I have been very uneasy about leaving my superb Goodison Park seat on the halfway line in the second row of the Upper Bullens Stand since the very mention of us moving to a new stadium. But I have had to accept that not everyone has had such an excellent view and the club has to move forward into the future.
Along with my husband, a supporter of 60 years, and myself of 33 years, we decided to pay the additional cost to sit in Club View – a supposedly elite experience with an elevated position on the halfway line in the new Hill Dickinson Stadium. However, I found the experience to be very underwhelming and the whole area just looked unfinished.
We entered via gate 20 with the new online ticket entry working well. However, we were then met with a huge concrete stairwell to climb up to the third level — we had expected an escalator to be installed to such a prestigious area, according to the marketing department.
My husband is currently suffering from sciatica which made the current situation worse but even the fit younger supporters were passing comments on the lack of facilities. So not a good introduction to our new seats!!
We had to leave home 4 hours before kick-off due to being forced to use public transport, as there are no parking facilities — unlike Goodison with the Stanley Park car park being a short walk away. I was looking forward to a bite of lunch and a glass of wine in our new exclusive bar and food area, but what I found was a huge concrete concourse with no seating and massive queues at what was at best a basic McDonalds!
The £9.50 chicken burger was okay but no knife to cut it or napkin to rub your fingers on — even the basic takeaways afford these necessities. I understand I may be a little fussy and a lot of supporters won’t want these things but I thought the New Future Stadium, and especially in the Club View at the price for a Season Ticket, might afford to offer these niceties if requested.
The wine was good and did help a little — despite being in a paper cup! Also, please note: as well as having to stand to eat with your two hands full, the only places to rest a cup or beaker were actually full of rubbish, used food cartons etc.
The seats were an elevated view (as stated) and reasonably central to the pitch but nothing special — in fact, a lot higher and further from the pitch than the Upper Bullens. So I'm not sure why we are paying the huge increase for this supposedly superior facility experience.
My overall assessment:
1. Transport, as everyone states, leaves a lot to be desired with no forethought or planning over the past 4 years during the build, it would appear. Supporters should have been considered more perhaps. The train from Chester was only 4 cars and was so full, not everyone from The Wirral could board — and that was at 11 am!! I actually felt sorry for the general public who use the service all the time and who suffered the sardine effect along with ourselves. The subsequent journey from Central Liverpool via Sandhills and then walking was okay but not ideal. We chose to avoid the crowds even after the Legends game by using the Soccer Bus into town, which was okay but maybe it needs additional buses to cope efficiently
2. Parking, please note: not everyone can acquire a Disabled Blue Badge but may be suffering mobility issues, these should be taken into consideration in any future planning options.
3. The consideration of supporters accessing the upper levels has been non-existent — even the Top Balcony in the Grand Old Lady had an escalator!
4. The catering facilities are also no better than Goodison and need to be reconsidered to provide the level of service intimated in the initial sale of the Club View Seating and Elite Facilities.
So, in conclusion, yes, I would say the new Hill Dickinson Stadium is very impressive, and I hope the team enjoy playing at their new ground with lots of future success, but for my husband and myself as long term supporters the facilities in this modern stadium have not delivered an enhanced experience… in fact, it is no better than our lovely Goodison Park.
However, we will always support Everton as it is in our hearts and hopefully the management can move forward to resolve some of the issues to improve ours and other people’s concerns.
Reader Comments (10)
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2 Posted 10/08/2025 at 22:13:06
3 Posted 10/08/2025 at 22:24:41
The stairs are a joke after a mile walk to the ground. There were a lot of older fans struggling.
4 Posted 10/08/2025 at 22:52:09
We are also in Club View and I’m worried that with the £10 food voucher, the facilities won’t be able to handle the demand. Also I hope it was a one off but the variety of food items was pretty poor. The staff also seemed to lack basic training but they were polite enough.
We asked a Steward about going down to level 2 as they seemed to have better food options but they weren’t sure that was allowed. No one else can come into the Club View exclusive area but why would they want to?! It just felt more than teething issues and the underlying ‘product’ is lacking.
I also worry that leaving the game wasn’t a true simulation as we all left at different times. Whilst the legends game was great it was a missed opportunity to test that.
It’s not all doom and gloom but some of us can’t spend the whole day and evening attending a football match. I was happy with our seats.
5 Posted 10/08/2025 at 23:36:13
When we finally made it to the upper concourse I spotted 2 or 3 lifts not far from the stairs so went down in one to see where it went in relation to turnstile 14. It descended to turnstile 15. The stewards on duty told me for the coming season it was OK to enter via 15 and I could also use 21 where there were more lifts.
The initial issue is the lack of information and signposting. This applies to the shop, too. I knew where the lift was but it's not signposted and the passageway leading to it has a cordon across, it guarded by a steward. He lets you pass when you ask but what's the point in having a lift (there are actually two) if it's virtually kept a secret?
6 Posted 12/08/2025 at 10:30:33
I have contacted the Everton Fan centre requesting a change of entrance gate on my digital season ticket.
Bill I think you have been given wrong information, I think your ticket will only work at your designated gate.
Like you Susan totally underwhelmed with the concourse. My seat is great just three rows back from the exit and on the halfway line, We sat in the top Balcony at Goodison so the height and distance are similar.
7 Posted 12/08/2025 at 11:01:42
I wanted a pint before the match and at half time but was left thirsty despite trying to enter at 1.55pm (upper west gate 2) and leaving 5 mins before half time to get a drink.
It was chaotic.
The concourses need some kind of railing system for orderly queues so as not to block the flow of people.
The servers didn’t appear to have much sense of urgency either.
First rule of sales is to make it easy for the customer to buy. EFC failed where I was last Saturday.
8 Posted 12/08/2025 at 16:29:16
9 Posted 16/08/2025 at 21:57:53
"Level 3?? Get out of here? Seriously? There's a level 3 and elevators?
Who knew?”
Err… the contractors and nobody else.
10 Posted 16/08/2025 at 23:02:45
The other problems I guess will be sorted.
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1 Posted 10/08/2025 at 21:56:13
I expected from all the hype that the concourses would be brilliant — they are in the newer American stadiums.
I suspect the compromises made in squeezing this one onto such a restricted site, and possibly later cost savings on the internal finishes when Moshiri's money dried up, have resulted in something that could still do with a lot of work to get right.