We look at Everton's quest to build a new home away from Goodison Park, one which has now been completed
In this aerial view fans arrive for the first ever game, a test match, at Bramley Moore Dock, the new home of Everton Football Club on February 17, 2025 in Liverpool, England
Everton's new home at Bramley-Moore Dock(Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
"We were talking about it years ago when I first came here", said David Moyes in May. As Everton prepared to leave Goodison Park, the manager (now in his second spell) spoke about the long process that has brought Everton to a new home at Bramley-Moore Dock.
He told TNT Sports: "We were looking at new sites and had so many moments where we thought we're getting something else, but it never came through.
"I know for all Evertonians, they've been waiting for this moment for a long time for the new stadium... all looking forward to the move now. It'll be sad to leave, but I think there's a new beginning for Everton."
The Toffees' first team will today run out in front of a full house at the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time. The 3pm kick off against Serie A outfit Roma acts as the final test event for the 52,769-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and is the Blues' last friendly before the Premier League season begins.
Goodison had been the home of the men’s first team since 1892, when Everton made the switch across Stanley Park from Anfield. The search for a new home began little more than a century later, in the mid-1990s, when then-chairman Peter Johnson decided the club needed a modern stadium.
A number of projects across Merseyside were considered but did not come to fruition - and one outside the Liverpool city limits drew particular ire from some Evertonians. But eight years after Vauxhall's Bramley-Moore Dock was announced as the preferred site for a new stadium, it is ready to go.
The men's first team left Goodison to emotional and memorable scenes in May and the Grand Old Lady will now become home to Everton Women. It is the dawn of an exciting new era for the club.
A new start on the waterfront for the men's team is one which Blues hope will herald a return of the glory days on the pitch. Here, we look at the journey that Everton have been on since leaving Goodison became a serious prospect and how they got to Bramley-Moore.
Kings Dock
An artist's impression of Everton Football Club's proposed Kings Dock Stadium
An artist's impression of Everton Football Club's proposed Kings Dock Stadium
Mr Johnson sold his controlling stake in Everton to Bill Kenwright in 1999. The Wavertree-born theatre impresario then became the driving force behind the idea of the club leaving L4.
In 2000, the Blues submitted ambitious plans for a new stadium on Liverpool's waterfront. The club were one of a number of bidders to acquire land which now houses the M&S Bank Arena.
Mr Kenwright conducted a vote among the fans and 15,049 supported moving to Kings Dock, with 2,349 instead voting in favour of redeveloping Goodison.
Liverpool Vision made the club the preferred bidder for the land, seemingly paving the way for a construction of a 55,000 seater stadium with a retractable roof and a pitch that could be rolled away on wheels.
The site was also set to facilitate a housing and leisure complex featuring apartments, multi-screen cinema complex, family entertainment centre, health clinic, fitness club, hotel, bar, restaurants, shops and offices. It was due for completion in 2005.
About the plans, the then-chairman said: "The King's Dock is a great opportunity for Everton and one we cannot afford to miss. It is a chance for everyone at the club, from the ball boys to the office staff, from the players to the board and the supporters, to move forward together with one common goal."
However, the project was abandoned in April 2003 after Everton failed to raise enough money towards their share of the required £155m.
The Kirkby Project
The proposed 50,000 capacity stadium for Everton in Kirkby
The proposed 50,000 capacity stadium for Everton in Kirkby
Certainly the most controversial of the plans to move Everton to a new home was a proposed new stadium in Kirkby - still in Merseyside but outside of the Liverpool city limits. The Liverpool Daily Post reported in 2006 that Knowsley Council had suggested three sites to Everton which could be used to develop a stadium.
Two sites were then suggested by Liverpool City Council in response but Everton were already speaking to Tesco about a joint venture in Kirkby. Terry Leahy, the supermarket's chief executive and a lifelong Blue, was part of the project which took the name "Destination Kirkby".
The 50,000-capacity stadium would have been part of a retail park, alongside a huge new Tesco store. The ground would have cost the club £78m, with the supermarket chain providing £52m of "value".
Some 36,662 Blues voted on the issue in August 2007 but a lesser proportion of Blues were supportive of moving than in previous polls. A total of 15,230 voted in favour with 10,468 against, while a further 10,901 abstained.
There was fierce dissent to the plan from some corners of Everton's fanbase. A movement called Keep Everton In Our City was formed, which was vociferous in its opposition to the Kirkby plan.
The project fell apart when plans were rejected by the Labour government. Then-communities secretary John Denham decided in 2009 that it would breach shopping policies which discourage supermarket chains from sucking business away from town and city centres.
