Hill Dickinson Stadium – First experience from a Fan's Perspective

Sunday marked a brand-new era for Everton Football Club and its supporters as the first competitive game at their new home on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey took place, with Hill Dickinson Stadium playing host to Everton vs Brighton & Hove Albion.

​Many supporters would argue that the term ‘luck’ doesn’t always match when it comes to Everton, but in terms of weather on the day, it certainly did. The bright sun shone down on the shiny new home, and everything was set up for a perfect sunny Sunday on Merseyside.

​As expected, the minds of most Evertonians were unsure how the day would pan out. Everything was brand new territory, having been used to the same routine every other weekend at Goodison Park.

With a brand-new stadium, it is also expected that everything isn’t always going to be pitch-perfect at first, even though it is set up to fit the bill for a classic modern-day football arena.

Following my first visit, I’ve looked from a fan’s perspective at the positives, but also areas needing improvement. In time, hopefully, these can be addressed during feedback meetings held by the club.

​Pros

​Self-Service e-bars

​This is an area that Evertonians have not been used to with the form of self-service e-bars. Having previously spent many years stood in queues in a tight enclosed concourse inside Goodison Park with not much space to stand or move around whilst waiting to be served, this process is certainly a modern approach on serving drinks to supporters. It will allow people to purchase drinks quicker, rather than standing in a queue for a period of time and often missing the first few minutes of the second half.

​This was something that has been put in place inside the ground, but also outside as well in the fan plaza. It gives supporters the choice of when they walk through the gates and scan their tickets, to either enter the ground early and stand within the concourse or settle themselves in the fan plaza and soak in the atmosphere as they prepare to watch 90 minutes of their beloved Toffees.

So again, this is certainly a positive new approach by Everton and something that, no doubt, in years to come will become the norm with such bars installed throughout the entire stadium.

​Perfect View of the Pitch from the Stands

​This is certainly something you couldn’t always guarantee at the Grand Old Lady. Having previously sat in various areas of Goodison Park, and having a season ticket in the Lower Bullens Road stand, the days of moving your head from side to side due to a massive pillar obstructing your view of the pitch are well gone in our new home.

Usually, when sitting quite high up, even in other modern football stadiums, sometimes your view of the pitch, and in particular the opposite side of the ground, isn’t always perfect. However, at Hill Dickinson Stadium, this is very much the opposite.

Having sat in the upper North Stand just above the supporters of Brighton on the day, you could perfectly see the opposite side of the stadium and supporters sat in the back row of South Stand, for example.

Another positive of being sat high up in the North Stand was that it gave a clear view of Everton’s second goal of the day, scored by James Garner at the South Stand end. As he fired the ball past Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen, you instantly knew that there was only one place it was heading.

So again, another positive outcome to the experience was knowing that, even if you are sat higher up inside Everton’s new home, there will always be a perfect view of the pitch.

​Cons

​Pricing of Food and Drink

On the day, there weren’t many downsides to the experience, if any. But if there were any, it would likely be the pricing of food and drink inside the stadium. This is a topic where the football club will never be able to please every single match-goer. However, it is certainly an area which, in time, the club will have to look to address.

​Traditionally at events such as concerts and even other major sporting events that may take place inside a football stadium, such as the Rugby League Ashes that will take place at Hill Dickinson Stadium later this year, prices for food and drink are usually quite high. Spectators tend to expect this to be the reality when purchasing a ticket and going to such an event.

However, when going to a football match to watch your team every other week, fair pricing is important.

​For example, a standard pie at £6.20, an 8-inch sausage roll at £7, and a packet of sweets at £4.50. This is overpriced, and hearing the reactions inside the concourse when fans first took a glance at the food & drink prices, this was a widespread reaction.

​So perhaps, moving forward, this is an area that Everton as a club can look to address. With there being other food and drink places outside the stadium with relatively reasonable pricing, supporters would take up the option of going there pre-match, rather than settling themselves in the fan plaza or inside the concourses once the turnstiles are opened for people to enter the stadium.

Overall, the first experience of Hill Dickinson Stadium from a fan’s perspective was very positive. Listening to feedback and reactions from other supporters post-match, their thoughts and feelings on the stadium were very similar. This is definitely a positive going forward, considering the stadium will hopefully become a place of happiness, and we can instantly feel at home, just as we did at Goodison Park. 

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