EXCLUSIVE: West Ham United fans who travelled to Hill Dickinson Stadium provided former Everton striker Tony Cottee with a glowing report
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: A general exterior aerial view of the Hill Dickinson Stadium ahead of the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 29, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
A general exterior aerial view of the Hill Dickinson Stadium ahead of the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United on September 29, 2025
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Everton’s new home on the Mersey waterfront provides a better experience than Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. That’s the verdict of West Ham United fans who attended the first Premier League night game at Hill Dickinson Stadium last month.
The Hammers quit the Boleyn Ground, their home for the previous 112 years in 2016 to move into London Stadium, which had been converted after it was the showpiece venue for the 2012 Olympics, but still left spectators far away from the on-pitch action.
East Ender Tony Cottee, born in Forest Gate, just a mile from Upton Park, played for West Ham either side of his six-year spell with Everton between 1988-94, and although he’s still waiting to go to his first match at Hill Dickinson Stadium having attended the Blues’ Goodison Park farewell against Southampton on May 18, a group of his friends provided him with a glowing report.
Speaking in association with Casino.org, where you can find the best online casinos in the UK, Cottee told the ECHO: “My mates went with West Ham, and they said it was an unbelievable football experience, which is great news for Evertonians.
“Their biggest problem was that the club went from a football stadium to an athletics stadium.
“It was a wonderful stadium for the Olympics but it’s an athletics stadium and I think West Ham fans have really struggled to get their heads around moving from what was a wonderful football stadium at Upton Park.
“Everton have moved from Goodison Park, a legendary football ground, to a 21st century purpose-built football ground.
“The boys told me that they went up there and they loved it with the closeness of being near to the pitch.
“The atmosphere was great and one of them told me that it was a better stadium experience than going to Tottenham.
“I can see what he means because as great as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is, it’s very much a corporate stadium and they have the NFL and the boxing there.
“Hill Dickinson Stadium has been built for Everton to play their football there.
“They’ve got other events, like the rugby league international this weekend, and concerts to come, which all helps from the revenue point of view, but with the way it’s been designed with the steepness of the stands, it’s a football stadium.
“I was gutted that I wasn’t able to see the game as I was away on holiday, but I’ll be looking to come up at some point throughout the season and experience myself and I want to reassure Evertonians that the feedback from away fans has been very good.”