Anjishnu Roy 01/04/2026 7comments  |  Jump to last

Dan Meis, the chief architect of the Hill Dickinson Stadium, confirmed that he wanted the waterfront venue “to feel like it grew out of the dock” and that idea was the basis of his approach.

"I really believed in this idea that the stadium should feel like it grew out of the dock,” said Meis.

“I did one little sketch that was based on the idea of the Mersey washing over the dock. You had this rough scribble of a brick base with a curvy wave over the top of it. If you look at the very early renderings, the final building looks a lot like that.

"Bill Kenwright said he wanted something that was both historical and forward looking - that was a bit of a challenge.”

Meis also explained how he constantly communicated with the Everton fanbase over the construction plans for the new stadium. The Toffees moved into their new stadium at the beginning of the current season after bidding goodbye to Goodison Park, one of English football’s hallowed venues, last campaign.

"I learned pretty early through fan engagements how passionate they were about this. It was not always super friendly," said Meis.

The seating capacity became a point of debate and discussion. The new stadium is capable of accommodating 52,000 fans - 12,000 more than what Goodison could hold.

"I can't tell you the number of tweets I got from fans saying: 'It's OK as long as we have one more seat than Anfield,'" recalled Meis.

"In the end, fans felt like they were talking to the club. Hearing from them really made me think about these things - making sure they were right on top of the pitch, making sure we weren't sacrificing that football-first energy in any way, while delivering revenue."

 
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Reader Comments (7)

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Eddie Palin
1 Posted 01/04/2026 at 16:17:21
I am still of the opinion that the capacity should have been bigger. It is still very difficult to get a ticket, so one can only imagine how hard it's going to be when we eventually start winning home games.
Mike Gaynes
2 Posted 01/04/2026 at 17:37:23
Eddie #1, you may remember that the costs of the stadium were just barely covered as it was. Moshiri's pockets ran dry and he had to fall back on expensive loans. Plus nobody wanted to see empty seats. So a 20% increase over Goodison was deemed sufficient.

But expansion can still happen. The design allows the addition of another 10,000 seats if needed, by adding tiers or corner seats.

And the club will be better able to afford it in the future.

John Collins
3 Posted 01/04/2026 at 18:12:09
Don't know if you have seen it Mike, in one of the goal stands at the top it dips into a glazed feature wall.

Im sure I read somewhere they have left an option to take the roof off and build that stand up to same height as the three other sides.

Billy Bradshaw
4 Posted 01/04/2026 at 19:07:11
The only stand that dips into a glazed feature wall is the North Stand.

We can not do anything at that end due to the water treatment plant being our too close neighbours.

Eric Myles
5 Posted 02/04/2026 at 03:54:19
Dan Meis
Matt Traynor
6 Posted 02/04/2026 at 04:42:48
The main reason it has been diffiuclt getting tickets is due to the digital nature of the ticketing, and the rules governing transfer and resale.

The atrocious number of midweek games has seen many ST holders unable to make several games, due to travel, work commitments etc.

Whereas in previous seasons an ST holder could simply transfer the physical ticket to a friend or family member, now the recipient has to sign up to the Forever Blue membership. Also the resale portal often doesn't permit sufficient time to list the ticket, and have it resold (at the full price - more benefit to the club).

Therefore many ST seats have been left unsold during games. Club doesn't really care, no loss in revenue for them (although I would argue they've left money on the table making it difficult to allow ST holders to put up for resale in a timely manner).

I know people who've been to every game they wanted either through the ballot or the resale site (requiring the FB membership). I also know of ST holders who are going to give up after this season as the lack of Saturday games has made them not worthwhile, and will instead revert to membership and picking and choosing games.

There's no evidence to date the stadium is not big enough, and as Mike points out in #2, we sailed very close to financial ruin with it at the current set up.

BTW - worth adding the link to the BBC article which I think this comes from, there's a lot more information and images in there.

Laurie Hartley
7 Posted 02/04/2026 at 10:57:09
I’ll try again:- thank you Farhad Moshiri and thank you Dan Meis

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