Everton Stadium 'on track' as ceremony marks completion of structure

I feel proud of the new stadium efforts but words don't describe the sadness and anger I feel over our fall from our once lofty position in English Football to watching the likes of Maupay, Godfrey, Iwobi etc trying to maintain our Premier League status.

It feels futile this time. Decades of mismanagement and mediocrity have caught up with us. We've been surpassed by the likes of Brighton and Brentford. There isn't even a Richarlison talisman this time.

Hope we can find investment and start again.

Given that we have an impending financial investigation and we may be yet again restrained on finances, it doesn't appear that our situation won't improve dramatically over the next few months and could drastically worsen if we are relegated.

The failure to improve the squad with decent strikers has compounded our situation.

Captain Seamus won't allow the club to go down, he'll rally the troops and get us over the line.

This is great news. I've been going to Goodison since the '70s and will miss it. Now I won't feel jealousy going to The Emirates or The Etihad. This is a promise delivered, especially after the disasters of Kings Dock and Destination Kirkby.

On a brighter note, come on you Wrexham, my second team and place of birth. With a bit of luck, Wrexham will be promoted and Everton will avoid relegation.

I thought Spurs might disprove the curse but Kane is on his way and 3 of the highest-profile managers have all failed in the new place. More chance of them going backwards rather than forwards now.

I suspect the new stadium has already killed us and purgatory awaits…

I know there is nothing but doom and gloom but it might be better thought of as a difficult birth. With the Board out of sight but in our minds, the owner a Space Cadet, with players who can beat Arsenal but put in an awful display against Fulham as if they are allergic to a football, a manager and fans who are fit to be tied, and the Premier League wondering what to do with a basket case of a club, God knows were this is all going to end up; I don't think a Club in history has had such a CV.

Yes, Bramley-Moore Dock is as good as place as you can get for a phoenix to rise from the ashes. I have lived long enough to see such situations unexpectedly turn around, with the emergence of the right people.

They will accrue a fortune from selling Kane, having had a fantastic return from him goal-wise for plenty of years. They just need to appoint the right manager and they will be somewhere in the Top 6 for the foreseeable future.

I hope we move the statues, even though I am torn as to whether they should stay where they are. Maybe we can replicate / duplicate? Dixie and the Holy Trinity. Is it time to consider one for the '80s team?

I've been thinking about naming of the stands. Do we go for ex-players? That would be the obvious route, but I'm not so keen as it isn't original.

1878, The Originals.

Or take our names with us? Gwladys Street, Bullens Road, Goodison Road, even County Road? Maybe one of the river facing stands named after the Mersey?

The Boys Pen will be only big enough for one (largish) person and Kenwright will have to buy a season ticket for it from his own pocket if he wants to attend games.

Thanks. I do genuinely believe that.

'The Ledge' as me and my mates used to refer to it. That is part of my Goodison memories. Where we tied our younger brothers and cousins to with scarves before heading into the middle of the lower Gwladys Street terrace and leaving them to it. Ironically, they probably had the best unobstructed view in the whole of Goodison whilst we swayed in the crushes trying to look over people twice our size but loving the atmosphere.

Visiting them at half-time with a cheap orange pop drink with a straw and half a sausage roll.

The Ledge. There's a thought. It might mean something to some Evertonians, maybe not everyone.

In the real world, I think corporate sponsorship will take over in both stadium and stand naming.

I've yet to see any renderings of the external works and the lighting provisions. I'd be all in favour of lamposts that have red lanterns dangling from them with in-built speakers playing "By the banks of the Royle Blue Mersey"

The Hummel Alan Ball Stand

Colin Harvey's Bristol Cream Stand

The Howard Kendall Mints Stand

Brian Labone's Heated Stand (with heated seats for for the prawn sandwich brigade)

The Gordon West Stand (on the west side of the stadium of course)

You can tell why my career in marketing and advertising came to nothing!!

Stupidly stood behind the barrier once for a big crowd against Leeds. Didn't make that mistake again. I can even spot myself tied to the barrier on footage of the Andy King derby...

So much for the media-driven, "Everton's new stadium 3 months behind schedule" campaign.

If not, it will happen the following season.

I think we need to do a Villa before we can even think about a clear-out.

Beat Palace and then Newcastle and the world will be a different place next week, with Leicester to go.

We could be safe in 3 games time with Brighton to face. Somewhere we can pick up points from and a win against Bournemouth.

