Everton final whistle analysis after the Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion at Hill Dickinson Stadium
ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley has covered Everton and Liverpool both in the Premier League and abroad since 2005. He cut his teeth in professional sports journalism at the Ellesmere Port Pioneer and then the Welsh edition of the Daily Post, where he also covered Manchester United. Prior to that he worked on the student newspaper Pluto at the University of Central Lancashire, a role in which he first encountered David Moyes. Chris is well-known for his sartorial elegance and the aforementioned Scottish manager once enquired of him at a press conference: "Is that your dad's suit you've got on?" while the tradition continued in 2023 with new Blues boss Sean Dyche complimenting him on his smart appearance.
Jack Grealish of Everton shows appreciation to the fans as he is substituted off during the Premier League match between Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 24, 2025
(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Jack Grealish has well and truly arrived at Everton with a sparkling first start in a royal blue jersey to run the show in the 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the first competitive game at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Dan Meis, who was present again, as he had been for the Roma friendly 15 days earlier, deserves the credit for designing Everton’s magnificent new home on the Mersey waterfront that kept the booming noise in from the passionate home fans, enjoying the dawn of a new era for their club, but as the American architect has always said, this arena isn’t just here to make the Blues more money to ensure they can compete with the game’s elite again, it has been fashioned to create the ultimate “home field” advantage.
As manager David Moyes has said, Everton have got the stadium, now they need a team on the pitch to match their new, more rarefied settings, and Jack Grealish could be a crucial element when it comes to that.
The Brummie might have lost his way at Manchester City among Pep Guardiola’s relentless passing system, but here he showed the incredible skill set that prompted the outfit from down the East Lancs Road to make him the first £100million English footballer some four years ago.
On this showing, there is still plenty left in the Grealish tank though as he tormented one of the Premier League’s best footballing outfits from start to finish, providing the killer pass for both of Everton’s goals and really he should have ended up with a hat-trick of assists when teeing up substitute Dwight McNeil for an inviting late opening.
The 29-year-old has come to Merseyside to try and force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad next summer, but under Moyes, who declared him to be the best player in the Premier League when he moved to the Etihad Stadium, he now has the perfect mentor to unleash his considerable talents – that also include work in defence as shown by his perfectly-timed challenge in his own area to deny Yankuba Minteh.
As this ECHO correspondent declared before kick-off on the stage in the fan plaza when team news dropped, Hill Dickinson Stadium has been designed by Meis with Evertonians in mind, but it could end up being “The house that Jack built,” in the best possible sense.