Laing O'Rourke hand Everton Stadium over

Farhad Moshiri, Dan Meis, Laing O'Routke and the whole workforce should be immensely proud. Well done to all.

Remember when they showed us the plans for Kings Dock? Fantastic. Then we looked at the Destination Kirkby shit pit. Now we have this majestic piece of art.

First game there, Meis, Moshiri and the workforce should do a lap of honour.

Tumbleweed ….

Looks like a Tesco lad.
It stinks down there anyway lad.
Wait til it rains lad.

Whatever, best ground in the championship lad.

Welcome our loveable neighbours to the fourth grace and the best ground in the country.

Altogether now … Hello darkness my old friend.

On the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey.
Proper part of town also... The Docks.
Look what happens when you have a plan and hire the right people to stick to the plan.

You've got the fans.
You've got the stadium
Now can we have a team that deserves to play in such a stadium in front of those fans?

Now 2024 is ending as a new dawn finally breaks over the club, the city and now the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Fitting then that tomorrow is the shortest day of the year. The nights will shrink as the light creeps back in.

For now, time and patience, fellow Blues. The phoenix is rising.

Too good for them twats – throw them in the Mersey and invite the Juve fans instead.

Gobshites, every fucking one of them! UTFT

A statement.

And it's all ours!

What's that ugly high concretey thing over there to the east? Where? There, you can see it over the rows of houses. It always has scaffolding somewhere on it.

It's not very iconic, is it? No, not really. It's sorta plain looking. The 'people' who go there must be well jealous of this thing of beauty.

There's no new stadium
There's no new stadium
There's no new stadium
There's no new stadium
There's no new stadium

😂😂😂😂💙💙💙💙

UTFT.

The city is ours!!!

Thanks for remembering for me, Paul.

Just need a win on Sunday and what a weekend it's been!

But it will be an apartment somewhere in north Liverpool by the river.

No spades in the ground though… just loads of fucking big diggers!

Enjoy this great day!

I like that.

All the ones in New Brighton and Seaforth too, waking up to that magnificent sight. I bet they keep the curtains closed but can't help taking a peek.

No hell below us, above us Bramley-Moore's blue sky

Liverpool's fourth grace… completed 2024!

(A bit like they do with Heysel.)

Let the football and results follow suit.

Should be called the Prefab Arena!

Though I do get what you mean… Prefab Sprout).

Although scouse has Scandinavian origins. Lobscouse, Vikings and all that.

And the city also hosts the ugliest.

The oldest and the newest. Brilliant 👏

Would love to get there by boat – North Wales express, others could also get there by canal from Leeds or even further east (although that'll take a few months!)

It will be fecking hilarious watching them in their 1988-1992 post-Wimbledon (😂😂😂😂😂) Candy shirts looking away or closing their horrible little eyes when the driver honks the horn as the train goes past this modern-day Great Pyramid of Giza.

On time and nearly on budget. And abso-fucking-lutely magnificent.

The Liver Bird is strutting and crowing his lungs out.

So am I.

Can't wait to sit there.

Patronising bunch of gits do nothing other than show the red lot scoring against Everton in their little trailers. If I didn't have to watch their channel….

Welcome to our new dawn, fellow Blues! 👍

All on time. Mr Chong take a bow. I truly hope our new owners recognise what a gem they have in you and retain you. I bet you could serve a great pre-match pie and bevvy! Seriously, well done.

All that needs to be done now is finish that pedalo.

And there's no need to remind people about the Tasker forecasts. Oops!

ps: Prof Ferry. I expect an invite.

There is even a marina type thing to park (sorry, moor) it.

Just need suggestions for who should walk it.

You're 12th on the invite list a few places behind Sean Kearns and Barry Rathbone but four places ahead of big Rob.

Neil Copeland is nicely tucked in in 5th.

My dad took me to my first game at Goodison when I was 6. I watched the team parade the League trophy around the ground and went to many firsts including the first night game under lights.

