Former Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has been speaking about Hill Dickinson Stadium, David Moyes and The Friedkin Group
Former Everton owner Farhad Moshiri at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 9, 2025
Former Everton owner Farhad Moshiri at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 9, 2025
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Former Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has expressed his pleasure at seeing Hill Dickinson Stadium “come to life.”
Moshiri leaves a complex legacy from his time as majority shareholder at the Blues with eight managers in as many years. During his time at the helm the Blues went through several relegation battles, including posting the lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history, ensuring they came within one goal on the final day of the season from going down for the first time in 72 years.
There were a brace of points deductions for PSR rule breaches coming after his apology to fans for profligacy, admitting in the summer of 2022: “We have not always spent significant amounts of money wisely”, as well as large-scale supporter protests against the board and an attempt to sell to the controversial Miami-based private investment group 777 Partners who have now collapsed.
However, despite all these numerous and significant problems, the one issue on which Moshiri delivered was the construction of Everton’s new 52,769 capacity home which is providing them with the potential to play in front of the biggest regular crowds in their history – both of their attendances for Premier League games so far have been over 50,000 and the only previous time the Blues have topped that figure over a season was when they averaged 51,603 for the 1962/63 title-winning campaign – and will provide the club with an estimated additional £60million-a-year in revenue according to financial experts.
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Everton have made their to the Mersey waterfront under the stewardship of returning manager David Moyes who missed out on coming back for a second stint on at least a couple of occasions during the British-Iranian businessman’s tenure.
Moshiri, who turned 70 this year, has now been to more games at Hill Dickinson Stadium than he attended at Goodison Park in the final three years of his reign and after watching the Premier League encounter against Aston Villa on Saturday, Everton News quote him as telling former Sky Sports journalist Alan Myers: “It is such a pleasure to be here for a league game and to see the stadium come to life. It means a lot to see the smiles on the fans’ faces, they make it a special place and it’s wonderful to see the club thriving under the stewardship of David Moyes and the ownership of TFG. I’m really pleased.”
In 2023, Moyes, who steered the Blues to nine top eight finishes, including their highest ever Premier League placing of fourth in 2004/05, revealed he had come close to returning after Marco Silva’s sacking in December 2019, only for Moshiri to switch his attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, ensuring the Scot would go back to West Ham United, who he’d guide to a first major trophy in 43 years when they lifted the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023, instead.
Moyes told beinSPORT: “When I was being offered the West Ham job, I had actually been in Germany with Farhad Moshiri to take the Everton job. The phone rang in the middle of a meeting with Everton and it was David Sullivan.
“I had to say: ‘I can’t speak just now.’ But Carlo Ancelotti was sacked by Napoli that night, and they changed tack, even though I was due to sign the day before – I had told David.
“But the next day Everton didn’t make more contact, so I phoned David and said: ‘If it’s still there,’ and it couldn’t have gone better – it was the right choice.”