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.