I went to many games with my good school mate Neville Smith who went on to co-write and act in "The Golden Vision".

Goodison Park is part of my life so I will be sad to see it go. Having said that, the new stadium is spectacular and, at 84 and living in Florida, I can only hope that I will be well enough to visit this masterpiece and our new home.

Congratulations to all those who worked on the new stadium.

That's a great post, Michael (47). Something tells me that you will have your day at the dock. Try and pick a weekend when one of those FA hurricanes is predicted!

You are a top man Paul!

Let's not forget that, despite his almost total mismanagement of the club, Moshiri was responsible for getting it off the ground and finished.

We all have our own memories and stories to tell, like Paul, I hope you get to see the new stadium very soon.

Strangely, my first two games at Goodison were Ipswich (1-1) and Southampton (8-0) and the last two games as things stand will be against the same two opponents.

Games against Chelsea always bring back memories of my dad's last game and daughters first in the 2-0 Lukaku FA Cup Quarter-Final. I hope dad is looking down on Sunday.

Doesn't it feel great all of a sudden to be a Blue? What a future beckons for the greatest football club in the world,

UTFT!

Professional owners and a state-of-the-art stadium. How long have we all waited for those words???

The highs (and then lows) of King's Waterfront to the debacle that was Desperation Kirkby.

I worked for Everton's planning consultants for King's Waterfront, and although I wasn't involved much, I used to go with one of the Directors to the games and get all the updates. The City Council were so anti-Everton those days. "There are 6 World Class bids for this site. Everton's is 7th".

At the time the Texans were planning to build a new stadium for them on Stanley Park. So in a meeting, Everton's planning consultants listed a few dozen areas of objection to Liverpool's plans, and suddenly Everton were preferred bidders. We all know what happened (to both stadiums).

Destination Kirkby was the moment I realised our glorious leader would get into bed with anyone to increase the value of the club so he could cash in. It arguably was the moment that fractured the fanbase, to an extent I believe it still hasn't fully recovered from.

Congratulations to all involved. Moshiri for the vision and funding, all at the club who oversaw the project. The contractors and subcontractors. And let's also take a moment to remember Michael Jones, who sadly lost his life working on the stadium, but who would've been as delighted as all of us today. Thoughts with his family and friends.

Now let's hope our new owners can help craft a squad worthy of the place.

Were you that annoying little twat in the star jumper who kept calling Gordon West Gordon Best?

Fantastic icon, as I've said to many Aussies, "it's Liverpool's equivalent of the Sydney Opera House" as a tourist attraction.

I hope I'm not boring too many Aussies by showing them pictures, especially those taken from the ferry.

As stated by others, thanks go to Moshiri, Dan, Colin, Laing O'Rourke and all those involved in the design and build.

And thanks to Chris Williams for keeping me up-to-date throughout the build.

To those who designed it and built it – Thank You.

To those who will wear the Royal Blue and play in it – You are truly blessed.

To those who support the Blues in it – you will bring the Spirit of the Royle Blue shirt and what it means, to every game and give it the light and life it deserves. So proud of our club today.

Brilliant post mate. I too hope you get to see the boys win in this magnificent stadium.

I hope this is the start of the end for that horrible expression "Everton That".

I had to run in a school cross-country match and I remember lying in the bath later trying to warm up on a bitterly cold day, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

I can to this day still picture the scoreboard lighting up the 3 scorers in the dark.

But alas it was found out that, even with funds, Kenwright & Co were more interested in keeping the gravy train running for themselves and were never fit to run the club properly. Moshiri was forced to interfere to try and stop the rot, something he was never equipped for. On top of that, Kenwright & Co worked against him.

Sanctions on the chief funder and probably beneficial owner turned the situation into a sanctions-busting mire and a desperate grap for cash and the need to address the results of over 30 years of mismanagement.

Maybe in the future, as things come out in the wash, the truth may emerge. Moshiri got the stadium built in the end, which is a big achievement given the hill he had to climb and the shit that flowed down it against him. The story of this stadium's development is like no other.

