A detailed update by Andrew Middleton did not specify how the club would look to improve the Hill Dickinson experience but said there was an awareness that supporters wanted more to be done
A general view of Hill Dickinson Stadium prior to the Premier League match between Everton and Sunderland. Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images
A general view of Hill Dickinson Stadium prior to the Premier League match between Everton and Sunderland. Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images
View Image
Everton say work will continue to make their new stadium feel “more distinctly Everton” as the club continues to settle into life at their new home.
The first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium saw the Blues set a new record for average attendance across a campaign and, according to ticketing data, a huge rise in the number of supporters able to attend at least one match compared to the final year at Goodison Park.
While form on the pitch was turbulent, the move from Goodison Road was a success as the state-of-the-art stadium wowed global audiences and as match-going supporters started to harness their impressive surroundings to support those in Royal Blue.
That was most notable in the efforts of fan organisation the 1878s, which worked with the club to unveil stunning tifos across the south stand for the games with Arsenal and Liverpool. Coach welcomes ahead of games such as the hammering of Chelsea also saw supporters embrace their new home with increasing confidence as they became familiar with the stunning waterfront ground. The atmosphere for that match, the first Merseyside derby on the banks of the Mersey and as Everton pushed Manchester City in a frantic 3-3 draw, suggested a foundation was being laid for future campaigns.
One familiar suggestion from the fanbase has been that more could be done to make the ground and the area within the stadium footprint feel more like a home designed specifically with Everton in mind. Suggestions have included calls for the erection of statues of club icons and the opening of a museum celebrating the club’s illustrious history.
The desire for the venue to feel more overtly ‘Everton’ has been communicated to club chiefs and appears to have been met with a positive response.
Writing on Friday, president of business operations Andrew Middleton acknowledged the clamour for such work in an end-of-season blog that set out the huge increase in supporters able to watch the team following the move.
*FOLLOW OUR EVERTON FC FACEBOOK PAGE!Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated FB page*
He wrote: “In our first season, supporters have already played a huge part in making Hill Dickinson Stadium feel like home. The atmosphere, colour and noise created by Evertonians have provided a strong foundation, and we have listened to feedback from surveys, fan groups and supporters on how we can continue to make the stadium feel even more distinctly Everton. As we all continue to settle into new routines and traditions, we are confident that will only continue to build.”
The comments were one of several that offered insight in the first season at Hill Dickinson and on plans going forward.
They included developments such as the move to make cup tickets held by season ticket holders transferable - an issue of contention around the Sunderland FA Cup match in January. Mr Middleton said: “This is one example of how supporter feedback is helping us refine and improve the ticketing experience at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“There is still more to do, and we will continue to listen, learn and improve. We remain committed to being transparent and to working closely with supporter groups as we shape the matchday experience in the seasons ahead.”
For the 2025/26 season, the club had 32,347 season ticket members and a further 2,807 Club View members and 4,139 premium seasonal members. Renewal rates for next season stand at 97% - a figure the club said tracked ahead of previous sales windows. That retention is despite increases to ticket prices for many supporters that have prompted a backlash from organisations including the Everton Fan Advisory Board.
The club said the average attendance of 52,121 was a club record that surpassed the 49,531 total set as the Blues won the title in the 1969/70 campaign, and that there had been a 68% increase in the number of individual supporters able to attend at least one match, in comparison to the final year at Goodison.
Meanwhile, work to improve the ticketing experience has seen more than 18,000 bot and tout accounts removed from the club’s ticketing system as work - including that in conjunction with Merseyside Police - to combat scams continues.
Another issue at times has been the sight of patches of empty seats on matchdays. Addressing this, the club said its partnership with Seat Unique, which offers premium experiences, had recorded nearly 95% occupancy across their spots.
One issue Mr Middleton did urge support from season ticket holders on was the time when fans released tickets they could not use onto the resale platform. He wrote that tickets made available a week or more before a game were typically sold, but that last season 3,600 were listed on the day of the game, at which point those previously seeking tickets had typically made other plans if none had been available.