Everton have announced that they will play Roma in the inaugural first team game at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday August 9 (kick-off 3pm).
The historic fixture will provide the curtain-raiser to Everton’s first season at their 52,888 capacity home on the Mersey waterfront at Bramley-Moore Dock while also serving as a third test event in terms of obtaining a safety certificate after 10,000 spectators were allowed in for a game between the Blues’ Under-18s and their Wigan Athletic counterparts on February 17 before the Under-21s played Bolton Wanderers B on March 23 when there was a planned evacuation in the second half before the match ended early.
Roma, who are also owned by The Friedkin Group, whose takeover of Everton was announced on December 19 last year, provided the opposition for the Blues’ final friendly game at Goodison Park when the two sides drew 1-1 on August 10.
The Serie A side had four head coaches in 2024 – Jose Mourinho, Daniele De Rossi, Ivan Juric and Claudio Ranieri – but the latter, who was coaxed out of retirement aged 73 to help out his boyhood club, where he’d already had two previous stints in charge, handed over the reins last week to Gian Piero Gasperini, who had been with Atalanta for the previous nine years, after steering Roma to a fifth place finish.
Supporters will be invited to make the most of this historic day, with The Plaza opening at 12pm.
Fans will have the chance to fully explore their new surroundings, enjoy live entertainment, and sample a wide variety of food and beverage options across The Plaza and within the concourses which will open at 1pm.
Everton previously played at Goodison, the first purpose-built football ground in England and venue for the most top flight matches, for 133 years.
Their first game there after departing from Anfield and crossing Stanley Park was a 4-2 friendly win over Bolton Wanderers on September 1, 1892, before they drew 2-2 with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest 48 hours later.
The Blues will find out who their first competitive opponents at Hill Dickinson Stadium will be on Wednesday when the Premier League’s fixtures for the 2025/26 season are released.