If I may, we might even nick one against City.

New stadium. Same league.

Same league next season? Too close to call for me but we are where we are and it's how we react to events after this dreadful season that will define us. I'm going for a real surprise from Everton at Crystal Palace.

Unfortunately it is difficult to think beyond Saturday, when team news will be critical. Let's hope our Captain is fit and can play, Calvert-Lewin for 70 minutes will be a bonus, and everybody who plays will have to be at their very best.

That stadium is fit for a top team and, after all these years of waiting, please God let's not blow our chance now.

It would have been great finishing up at Goodison with at least two or three cult hero's playing for us and a team challenging at least that top six.

Even if we do somehow stay up this season then we can't start celebrating and bugging up an achievement like we did last season after the Crystal Palace night, it was frankly a relief nothing more.

The mere fact that the club has now found itself in the exact same situation 12 months on tells you all you need to know about the ineptitude on every level.

What will it be in another 12 months?

Things need to change on the pitch.

It'll mean something to any Fairport Convention fans on here...

"See yer on the Ledge" doesn't quite have the same feel, though!

I hope it's not “Mitty's Tripe”, remember that firm, not far away from where the new ground is now.

On the one hand we have an owner who as been totally out of his depth on the football side, and willing to trust a decades long, proven incompetent, part time and amateur chairman.

Whilst on the other hand the same owner has incredibly managed to bring to existence one of the world's most magnificent football stadiums for Everton FC.

Absolute incompetence sharing the same bed as spellbinding accomplishment.

8 years ago, Spurs finished 3rd, hardly languishing in the doldrums.

Even further back, in 2010, Gareth Bale led their glorious charge through the Champions League. Not sure where you magicked this idea of Spurs being poo as per your timeline.

Talking of which, I doubt Merlin the Magician can rescue them from the new build curse which is beginning to destroy them right before our very eyes. The curse will have them in the Championship within 3 seasons, mark my words.

The media will have a field day when they visit us at the new stadium and we return the favour at their gaff.

Just to rub it in, let's have a Royal Blue Liver Bird perched on top of one of the stands looking over the Mersey.

Controversial, but we were the first to use it as a symbol.

The bird is blue. The city is ours, not theirs.

When we left the other place to move to Goodison, we didn't carry forward references to the old ground; whilst the circumstances are different in nature this time around, I don't see a necessity to do it any differently.

Goodison Park will always be fondly remembered by those of us who have visited the Old Lady throughout its time and the memories made there will never be forgotten; however, the new stadium is mostly for the future generations, making their own cherished memories and attaching them to the new stadium.

Bolton, Derby, Borough, Sunderland etc weren't cursed by their stadiums so far as I can tell.

Arsenal have taken a while to bounce back from the stadium (and the post Wenger instability) but show no sign of going down. Likewise Spurs would be a shock departure from the Premier League.

As for us, we've been on the slide for a decade and the reasons for it have little or nothing to do with the stadium. The fact is we should be an established Top 10 side with cup runs and forays into Europe, based on the level of investment.

The stadium costs constrain our spending from here, but they're not the reason we got here.

The fact is, we need a new stadium. We just do.

Has a ring to it, The Macca Stadium. That would tip some Reds beyond boiling point, new stadium opening full of Everton season ticket holders with tickets for the McCartney gig, belting Beatles and McCartney classics out.

To see both Everton and McCartney play at our new stadium, is something I would fulfil and take to my grave.

Not going to happen but anyone can dream.

Whoever stumps up the most cash so we can improve the squad season on season can call the Stadium whatever they like as far as I'm concerned (within reason).

Colin Chong says the stadium is ahead of schedule but the text says it will be ready in the 2024-25 season. I'm sure when work started, the target was to have it ready for the 2024-25 season. It would be nice to have a stated date when we expect to move in.

Secondly, for all those doom merchants saying it will be the best stadium in the Championship, I'm confident we'll get promoted next season so will be back for 2024-25… (hopefully ;-)

I don't know Paul McCartney's football allegiance or whether he is actually interested or ever has been interested in football.

Speke born, moved to Allerton. I believe his dad watched Everton from the Upper Bullens. His family were apparently mostly Evertonians.

Yet he has been quoted as saying he supports both Everton and Liverpool as it is all Liverpool.

I can't quite get my head around that. It confuses me.

I suppose similar to what Usmanov may have been doing with Everton, but it was a bit more open if I remember?

