Many thanks for your analysis. Your last paragraph is absolutely crucial – but alas unanswered. How on earth can an enterprise in this state take on an additional debt of £500m+?

Okay, the seating capacity will increase by one-third but, since cash at the turnstiles only represents about 15% of income, it is simply impossible to see how this equation was ever meant to balance. Unless the season tickets go up by 2 or 3 times and mortgage repayments are non-existent.

And oh, I forgot, the city loses its UNESCO World Heritage Waterfront status. Let's hope the Planning Committee turns it down and Everton are saved from bankruptcy.

We need Moshiri to reach Champions League and we need Champions League to repay Moshiri. And we certainly need both to pay for Bradley Moore in a reasonable timeframe.

What would be most illuminating is to see other club’s positions side by side. Are we all walking such a tightrope?

It really is a high-risk stategy, without changes in Management effectiveness. I always heard warning bells when dealing with a business that was undertaking a big project to pull its cash flow round.

Not comfortable with any of this.

Moshiri F.C. or bust.

I worry about the day that Moshiri is unable or unwilling to continue funding the club.

In short our board lacks commercial acumen despite the good will and deeds from them in recent years, and we are wholly reliant on FM bankrolling us. Until we address that fundamental point it will be a slog for us and the new stadium adding a new commercial dimension on the horizon!

If Bramley-Moore Dock had never been mentioned, but somebody said to you now, 'Is there any chance we can stay within FFP and then raise £500m (or whatever the final figure will be) for a new stadium', what would your reaction have been, do you think?

Some leeway for the Covid losses and monies spent on the stadium, women and academy, but with the last three years showing losses of £13m, £112m and £140m you can see how far away we are. I estimate if you deduct losses for Covid, stadium, women and academy our cumulative losses are still around £135 million for the period 2018-19-20.

The stadium costs, as I say above, are not included in the FFP/PL calculations.

The lenders will hold the stadium and all the income generated by it as security. However, the lenders will also want the club to become more sustainable.

The elephants in the room for me are:

1) If Usmanov comes up with £100M for the privilege of naming rights, he really is a True Blue.

2) How are we going to service the debt with our fanbase? The good citizens of L4 just don't have the disposable cash to start lashing out on blue bubbly etc on matchday. Everton must currently have one of the lowest matchday incomes in the country. That's not going to change when we move, it seems to me.

I don't think the new stadium will be a huge attraction to the commercial sector either, cos we've got bloody Liverpool with their six Champions Leagues, and Man City and Man Utd 20 miles away, we'll be a poor fourth whatever happens.

I think there is a real risk FFP will knobble us in the medium term, we won't have much for players cos the stadium won't generate the anticipated income to pay for itself.

3) Moshiri's £100M will need to be paid back when he sells. So, for him to make a profit, he's going to need someone to hand him what, half a billion pounds for the privilege of owning Everton. I just don't see how that is ever an attractive proposition.

Just as long as they've got themselves a good deal off Peel holdings for helping to kickstart the whole scheme...

I think that's what concerns me, from the information I have in front of me; if it was my money there is no way I would be spending it on this. But there may well be parts of this deal which are just below the surface at the moment.

Of course, if that is the plan, there is also the danger that we become like the fatted calf, an entry into unlocking that whole area, but that once that is achieved we become surplus to requirements, and they then turn the taps off.

It's worth bearing in mind that, if he did decide to cut his losses, a fire sale would enable him to get back his investment, so the risk for him may not be high. He may not be bothered if he saddles the club with an enormous debt and lets it buckle under it once he's made his money.

Whilst it represents a commitment and is exceptionally good PR it does not represent a major investment by Moshiri.

Many will remember the issue of new shares, underwritten I believe by Johnson, which raised a then substantial sum for the club.

From memory, I think it was £15million or £20million, which may not seem much now, but I think I am right in saying this was in those days three, four or five times the cost of building the Park End stand.

This shares issue came AFTER Johnson's purchase of John Moores' stake, which gave him control of the club, and - someone please correct me if I'm wrong - this deal involved a placement of new shares.

I think it was 2,500 new shares (I may be wrong about that figure) but I believe I am correct in saying that deal took the total number of shares in the club to 5,000.

A year or so later came the issue of new shares, I think 30,000 new ones were issued, with each shareholder being offered the chance to buy six for every one held, taking the total of new shares up to 35,000.

This was underwritten by Johnson so, I think I am right in saying, if a shareholder did not take up the offer, Johnson bought the extra shares.

Johnson gets criticised a lot. I know that I was quizzical at the time, as I tried to get my head around Everton finances.

But I think he should at least be given credit for putting money into Everton. Technically, isn't he still the only person to do so?

Finally, I must say thanks for an excellent article, Paul.

I thought that it might be instructive to look at a similar recent stadium build in a city, viz Spurs' new ground.

1) The original estimate for the total cost was £400M. It is generally thought to have finished up costing £1,200M. It might, therefore, be very useful to us all if you presented a sensitivity analysis with a cost of £500M (the official estimate) vs £1,000M (rough approx. based on different capacities at Spurs and Bramley-Moore Dock.

2) Daniel Levy is reported to have secured a package of loans of £525M at an unbelievable 2.66% APR, or £37M pa over 23 years. I wonder whether USM can match this?

3) I think that you assumed that future ground receipts would pay off the annual mortgage repayments. However, Spurs' season tickets range from £795 to £1,995 whereas Everton's are presently from £420 to £565. So football is approximately 2.8 times more expensive to watch at Spurs' new ground. Could Everton fill the ground every week (as at present) at these prices?

4) Spurs produce matchday revenue of £100M pa at these prices.

5) I think that USM have already bought (or have an option to buy) the naming rights at £200M for 10 years.

6) As someone rightly pointed out earlier, "losing" the matchday revenue puts a tremendous burden on the club to fund wages and transfers without regular Champions League participation. Huge amounts already spent (thanks to your superb analysis) have completely failed to achieve this nirvana. What hope for the future?

7) From where I am, an improved Stanley Park end and moved church could push the capacity of Goodison Park to ~45k and keep our most illustrious ground at a fraction of the cost of the dock option.

Man Utd and Liverpool improved by evolution and have enjoyed fantastic periods of European football. Food for thought...??