What we know about Everton’s stadium delays, from 777 finances to new date
Everton have delayed the move to their new £760m stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock until the start of the 2025-6 season.
The club have stressed that the decision, revealed by interim chief executive Colin Chong on Friday, is not because of construction delays and the build is “on track” to be completed by the end of next year.
Instead, Everton say they have arrived at the new date after taking into account the huge logistical demands of leaving Goodison Park in December 2024 rather than at the end of the campaign. The impact of moving stadium mid-season on the club’s football operations, and fan feedback, has also been taken into account.
They will instead run a series of test events and plan a “year-long celebration” of Goodison Park before leaving the ground in May 2025.
In a blog published on the club’s website, Chong explained: “To be absolutely clear, our decision to not move in mid-season is not because of a construction delay.
“It is a club decision driven by a combination of commercial insight, a comprehensive review of the logistics required, an analysis of the potential impact upon our football operations and, importantly, fan feedback sourced as part of our recent stadium migration survey, which was completed by almost 10,000 Evertonians.
“Everton’s stadium remains firmly on track, as scheduled, to be completed in the final weeks of 2024.
“We will need to conduct test events at our new home, which will allow us to stress-test the stadium in a number of different ways in order to obtain our Safety Certificate. It will also give Evertonians a chance to see and sample the new facilities.
“Some of our test events will involve crowds of varying capacities, while others will need to be operationally focused and only involve our own staff.”
The impressive new arena is a host venue for Euro 2028 and is seen as pivotal to the club’s future.
But paying for it has put Everton’s finances under pressure, and loans secured to build it were part of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) breach which saw the Toffees docked 10 points last month. The club are appealing that decision and a verdict will be announced before the end of this season.
No decision will now be reached on the ownership until next month at the earliest, with the complex nature of 777 Partners’ finances understood to be at the centre of the delays.
The original statement by Everton announced that it was hoped that the regulatory process would be concluded by the end of the year. That timeline has proven optimistic.
While the process continues, 777 continue to provide interim funding to cover the club’s costs – and that amount will stretch to £100m by the end of next month. It has been claimed that if the process collapses Everton could topple into administration.
But i has been told by club sources that such an eventuality remains unlikely, with all parties still confident the deal will go through.
That uncertainty has not had an impact on matters on the pitch, where Everton have escaped the relegation zone after a run of three consecutive wins. They head to Burnley on Saturday four points clear of the drop zone despite their points deduction.
