gaze of Sasha Ryazantsev. Surely bullshit doesn't truly baffle brains!

Expect a larger capacity too, I will stick my neck out and say 60,000.

This stadium will be iconic and easy to get too on match days and will attract so many more to the area. Also, do not under estimate any slack space not being taken up by tourists visiting Liverpool. What better ways to spread the gospel across the world when as a tourist you can go and watch a Premier League game (if not already a sell-out).

We are in for something very special but a lot of the faithful are unbelievers... watch that space, down at Bramley-Moore Dock!

Going to be a long 4 years to wait, but it should be worth it.

In & out as easily and quickly as possible.
Massive pumps that pour 34 pints of quality beer at a time.
Boss pies & grub.
Cheap season tickets.
Hundreds of bogs everywhere.
Decent legroom.
Plenty of staff to sell more stuff.
No kopites – even on derby days.
Quality vodka offering.
A team not allergic to anything silver.
No kopite pundits.

Sorted.

What we've always needed, and didn't have under Kenwright, was someone genuinely in control of the running of the club. Bill always seemed (a) to not want to let go of the reins, but (b) to not be prepared to make running Everton his full time job.

He's tarred with the criticisms of the past, but I can't honestly identify much that Elstone has done particularly wrong. And, pretty clearly here, everything Elstone has spoken about in terms of the new stadium has been positive.

He mouthed Kenwright's line all those years. Now he mouths Moshiri's. That's his job.

The way he talks, though, seems to imply Moshiri has secured the financial backing for construction, once the design plan is what he wants.

Okay. Not shy of ambition. Statement of intent. I'm all ears. Saying the right things. For me, when you're talking about capacity and talking about statement of intent and ambition, you have to make it bigger than all the others. With the exception of Old Trafford. 65,000 for me.

Like the idea of a larger home end, the new stadium doesn't have to be symmetrical Goodison Park never was. I'm a big fan of the Lucas Oil Stadium which is also not symmetrical for different reasons. This stadium has many attributes we would enjoy including a retractable roof and it is also below ground level which is useful considering we'd be infilling a dock.

I'm not bothered about naming rights as long as we Christen the ground such as Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium or something like that.

I assume a "bog" is a bathroom?

Yep, you'd definitely need hundreds of them if you have 34-pint pumps going.

These business men mean business and if Elstone was the idiot some make him out to be – he would be gone by now! I for one welcome your words, Bobby boy. COYB.

Atmosphere was severely blunted when standing room ceased to be. I have been in Goodison three times with well over 70,000 fans attending and the atmosphere was electric. Being seated has definitely lowered the atmosphere and the noise from the crowd.

Lets hope that whatever accoustics are planned will help to bring back that Goodison roar. I would hate it to be as quiet as some of the other new stadiums.

The main priority is attracting the best players.

Dan Davies (#30) has got it right in my opinion.

Alisher to Farhad (over a glass of wine somewhere very private) – "How is the Megafon stadium plan going?"
Farhad to Alisher – "It's coming together nicely."
Alisher to Farhad – "Is Elstone up to it?"
Farhad to Alisher – "Sasha reckons he is, but we'll keep an eye on him"

After listening to the podcast and the answers given by Elstone, I am more convinced than ever that Everton Football Club is heading back to the top because we have some heavyweights pulling the strings.

Elstone, Koeman, and Walsh have been given the reigns on a huge project – they will have to deliver on all fronts.

One last point from me. If the club delivers on the plans for the community at Goodison, every Evertonian's chest should burst with pride.

It's a Grand Old Team to Play for – It's a Grand Old Team to Support.

There will be a new generation of blue fans, how about a new boys pen named after Billy Boy?

Having been fortunate to experience the dying days of the Moores era and the football riches of the 1980s, I have never felt more positive about the great institution that is Everton Football Club. The thought of a second opportunity on the waterfront, and the surrounding development – I can't wait to see plans/images.

Also good to see Bobby being enthused about taking the club forward, supported by his fellow Directors, without defending the impossible with his hands tied behind his back.

I can't wait to see the game tonight and enjoy Goodison's deserved final few seasons before an appropriate send off. Raise the roof fellow toffees, we're definitely in the ascendancy! COYB.

The status of clubs like Sunderland, West Ham, Stoke, Southampton, Bolton, Derby, Middlesborough, Blackburn, Rangers (at the time) and Arsenal all improve as a result of having new stadiums. Some of these have since been overshadowed, in particular some of them are too small and for others the location has been too out of town.

It looks like Moshiri gets that the stadium is a massive statement and an integral part of the New Everton Brand – essential for getting good players and good sponsorship and its not just about getting the most amount of seats for the least amount of money.

We must have a better ground than Anfield and it looks like we'll get it.

Call it William Ralph Dean Stadium. Dean Stadium for short.

