Season › 2024-25 › News How Dan Meis captured lightning in a bottle with new Everton stadium Anjishnu Roy 19/02/2025 11comments | Jump to last Everton Football Club gave the world a glimpse of what its future would look like with a test event between Everton U18 and their counterparts from Wigan Athletic. The match, won 2-1 by Wigan, allowed 10,000 lucky Evertonians to flood the South Stand as the club prepares to move into the ground by the beginning of next season. Fans were left wowed and mesmerised by the grandeur of the new stadium, capable of housing 52,888. Architect Dan Meis’s understanding of the history and heritage of the club as well as Goodison are also on display with the new stadium reflecting a more traditional design compared to some of the stadiums that have been built in recent years. “My biggest challenge at Everton was, ‘How do you capture the lightning in a bottle that is Goodison Park?’” the architect told City AM. “I don’t believe in this big, shiny object with LED video screens everywhere. I think that this really comes down to what makes a football game so special – particularly an English football game. There’s just nothing like that experience.” Great care was taken to preserve the existing features of the Bramley-Moore Dock area. Old railway tracks, dock walls, and a hydraulic tower are a part of the new stadium complex. “With Everton, we worked really hard to make it feel like the building kind of grew out of the historic fabric of that area. And I think that’s important. “I didn’t start with talking about a stadium. I started with diving deep into the history of the club and the fanbase and what makes that club unique to those fans.” Meis, who shared his vision for Everton’s new home for the first time in July 2019, also incorporated fan feedback during his sketching and designing processes. Those ideas have already transpired into reality, giving Evertonians a place they get to call home for the future. Reader Comments (11) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Mike Gaynes 1 Posted 19/02/2025 at 17:30:46 Hiring the world's best stadium designer was Moshiri's best single decision. I see Meis' work every time I take the ferry over to Seattle, because the baseball stadium he designed 25 years ago overlooks the waterfront. I can't wait to see his newest masterpiece from the same perspective.Did you know that AS Roma will move into a new Meis-built stadium in 2027? Anjishnu Roy 2 Posted 20/02/2025 at 11:56:03 #1 Yes, it's also going to be a 55,000-seater. The designs look beautiful! Ray Roche 3 Posted 20/02/2025 at 13:20:43 Mike, we should at least give Moshiri credit for enabling us to have this incredible stadium. Have you any plans to visit Liverpool any time soon? Brian Williams 4 Posted 20/02/2025 at 13:36:44 Ray, I believe Mike does just that.Here's an interesting lookback to 2018.Link Robert Tressell 5 Posted 20/02/2025 at 13:50:13 Moshiri was a disaster from start to finish from a footballing point of view - but he's delivered the stadium. It really is a magnificent stadium too. To think we could have been playing in Kirkby ffs. James Marshall 6 Posted 20/02/2025 at 14:57:53 Why are the ticket threads no longer showing up as 'Recent Comments' on the homepage? How are we meant to speak to each other on ticket threads if nobody can see them?This is a major failing of the new owners, as far as I see it. TW has always been the best place for fans to swap/sell/share tickets usually without profit because we give a shit about one another.Not having ticket threads on the homepage means they're never viewed, and thus nobody will ever get a ticket. Sort it out and get the ticket threads to show up on the homepage please, new owners!Also, if anyone has 1 spare ticket for the Man Utd game this weekend, please let me know on 07809 510888! Danny O'Neill 7 Posted 20/02/2025 at 15:08:51 I agree on the mention of Moshiri. You can be a distant owner, but still be involved. He was just distant and, by the end, had lost interest. But, his positive legacy is the state of the art stadium. The. negative, as Robert calls out, the near disastrous on the footballing side. One to many flirts with relegation, the bizarre handling of the manager / coach situation. It was like a revolving door and some of them must have passed each other on the way in / out.The Roma stadium project, having been scrapped once to my knowledge, looks back on track. Given our current links through the owners, we should invite them to the Everton Stadium pre-season, and then have the gesture returned when their new stadium opens. Mike Gaynes 8 Posted 21/02/2025 at 01:08:07 Mike Gaynes 9 Posted 21/02/2025 at 01:12:47 Ray #3, I plan to make it over by the end of the year. Looking forward to meeting you.Brian #4, interesting old link there. I'd say that of the 11 principles Elstone established, there's every chance that 10 of them will be fulfilled (only number 6 seems doubtful!).Danny #7, I'd say that idea is already well-formed. I can't imagine the Friedkins failing to cross-promote their two brand-new palaces. We'll be seeing multiple Roma/Everton friendlies I'm sure. Don Alexander 10 Posted 21/02/2025 at 01:56:15 Don Alexander 11 Posted 21/02/2025 at 01:56:53 Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW © ToffeeWeb