Trust Evertonians to have such a benefactor. It will be interesting to see how his reputation emerges in the years to come. It will probably go full circle.

Good Luck to Moshiri in the years to come and with the murky business he continues to run, having been working on it throughout the time of his Everton involvement.

If this new stadium doesn't stir a sense of hope and Everton pride along with the TFG takeover, then nothing will.

Everton will get back to the top deck, it will take time, but good times beckon.

Great news for all Evertonians, and some of the older pubs on the fringe of Bramley-Moore Dock.

I wrote an article on here about that 8-0 game as I travelled along with 5 Southampton fans up from there - that was also the day that there were so many scorers that they could only put the shirt numbers up on the brand new scoreboard

https://toffeeweb.com/season/13-14/comment/fan/g_quinn.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuQ_PEaM7s

This knobhead will regret making that video. 😄😄😄

This stadium is magnificent, and a home to be proud of!

While watching golf at the Open, another Evertonian told me not to worry as it would never happen. Am I glad now that he was right!

The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock looks like something worthy of Everton FC and we can move on away from the carnage of the last 10 years.

Goodison Park will always be Everton for me, but it's time for the giant to awaken. The new stadium is a massive upside to the Moshiri years; much of the other stuff just seems lunacy when you think about it and some of the decisions and events.

Just don't fuck it up!

Sozzled here on the old dry white celebrating Thursday and Friday and Sunday - 2-1.

Off to zzzzzzz soon. 'Bell end' just sums the twat up.

Definitely Isak, mate, Palmer won't a sniff. Me, I'm going Saka.

I hope we can find him, get a taxi to take him there and ask him to do a new video, lol!

It's not just that the board has been wiped clean. The board has been thrown into a skip. The old school can be respectfully closed, and the new one must be turned into a true academy of football science – we have waited long enough.

When Dan Meis gave his initial presentation at the Titanic Hotel, he came across as a very impressive man. He has lived up to that, then everyone else has contributed magnificently (let us not forget today young Michael Jones, who lost his life doing his part).

Congratulations to all concerned, and thank you.

Deep down that evening, did any of us really think it would it would become a reality?

COYB 2-1

Aint gonna happen mate, But we can have a word when JT pops on here.

JT lives in Hull and looks east, perhaps we should give him a break?

NNNNNNAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Currently at Killerton Parkrun so looking forward to reading and reminiscing later with my breakfast.

I love that green in between the cathedral and some wine bars and restaurants.

I was also born in Mill Road Hospital in 1940 – we might have been in the same ward at the end of August that year.

If your first visit to Goodison was a first-team game, you beat me to it. My first game to watch “the big team” was in 1948 when I was 7.

I hope you make it to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock to see your team.

Glory will return to us one day, it's only a matter of time.

I couldn't agree more with everything you said.

Anyway now that we have the keys, I say "Free Gaff" Party time.

Paul. Yes. Killerton is the National Trust property a few miles outside of Exeter. Close to my home for the last 38 years. A Devonian by adoption but a Scouser in my veins and forever a true blue in my heart.

My official Everton phone app did an update on 17 December and it hasn't worked since.

I phoned the club office, they told me nobody else had phoned in with the problem.

I've unloaded it and reloaded it to no avail, very frustrating.

Everton Stadium – It Couldn't Be Done!

I've watched it a couple of times and if anything stands out from the video, it's crosses, crosses and more crosses.

It really brought it home to me even more just how few chances we create.

But look and enjoy what happens when we do.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: All 50 Premier League Goals!

Forecast is shit, as bad as the derby?

I love the line “There will be thousands who Prophecy Doom”.

Makes you think of all the RS, and Mr Blue Cone Man! 😂😂😂

And Jonathan Tasker! 😄😄😄

Listened to the horror stories on how it will never be finished because we are going into administration, we can't afford to pay Laing O'Rourke, construction will be paused 18 months etc etc.

Now, here we are with a stadium argued to be not the biggest but still one of the best in the world.

