Everton Stadium on course to open in 2024-25

Really?

Well who'da thought it? 🤔

I would rather wait a few months to make sure it is fit for purpose and all 'snagging' is taken care of properly. £750 million and we want to rush it

But fuck it lets have a dig anyway

Let's see what additional commercial events and gigs will be booked in as test events.. no, nothing?

Is Bill needed to sign-off on this, I'm guessing he'll be sticking around given the lack of good news.

It's something of a miracle that the project has progressed as quickly as it has. What other multi-year construction project, this one being built on a wet dock no less, is ever completed to the original timeline?!

Slightly disappointing but I really don't see this as a big deal.

Season's end makes sense?

The decision will be whether to wait until the next season or move mid-season, which could prove tricky with season ticket holders. But not insurmountable with a bit of foresight and planning.

As Rob says, it doesn't affect the Euro bid as that is 2028.

Difficult times - check.
Distraction possible - check.
Stadium news tactic - check.

Is Bill staying?

Spurs Stadium ran 95% over on Cost, and 50% over on Schedule. So nothing here to raise concern yet.

It's our only glimour of hope at present. Stay positive.

COYB UTFT

There are Always snags with funding, material, labour etc.

The initial plan / 'grand design' is almost always revised downwards due to the above.

It's Never on time.

And the cost Always balloons out.

Take L O'R at their word

Give Goodison a good send off May 2025.

Commission BMD July...Vs whoever - Big Kick Off August.

No Problemo.

And, frankly, anyone who has watched the other recent major stadium developments (e.g. the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) should have expected the opening date to shift, not least because this is Everton we're talking about!

That said, I think the club and Laing O'Rourke should be commended for the speed and efficiency with which the stadium has gone up to date.

My only concern about this is the mid-season move. I don't know how I feel about it honestly, but I just think any distraction during the season isn't good?

Then again if I paid the amount of money Everton has paid for BMD, I'd move in the second it was done! 😂

Also please point to any major construction project that’s delivered on time… ever… I’ve just had our bathroom done and that’s taken 2 weeks longer than we planned! We’ve got an awesome looking stadium coming very soon and we stayed up. The board we pilloried is being turfed out and new investors pending. Sure the team needs an overhaul and we don’t have a big budget we can spend, but if you can’t be positive in the off season then really what is the point?

The 48hrs have been and gone .

Mr Kenwright playing hardball on the terms of his departure? A golden commode in the BMD main stand and three meat n potato pies at HT should do it.

So there's 'yer major project finished not just on time, but early!

That's Romanians for you. Non smokers, no tea breaks, no sitting in the van for hours!

Not all Romanins are non smokers like, but my Romanians were.

That's Laing O'Rourke for you, Chris!

Apologies for my humour mate, it's not to everyone's taste................. or should that be "anyone's"?

But with Bury FC, starting up again, maybe Mr Kenwright can give them that couple of million quid he was looking to give them when they were thrown out of the Football League – and maybe even become their chairman.🤞

I was involved with Tottenham just as they were about to launch their new stadium.

They ran a test about 2 weeks before the first match proper with the U23s or U21s, with 20,000 in attendance.

I think we've done well to be almost on schedule. I've known Government projects run several years behind and some that ended up being written off.

See you all at the Bramley Moore, which the owners must have pound signs in their eyes about. Good luck to them.

They need the playlist from the Brick and the Winslow.

I guess that's why they call it the blues.

Maybe introduce Ray Charles' I can't stop loving you.

I'm getting carried away.

It is going to be very emotional when the time comes. But the time is coming.

So If it isn't expected to be ready until December then that would make it approximately 12 weeks over schedule. In the grand scheme of things, that not a lot.

The problem is however, the club have continuously insisted that the project is on schedule. Well, if it's on schedule, the original estimate is wrong and someone has been telling porkies all along.

I don't understand why they feel they have to lie. Just be straight with the fans, and tell us how the schedule is progressing. If it's a bit behind, fine.

The eminent chairman is holding out for it to be a nude a la Michelangelo's David - but there's a stumbling block over the size of his bollocks.

The sculptor is demanding proof of size but the sitter is wary of being caught out
with his pants down again.

If called upon fans will confirm that Bill's bollocks are legendary - and
if called to testify will call out in unison "What a load of Bollocks!!"

All well and good the news about BMD but the news I want to hear/see is super leech has left the club.

If he wants some sort of legacy then one of the toilets at BMD can be named after him. Any suggestions?

See 48 hrs has passed and no further statement as they stated
The slippery toad will be doing everything to stay.

We won't moan, but we can criticise where appropriate.

Kenwright got a chance early days by many. He royally screwed it up as the years went by.

What the fuck are we going to moan about it a bit insulting.

We were not far removed 9th time league champions not long after he got involved. More titles than Manchester United. We had not long won our first European Trophy.

They have made me and thousands others watch the decline of this club and suffer very traumatic last gasp escapes from relegation. Four of them to be precise.

A lost generation, my son and brother included. They have had nothing.

Goodison that has barely changed since the 1970s.

It's not "moaning", it is pointing out reality and having ambition to want our club competing where it should be competing.

On that, I understand a mid-season move would benefit financially but seems bizarre going mid-season I don't think Goodison should be waived off like that. Tottenham went mid-season but don't forget WHL had already gone.

"It is stated in the Construction Management Plan, as part of the planning application, that the project will take 150 weeks to complete plus 12 weeks for testing and commissioning."

But does it also state the Commencement Date of the project that the 150 weeks is to be measured from?

