On Saturday, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium will play host to the second game of the Rugby League Ashes series, with England facing Australia. It is the first non-football event at the new stadium, and kicks off at 2:30 pm GMT.
The Rugby League Ashes series dates back to 1908, when the name was adopted from cricket for the inaugural contest, and it traditionally has been held every 2 or 3 years with Great Britain playing Australia. But with the Aussies winning every iteration since 1973, interest soured, with no competition since 2003, when Australia romped the series 3-0.
The Ashes Test Series was set to return in 2020 but became a victim of the Covid pandemic. So in its modern form, for the first time in 22 years, it’s now billed as England vs Australia, best of three, with the tourists winning strongly last weekend at Wembley Stadium.
Hill Dickinson Stadium was always the number one choice when it came to picking a stadium in the North West.
“We felt we needed a big stadium in the North, and the North West is blessed with stadiums, and then the obvious one was Everton,” said Rhodri Jones, managing director of Rugby League Commercial.
“We got a warm reception from the club at the time, and we were able to agree to the terms. It was a pretty easy process, really, in terms of shortlisting the stadiums because they were number one on the list for us.
“We could see that the national stadium was available, and we wanted to go to Headingley, which gave us some opportunities in the North West.
“With Everton being a new stadium in the North West, we felt we were in a good place, with a strong proposition to approach Everton and ask the question if they would be interested in hosting a rugby league game.
“A brand new stadium, nobody had been there before and no history there, and clearly a jewel in the crown for the city of Liverpool as well. We were very keen to ask the question in the first instance and once it was a warm response, we were very keen to get it locked in.
“Tickets went on sale; 52,000 got sold and the majority of it was done in the reserved window before being on sale for a couple of hours in the day on general sale.
“We are in a very fortunate position where we are turning people away this week. People are now realising the game is at Everton.”
“We are very privileged and very proud to come to Liverpool on Saturday, and we promise we will put on a very good event.
“The [people at the] stadium have been excellent to deal with. I appreciate they have had to work really hard to get the stadium open in the first place and get the football matches going.
“I like to think that people will make a day of it in Liverpool and a day out in Liverpool. Come early and experience the waterfront and then have a walk up to the stadium.
“Then take the stadium in, and we are expecting the crowd to be in the stadium from 1 pm onwards, rather than it being close to kick-off because they will want to take it all in.”
If you didn’t get a ticket but still want to watch the action or just witness the spectacle of the new stadium in a different role, coverage starts on BBC One, the iPlayer at 2 pm GMT on Saturday.