The different stadium arrangements at Everton and Manchester City have come back into focus following the verdict in City’s long-running Premier League financial case.
A comparison circulating among Evertonians points to Manchester City playing at the council-owned Etihad Stadium under a long-term lease, while Everton funded the construction of Hill Dickinson Stadium as part of the regeneration of Liverpool’s northern docks.
The figures underline the contrast. Everton’s latest accounts put total project spend on Hill Dickinson Stadium at £813m, while City are reported to pay Manchester City Council between £3m and £4m a year under their Etihad lease.
Man City hire the City of Manchester Stadium off Manchester Council for £3 million a season
Everton spent £750 million to build a stadium to kickstart the regeneration of North Liverpool Docks
One of these clubs got absolutely hammered over a couple of £million
Outrageous….
— Anthony Williamson (@Anthony12028222) October 3, 2026
They are very different arrangements and shouldn’t be treated as directly comparable. There is, though, a reason the subject still resonates at Everton.
Stadium costs became part of Everton’s PSR case
Financing the new stadium became an issue during Everton’s second Profitability and Sustainability Rules case.
When Everton were handed a two-point deduction in April 2024 for an admitted £16.6m breach, the Premier League confirmed there was a separate outstanding dispute over certain costs Everton said were associated with construction of the stadium.
The club argued those costs had been capitalised in its audited accounts and shouldn’t be treated as losses for PSR purposes. The Premier League took a different view.
That part of the case primarily concerned the treatment of interest payments relating to the new stadium. It was eventually discontinued in January 2025 after the Premier League Board concluded it would not be “appropriate or proportionate” to continue pursuing the complaint.
Everton had already been docked eight points across two separate PSR cases during the 2023/24 season.
The comparison with Manchester City only goes so far. City’s commission considered substantially different alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, and the club has now appealed the guilty verdict.
But for Everton and Evertonians who watched the club receive two points deductions while also financing one of the biggest stadium projects in English football, it is easy to see why the contrast has resurfaced.
Everton now own a new £813m stadium. City play at the Etihad under a long-term lease from Manchester City Council.
Those are facts rather than evidence that either club was treated more or less favourably, but they provide the context behind a debate which has returned this week.
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