I went down to see it for the first time 3 weeks ago. For those who haven't seen it in the flesh, nothing will prepare for the scale and how big it is. It literally took my breath away. It is bloody massive!

So pleased for all us Evertonians!

At least he never wore a baseball cap.

My choice would be Neville Southall and as we are on the dock stick one up of Speedo mick.

Word has it that it'll be Moshiri and Boys Pen Bill!!!

My first game was against Blackburn and we won 3-1 in I think about 1947-48. I remember they played in red and white hooped shirts.

I now live in South Devon but would love to get up for a match in the new stadium which looks absolutely superb. Fingers crossed… and let's hope for a beating of Chelsea manana.

There will always be someone worthy who will be left out, and there will be no full consensus.

So there is unbelievable sadness at leaving the old lady, but also unbelievable pride in moving to such a spectacular site. And make no mistake, if you haven't seen it close up, it is absolutely spectacular, the only place that I think comes close is the Spurs stadium.

We have to give thanks to Moshiri and the build team for making this happen; whatever people think of him, it will be a lasting legacy.

Everton v St Peters, 20 December 1879, at Stanley Park. (South-East corner, where the car park is now.)

Plus, good as the stadium is, it needs to be Evertonised, if that makes sense. So far, you think it could belong to anyone; it needs more of an Everton identity.

Evertonising the stadium sounds like a bad move at the moment!

If this ground hosts the Euros, then fans attending need to know this is our house "The Home of Everton FC"!

I just checked that score Tony and it was 4-1 (Grant, Farrell, Fielding 2). It was on the Saturday before Christmas, 20 December.

You didn't go to De La Salle in the 1950s by any chance did you, Tony?

I think one has the initials JT.

And my birthday! The best birthday present I've ever had. It didn't need wrapping.

All we need now is a performance against Chelsea to end off the week.

One or two new players in the next window would be nice, we simply have to stay up this season, it's all hands to the pumps.
I am reasonably confident we will, but it's not a gimmie.

I've just ordered a new batch of nerve tablets.

But after I parted from your company that evening, as I was leaving the Titanic, I literally bumped into Mr Meis. I congratulated him on his presentation, and his vision, but then came up with the pretty pathetic “All we need is the money now, hey?” He simply replied, “Don't you worry, it'll get built!”

After that, I had faith we would see it come to fruition.

It feels the start of better times but one thing has pleased me most is the recognition of Moshiri's part in getting this done. No praise is too high for the man, even if it wasn't always his money. Thank you, sir.

The Stadium will be hosting games at the Euro 2028, however as per Uefa regulation, it will be branded neutrally (ie, in the event we secure a naming rights partner) – I believe the name in the bid is "The Everton Stadium".

The revenue impact will be minimal, but the brand exposure will be massive. I hope and trust the new owners will capitalise on that.

Rob does, on both counts, so will have to put up with their constant sniping, and utter shithousery.

I can understand his feelings towards them and sometimes the need to mention them.

The number of comments from RS fans far outweighs comments from Blues. It's always best to get the first dig in!!

During a dark few years, the stadium has been the light at the end of the tunnel. Somehow, through the trauma, the money has been found to get it done on time and to a quality standard which will be the envy of many others including three big Premier League clubs in the northwest.

While the financial challenges were almost overwhelming, it is clear the stadium has created a once-in-a-century opportunity to attract wealthy new owners and restore the club to a competitive position. Let's hope we make the most of it.

I have an allotment and peculiarly most of the guys are Blues.

They'd turn yer rhubarb sour. 😁

I also remember the scoreboard that day, they rearranged it a number of times trying how best to fit the scorers on it.

Thanks for the correction of score, Dave. I lived most of my life in Crosby so instead of De la Salle I was with "the brothers" at St Mary's.

I think there are a few more from that neck of the woods who appear regularly on ToffeeWeb!

Enough said. I have avoided any Catholic church since...

I'll see your 'Brickley' and I'll raise you with 'Butch McMorrow' from SFX.