Lyndon, your statement "The ground is projected to open during the 2024-25 season" is only correct if the stadium is months behind schedule. Which it isn't, and until someone from the club or Laing O'Rourke says otherwise, it will be ready on 14 June 2024. That's 150 weeks after the start date.

Of course, weather permitting etc, this could change in the future, but even if it falls 2 months behind schedule, it will still be completed before the start of the season.

Those clips of the piss stained terraces on the Kop singing "She Loves You".

Nauseating. And that's even before we get to Gerry and the Pacemakers.

I think I'm getting worse as I get older.

"𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀."

That's what I'm railing against – the populist notion a newie will be a silver bullet given the plethora of evidence to the contrary.

Improvement on Goodison Park facilities, for sure, but it is notable financial powerhouses Man Utd and Liverpool swerved new builds in favour of controlled expansion at their grounds, both sustaining excellent transfer budgets and silverware as a result.

They avoided the cart before the horse policy chosen by others and now us.

"We're doomed I tell you — DOOMED!!"

The stadium name (and address) should be ...

The W R Dean Stadium.
New Goodison Park,
Bramley-Moore Dock,
Regents Road, etc, etc.

Though it'll go to the highest bidder.

Can't decide… 🤔

Have you seen any designs for a redeveloped Goodison costing £500-750m? Or indeed one for half those amounts?

If not, you can't possibly comment so assuredly.

What spectacular sights worthy of the setting await you upon entry to the imposing arena Commodus himself would consider craps all over the Colosseum?

Come see Alex Iwobi doing his version of ‘closing down', which consists of sprinting in a Captain Jack Sparrow style, arms flapping about all over the shop, more animated character than man, before suddenly stopping dead in his tracks like he's teetering over a cliff edge.

Pick your jaw from the floor as Michael Keane and James Tarkowski perform interpretive dance moves while wearing those massive magnetic boots from the prison facility in Face/Off.

Thrill to Dominic Calvert-Lewin disintegrating to dust as though simply taking to the pitch has the same effect as Thanos snapping his fucking fingers.

Never miss a single moment of Neil Maupay battling to get on the end of a gilt-edged chance in the box: Link

All this and more can be yours to behold, come rain or shine, Premier League or Championship.'

May as well call it Potemkin Village and have done with it.

Providing they make changes at the top.

The chance to reinvest in Goodison went back in the 80s. Me and my mates (blue and red) spoke about it often. We would have had to buy up and bulldoze the Gwladys Street school and those two streets of houses opposite the Bullens Road. Then turn Goodison 180 degrees.

Like what Tottenham have done.

The team might be shit and will just about pull us over the line. But the stadium is positive and the future.

“Hey everyone look over here. (Seconds later) no wait, don't. “

Marvellously it even has its own song.

Survival from relagation?

Relagation itself?

Completion of the stadium?

Opening the stadium?

How can they cling on like this? These should be mementous days, yet they are passing by with no CEO, Owner or Chairman present...

Are they thinking it will all be okay if we don't go down? IT WON'T!!!!!

There should be a new CEO & Chairman already, celebrating these milestones. Allowing fans to get behind the people that should be trying to take the club forward, yet we are left with a board hiding waiting for some good news to pop out and say "Look what we've done"

Just leave let us all move on!

It used to be City of Manchester Stadium but now of course its The Ethiad.

I really don't see them falling back as you believe they will but I don't have a crystal ball.

I was a denizen of the ‘Ledge' in my youth though my perception was that most of us were teenagers rather than kids and I never noticed that anyone was actually tied on. It felt like a pretty good arms and legs work-out and the unobstructed view was certainly worth it.

Well, we have had enough tripe served up on the pitch recently to last a lifetime.

By the way, great seeing you again Saturday and all the others who turned up, pity 'Mitty's Tripe' came back to haunt us again versus Fulham.

I can just imagine it lit up in anticipation for an evening match sparkling like a jewel in a spectacular sunset.

https://www.liverpoolworld.uk/sport/football/everton/striking-photos-of-everton-new-stadium-tobacco-warehouse-4111838?page=3

What a description! Made me laugh. You still got it.

"Never miss a single moment of Neil Maupay battling to get on the end of a gilt-edged chance in the box."Link

For 2 more season after this one!

Of course I had no way of knowing how it would turn out but the feeling of loss of control or ownership, of community, never felt right. We were the best team that didn't have the dosh. Now look.

All good when it works out perhaps, but when it doesn't...