Everton Women could make Goodison Park their new home from the 2025-26 season, with the club’s owners The Friedkin Group commissioning a feasibility study into making the move in the summer.
Goodison has been home of the club since 1892, but at the end of the season the men’s team will be making the move to their new 52,888 capacity stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. Now the Guardian’s Tom Garry is reporting the women’s team may move into the stadium.
At an event to mark 100 days since the completion of their takeover, Chief Executive Marc Watts revealed that as part of the ongoing Goodison Legacy Project the idea of the women’s team moving in is being discussed.
What is the Goodison Legacy Project?
The Goodison Legacy Project is described by those in charge as ‘a mixed use regeneration scheme consisting of ten new development blocks on the land currently occupied by the existing Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool’.
This would include building new houses, businesses and community focused retail on the site of the current stadium. Consultation with local stakeholders has taken place throughout the process to ensure any changes benefit the local community.
The scheme, which ensures full transparency by making its methodology available to the public, looks at a number of factors from initial design, investment, planning, construction and operation.
Where do Everton Women currently play?
Everton Women have been playing their home games at the Liverpool County FA Ground at Walton Hall Park since February 2020, having played at the Halton Stadium in Widnes, Marine AFC’s Rossett Park and Southport’s Haig Avenue.
Walton Hall Park is a 25 minute drive from Liverpool Lime Street station and has a capacity of 2,000 but may soon no longer meet ground grading requirements for the Women’s Super League.
These requirements currently include a minimum capacity of 1,500 with minimum covered occupation of 300, including 150 seats. However, these may be increase as the league continues to grow.
Is there precedent from other teams?
With the massive growth in popularity of the women’s game since the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Women’s Super League clubs (with the notable exception of West Ham United) are playing an increased number of games at their club’s main stadium.
This season most clubs have played two of three games at their main stadium, with Arsenal making the Emirates Stadium their primary home for the women’s team, playing eight of their 11 WSL home games and all home Champions League games their.
In addition, last summer Aston Villa announced that Villa Park would become the women’s team’s home for all WSL fixtures from this season, echoing a move already undertaken by fellow Midlands sides Birmingham City and Leicester City.
When could the move happen?
A decision on the proposed move cannot be finalised until the men’s side move out of the stadium, with their final match at Goodison currently scheduled to take place on Sunday 18 May as they face bottom side Southampton.
The Toffees conclude their Premier League season a week later against Carabao Cup winners Newcastle United so it is likely we will not know if the move will take place until June at the earliest.
Although a start date for the 2025-26 Women’s Super League season has yet to be confirmed, it is usually in the second half of September so the club have time to find the best home for the women’s team moving forward.
Should the Goodison move not take place, the team may decide to stay at Walton Hall Park for next season, or make a move elsewhere as neighbours Liverpool did last summer when they moved from Tranmere’s Prenton Park to St Helens Stadium.