Bloody Psychopath!!

Friday, I was in a grocery store and a young man had a Liverpool shirt with the liver bird on. I asked was he from Liverpool and did he support them, his answer was yes but he didn't say he supported them and his words were "in case he got thumped by an Everton supporter."

My answer: "I am an Everton supporter but am from the old school and I am just sorry for your attitude as, years ago, you could go to Goodison Park one week and then Anfield the next."

At 84 years old, I did not want to get into to an argument as he looked about 22 and was 6ft-4in.

Thanks for the reply. You might have gone out of the ground early, Tony – two of the goals were scored late.

There was a lad at De La Salle named Waring who was a good left-footed footballer when the school changed from Rugby Union to the real game.

That's why I asked which school you went to. Sounds more like it was an approved school going by the carrying on there – and that was just the teachers!

Blimey!

I wasted 2 years like a fish out of water, learning fuck-all but none of them monks ever intimidated me. They didn't know how to handle someone who didn't give a flying fuck for their made-up rules, having survived 5 years of cunts acting cuntish. De la Salle? De la Sade!

Bullies and ultimately cowards as I found out when I fronted one up as 6th former (expelled that very afternoon – best day of my young life).

A quick Google of them reveals their depravity world wide.

One day late but just as warm: happy birthday Dr. Stephens.

Love that part of the world Neil (93). Brother Carey (Hoss) was my St. Mary’s Crosby sadist. Never quite got expelled Liam, suspended a couple of times, smoking under the desk in the front row with Brother Carey shouting ‘who’s eating toast?’.

Derek K (94). It’s probably down to this. About once every three years I spend around two months working in archives/record offices across England. I spend a week here, a week there – Maidstone, Dorchester, Kendal, Hereford, Barnstaple, Norwich, Ipswich, Exeter, Shrewsbury, Chester, Colchester, Winchester, Reading, Gloucester, Southampton, Lincoln, York, Halifax, Lewes, Truro, Taunton, Bury St. Edmunds, Berwick-on-Tweed, Preston etc. (two or three visits to some of them) – and get to know the boozers and restaurants pretty well!

I think you would have taken him down Bill (144)

There are two good reasons to get the tissues out for Rob’s quality BMD link.

‘Get down to Bramley Moor Dock woooohhhhh’

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Yep not long before bed and you've taken me back 60-odd years to my St Eddie's days…

I couldn't agree with you more.

And I've had many a good session in The C. I. Club over the road

Back in the 1930s, my great grandfather Jacob Israel came to this country from Bessarabia, initially settling in Manchester and the textile industry. His son Shmuel, my grandfather, wanted to be closer to the shipping community and settled in West Kirkby.

We have all been proud Merseyside since then, and this truly is a moment of high civic pride and club passion. May the just arrived Friedkins have the nous and the fortitude to make the Everton Stadium the venue of many a great occasion! Shalom, Dan Meis, a great artist!

A happy accident? Or a long term plan hidden in plain sight?

This just occurred to me having seen their latest group promo video on LinkedIn which features a couple of Everton goals (that was a short edit no doubt).

First two dates have been confirmed for test events at BMD. The U18’s will play a friendly on Monday 17th Feb, in front of 10K fans, then the U21’s will play a friendly late March or early April, in front of 25K fans. A third game will be announced in due course. Tickets will be via a ballot.

Newcastle United have deemed the current capacity  St James's Park, 52,305, to be too small to allow them to challenge for honours. To get around PSR and improve income, they are planning to move to a 75,000 seater stadium on Leazes Park next to St James's Park.

Birmingham City are now showing mock-ups of a new 60,000-seater stadium.

Arsenal in the fairly new Emirates are also exploring options to expand.

With the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium capacity of 52,800, have we spent money to just stand still? From the very beginning, it was the opinion of most that our new stadium, for all the money being spent, felt 10,000 short of where it should be.

Simply put, should we have shown more ambition and gone bigger? Have we yet again missed a golden opportunity to get it right the first time?