And maybe Laing O'Rourke have been given an extension of time due to additional works or changes to scope?

Verified here:

New Everton Stadium outline becomes clearer

The two-way black glass had been especially difficult to install and test to a level of expected noise or abuse. Removing the fixtures and the required extra strengthening of the area back to the original design, has proven difficult but is expected to be completed in time for the opening. – Rooters

Moving in mid-season would obviously mean selling part-season tickets to those on the waiting list. Trial events would be required while Goodison was still hosting home matches and there is bound to be some uncertainty about the handover date until fairly late in the project. My guess is the club will play it safe and wait until the start of 25/26 season before moving.

December 24, a nice Chrimbo pressie for the kopshites!!!

Frameworks can go up quickly but it will be the miles of electrical cabling, plumbing etc that will take ages and no doubt it will hit snagging delays too. All big project builds do.

Progress though has been genuinely fantastic given how difficult a build it has been with draining/filling the dock. Being a really exposed site the good weather we've had over the last 18 months has really helped.

Laing O'Rourke should get a lot of credit at the end they are doing a brilliant job.

Now can someone familiar with construction projects clarify the usual process. Does the contractor remain contracted after an initial handover, until testing and snag resolution is completed? If so, that would imply that the actual build completion would be several months before December.

We would need capacity test runs and safety inspections and all mannner of certifications before the stadium can officially open though.

Better to leave it until the start of the season, hold some U21 or youth games, friendlies and concerts in the interim, iron out any glitches, leave Goodison at the season's end and start anew in August.

Then the Club will have to do the capacity test runs and safety inspections and all manner of certifications Daniel (#81) refers to.

So a completion and handover by Rourke O'Laing in December then the Club doing its bits means there won't be any Premier League games played there until the beginning of 2025-26 season.

As it's a Design and Build contract I assume it's FIDIC Yellow Book but I don't have my copy handy to check the exact procedures for completion and handover.

Any chance you can provide more detail please? Or point me in the right direction to read up more on the processes myself? Thanks.

So based on this estimate, the project, including 12 weeks of testing and commissioning, was due to finish around the end of August 2024. Therefore, the only conclusion that can be drawn from the available information is that the project is behind schedule. So why have they consistently claimed otherwise?

You only need to look at the Spurs stadium to see how build estimates are often a work of fiction. It's done when it's done and it can't be rushed.

The Liverpool stadium extension is seriously hitting snags at the moment and they have a strict target deadline to hit which is likely to be missed.

I won't take too much glee in this as you never know what future snags may lie in weight for our new stadium. But progress thus far looks great. Just remember although outside from all the drone video updates at times it might seem that things are moving slow but remember things inside the stadium are also being done daily.

To clarify, The original estimate in the CMP was 150 weeks to build (including dock infill) which takes us to mid-June 2024 based on a 26 July 2021 start date. Add to this 12 weeks for commissioning and testing takes the project to the beginning of September 2024.

So, if it's now not going to be ready until December, then it's behind schedule. Unless of course they came up with a new schedule after the original estimate in the CMP.

What will happen to Goodison Park when we finally move to the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock?

Does anyone know if the club has ever mentioned this previously?

There will be some (hopefully low cost) housing, a community centre, a health centre (I think) - EitC facilities. And a small community park where the centre circle is.

https://ukgbc.org/resources/goodison-legacy-project/

The club have been saying it wouldn't be open at the beginning of the season, now people are complaining that they were right?

And the people complaining it won't be ready for the Euros are hilarious! If it's not ready for 2028, I'll join in with the moaning!

The club actually deserve credit for the plans for Goodison Park – plans which were released right from the start.

There was plenty of workers on site, all beavering away, both inside and outside the stadium. I'm amazed at how much has been done since the construction actually started after the dock was completely filled in, and the foundations laid.

In other words, what we can see above ground level has taken around 16 months so far. So I'd say it's pretty much on schedule.

Oh, and by the way, whatever happened to that poster who was telling us for months and months and months that there is “no new stadium”?

Leave them or take them with us?

I'm torn to shreds.

And what of the Goodison Supper Bar? Relocate?

On stand naming, too many names of former players.

Goodison
Gwladys
Bullens

Keep it reflective of our Goodison heritage.

Can't think of a 4th right now.

I've also been thinking about the Everton One store. Obviously that can't be relocated (or maybe it can), but will a new one be built and the current one demolished?

Pity it will never be finished!

So much time, money and effort wasted! 😂😂

Unless it's a couple of tickets to the 24-25 Champions League Final Everton V Barca.

As this has been stated before, I can't see what the problem is.

Presumably, if you're this ill-informed about the new stadium, a subject done to death by the club, you're probably ill-informed about a lot of other things too? Might explain the current lynch mob mentality of some Evertonians on here which makes depressing reading.

So the December date must be when the Club has finished all its certifications and the stadium becomes "live".

For the fourth side how about

"The Moshiri Main Stand" or what about

"The Good Times Kenwright Kop" or for the entire stadium based on her selfless work and leading inspiration

"The Barrett-Baxendale"Bowl"

Guaranteed to create an atmosphere and leave a very bitter taste in the mouth… 😂

Rather than name after players, as there are too many, I'd just prefer we reflect our heritage. Maybe our future. Something as simple as the Bramley-Moore Stand.

Maybe even something more controversial that would be provocative and cause stir amongst reds and blues.

The Royal Liver stand.

The bird is blue after all!!

Not sure how laying a brand new playing surface will take but I'm sure (not) it's been thought about.