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Everton host their second test event at their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium this weekend as they prepare to move from Goodison Park.
The day is drawing closer until the landmark day in Everton history.
The move to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be seismic for the Toffees. Leaving Goodison Park behind will not be a pleasurable experience for many fans - but they are equally relishing the change of home to the state-of-the-art facility on the Liverpool waterfront.
Everton officially begin life at their 52,888-seater ground for the start of the 2025-26 season. But the migration period is very much afoot. The Blues are preparing for their second test event on Sunday when the under-21s face Bolton Wanderers in a friendly.
Some 25,000 supporters will make their way to the fresh facility after 10,000 were present for an under-18s game against Wigan Athletic last month. Those present get a glimpse of what is to come for the future. They will experience the South Stand of the stadium with its steepness meeting building regulations by 0.1 degrees.
However, those lucky to have tickets will not see the finished article, with advertisements around the ground still to be installed. What’s more, the pitch that Paul Tait’s young Blues play on will not be the same as the one that raises the curtain to next season. Like at the end of every campaign, the turf will be pulled up and a new one relaid before David Moyes’ troops start the 2025-26 term.
What’s been said
Alix Waldron, who is Everton’s director of new stadium development, toldSky Sports News: “We wanted to push the boundaries to recreate the fortress that is Goodison. That is one things fans told us they wanted to bring with us. They wanted to bring that atmosphere and steepness and the stands and the towering over the pitch helps create that atmosphere as well.
“We've got all the fit out of our premium spaces, tech installs for our DAS (Distributed Antenna System) to make sure people's phones have full connectivity, the Wi-Fi installed, a lot of branding is still to come. We have kept it fairly dumbed-down so fans at test events can get used to where they're going and then we need to bring it into Everton's home and give it those touches of Everton, future sponsorships and things like that. There is still a lot of work to be done and Everton Way outside is a big one - that visual impact of Everton Way being installed.
“We've got more work to do. We will do a full refurb like we do at Goodison and every ground does every season to make sure it's absolutely perfect for 2025-26 because we have grown this one at the worst possible time through the winter. We'll do a refurb before the start of the Premier League season.
“On the pitch specifically, we'll start that as soon as the test events are out of the way. We normally only have the window once the Premier League season finishes in May to get ready for August. We're used to working in a tight timeframe.”
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