The government's decision was met with a mixed response, with some saying it was a missed opportunity to help regenerate Kirkby. However, those who wanted to keep Everton in the city of Liverpool felt vindicated.
Walton Hall Park
Architecture firm Idom's 2015 design for a proposed Everton stadium in Walton Hall Park.
Architecture firm Idom's 2015 design for a proposed Everton stadium in Walton Hall Park.
The next relocation prospect remained in North Liverpool. However, plans did not progress far at all. A site in Walton Hall Park was located during the 2010s and Everton asked architects to come up with designs, giving them the brief of a “thrilling” stadium with “the best atmosphere in the world of football”.
Architecture firm IDOM, which worked on the famous Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, came up with a striking proposal for a sloping bowl - pictured above.
About the design, IDOM explained: “With the idea of moving on from the limitations of its Goodison Park stadium, Everton FC invited a number of architects to come forward with proposals for the stadium with the best atmosphere in the world of football- a thrilling, inspiring and intimidating stadium, set in a new location in Walton Hall Park.
“The programme for the stadium, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators, includes stands for 17,000 local fans (Home End), 4,000 premium seats, 4,000 seats for parents and children in the family zone near the pitch, a vibrant Fan Zone and the club’s community action body offices: Everton in the Community as a built-in part of the maximum level services offered at the stadium.”
However, the plan to build in a park was only a proposal - one which was met with objection from local campaigners and opposition politicians. In May 2016, the club and the city council announced that the plans had been cancelled.
The club has since used the park for its 2,000 capacity women's stadium, which opened in 2020 and remained the home of Everton Women until the end of the season. Now, they will make Goodison their home.
Bramley-Moore Dock
The new stadium under construction in December 2023
The new stadium under construction in December 2023
Farhad Moshiri's tenure as Everton owner saw the club largely move backwards on the pitch, spend vast amounts on many players who did not live up to expectations at Goodison and be docked 10 points for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules. However, the Iranian billionaire succeeded in finding the Toffees a new home.
Monaco-based Mr Moshiri made the search for a stadium a priority after buying a controlling stake in February 2016. He worked with Mr Kenwright - who stayed on as chairman - to make it happen.
In October of that year, club officials plus then Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and architect Dan Meis visited proposed stadium sites at Stonebridge Cross in Croxteth, and the waterfront Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall.
Supporters pushed for the option at the riverside and Mr Kenwright announced at the club's 2017 AGM that Bramley-Moore was the preferred site.
Plans progressed and for a while it looked as if the stadium, complete with a running track, could be a host venue for the Commonwealth Games. It formed part of Liverpool's bid for the 2022 games, but the city lost to Birmingham in the race to host.
Regardless, Everton agreed a deal for the site in March 2017 and started a public consultation a year later, proposing a 52,000 seater stadium. The consultation provided a "vote of confidence" with 94% of respondents agreeing that the waterfront site was an appropriate place for Everton to build a new ground.
In July 2019, Mr Meis' designs were revealed to much excitement. Meis Architects proposed that the stadium - without a running track - would use "traditional" brick, glass and steel, ensuring the ground looks at home in the dockland setting. Final designs were revealed in December 2019 as the club submitted a planning application to the city council.
In February 2021 the local authority approved the plans, though original architect Mr Meis was no longer involved by that point. The government rubber stamped those plans in March 2021 and the club announced work could begin.
A brush with UNESCO followed - Liverpool lost its World Heritage Status due to developments on the city's waterfront - which included the new stadium. According to UNESCO, the plans had resulted in an "irreversible loss of attributes". However, the project continued and ground was broken in August 2021.
The construction process was hit by tragedy in August 2023 when contractor Michael Jones, 26, died after an incident at the site. A permanent memorial to Mr Jones was unveiled at the stadium a year later.
Mr Moshiri agreed to sell Everton to The Freidkin Group in September 2024 and the deal was formalised in December of that year. That same month, construction of the stadium was completed.
The ground now stands proudly on the Liverpool waterfront, another landmark on the city's famous skyline. Inside, its sloping stands tower above the pitch, with a standout being its South Stand, the 21st century's answer to Goodison's Gwladys Street End.
A series of test events began in February, as the ground hosted its first ever match - an under-18s friendly against Wigan in front of 10,000 fans. In May, the ground was given its official name - the Hill Dickinson Stadium, as the Liverpool law firm purchased naming rights.
Everton's first team graced the new stadium for the first time last month, [beating Port Vale in a friendly behind closed doors](http://The project continued and ground was broken in August 2021.). Today, a capacity crowd will watch the Blues play a home match away from Goodison Park for the first time in 133 years.