This article is music to my ears, close proximity to the pitch, steep sides, fetching features of Goodison with us. I would also add, safe standing areas and very cheap tickets for children to lay foundations for our future support. Oh and a special viewing platform so we can see their 'conservatory '...

There is no doubt that the temporary incorporation of a running track will markedly impact the final design of the stadium, in terms of the view we get.

"Pressure is often put on stadium developers to increase the field size or include a running track. Occasionally, such requirements are unavoidable. Unfortunately, this will result in a much less successful facility than a football stadium that is specifically built around the football field's dimensions.

"Various attempts to provide a running track without destroying the football stadium's ambience have been proposed and built, including retractable seating along the sidelines, an example of which can be found in the Stad de France in Paris. Most are very expensive to build and operate and/or have resulted in compromised sight lines for one or both sports, even when the rake or angle of the seating has been made as steep as possible."

Quoted from FIFA Football Stadiums - Technical recommendation and requirements 5th edition.

We could really do without this running track...

They have found a way of doing this.

David (#26) – I am also a fan of the Lucas Oil Stadium but Dan Meiss has more or less ruled that out.

The proof now will be in the pudding, and if this comes off the way it sounds, wow. Just wow. It will truly be awesome being an Evertonian once again.

But is there anything to say that the away fans can't be placed in a side corner just as they are at Goodison? I don't think so.

The last thing I want is to be facing the "away end" containing a shower of Norwegian and Japanese tourists with the odd scouser who doesn't require a song sheet, jumping up and down when the ref awards them the usual dodgy pen in the 7th minute of 5 minutes of added time so that they can get a lucky draw against 8-men Everton, the other three having been sent off for either: (a) Wearing a blue shirt; (b) Being too handsome; or (c) Making an attempt on goal.

As far as I know, it only affects Newcastle and would have affected Sunderland but they got relegated. All other grounds already comply, I think.

I do think Elstone's tone about the ambitious nature of the stadium has changed from earlier soundbites. He even intimated it himself. I felt overall the club were underestimating how big our fan base was but maybe they are now getting it.

Our new design will includes drop trap doors in the away end, the doors are voice activated and open with any bollocks or certain song spoken, the trap door will be activated and will ferry them below and at an angle, slide them into the Mersey water.

I've not yet listened to the podcast but remain unconvinced. Nothing has been defined. As certain of the dimensions and geometry are inescapable, I already know what it would require anyway – and the cost would be prohibitive.

We simply will not get the same layout as Goodison if the track remains part of the plan. That closeness of seating at Goodison is a major part of the atmosphere and much would be lost without it, I feel. It could be replicated with no track involved.

I'm a fan of the Lucas Oil Stadium myself for many reasons. Still not as intimate as The Old lady, though!

Conversely they could design the acoustics to muffle the away fans.

Even the small stadium at Castleford where I am also a STH provides real ale, bacon rolls, pulled pork sarnies and espresso coffee. The club needs to visit any major league stadium in the USA to find out how to look after the fans.

All these outlets make profits for themselves and the club. Let's jump straight from the 1970s to the 2020s.

Muffling the away support? Yeah, why not!

It is a fable that economic reasons dictate stadiums should have a capacity of 50 to 60k. Hell, even FC Köln, who just have qualified for Europe for the first time in 25 years, are looking to expand or build new towards 75 to 80k. I really think we will regret building anything smaller than 65k.

Iconic location, team going places, this is the moment to push on and claim our place amongst the big ones, where we belong historically.

If they put a 3-metre safety zone around the temporary track, they will require a temporary podium footprint of 164 meters long and 80 metres wide.

Quite a challenge and one that fascinates me – but I remain convinced that they have a solution.

If each row averages a height of two foot, you're further away than if they average one foot.

You can tighten the legroom, but you can tighten the legroom on a less steep stand too. Do all stands want tighter legroom or just behind the goals?

Also, spot on Erik Dols they should be looking to expand, is there room though I wonder with him saying its a tight fit?

Is this tight fit the reason for the disappointing single home end and not two?

Laurie, you're right. Some tracks have had less outer zone at the end and more along the straights. "Recommendations" often state more than 3 metres, too.

"Challenge" is a good word for it!

How would such a scheme work? My preference would be a strictly controlled number of standing spaces, perhaps limited by season ticket sales, with good safety barriers, not the old style gut-squashers, who doesn't have a horror story about those abominations? Decent terraces, not the crumbling messes I remember.

There can be no doubt that we lost atmosphere when all-seater stadiums were introduced. For me, football is best watched standing, it is a game of passion and emotion and it is hard to get worked up while sitting.

I don't want a return to the days when you couldn't move cos your arms were pinned by your side and there was always a danger of a serious crush. But safe standing areas, strictly monitored and with stringent safeguards in place? Yes, please.