Why no UEFA finals at Hill Dickinson Stadium?

On Tuesday, UEFA confirmed its list of chosen venues for its club competition finals through to 2029.

That means that the venues for the finals of the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Women’s Champions League are now set in stone for the next three years. The venues for the Super Cup are set in place through 2028.

However, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium — the newest, elite football-first stadium in Europe — has not been selected.

The full list is as follows:

Champions League 

• 2028: Munich Football Arena, Munich (Allianz Arena)

• 2029: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Europa League

• 2028: National Arena, Bucharest 

• 2029: National Stadium Serbia, Belgrade

Conference League 

• 2028: Juventus Stadium, Turin (Allianz Stadium)

• 2029: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Super Cup

• 2027: Johan Cruyff ArenA, Amsterdam

• 2028: Astana Arena, Astana

Women’s Champions League

• 2028: OL Stadium, Lyon-Décines

• 2029: National Stadium of Wales, Cardiff

The question must be asked, though. Why has Hill Dickinson Stadium not made the cut?

Before we delve into this, it must be stressed that, at the time of writing, there has been no confirmation, one way or the other, that Everton even applied to be part of this process.

And, it should be noted, Hill Dickinson Stadium is a host venue for five games at Euro 2028. That’s brilliant, and such a get for not only the club, but the city of Liverpool.

However, in my mind, Everton should have been using the fact that Euro 2028 is coming to Hill Dickinson Stadium as a launch pad for much more.

Hill Dickinson Stadium is not big enough to host a Champions League final. Those venues must have a capacity of 65,000+, which does rather limit where UEFA can take it. That’s why you generally see the same stadiums getting used over and over again, on a rotating basis.

But, Everton’s dockside home definitely is big enough to host a Europa League or Conference League final. 

UEFA often take the Super Cup to far-flung locations — and putting aside the ludicrousness of suggesting Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is in Europe — it would be rare to see the Super Cup hosted in a footballing hotbed such as the north west of England. That being said, in 2027, it’s going to Amsterdam.

Now this piece is not intended to lay into Everton, as we simply do not have all the facts at our disposal, but I do hope the club were pushing for Hill Dickinson Stadium to be utilised in this cycle.

If they did, and were simply snubbed by UEFA, then fair enough — albeit, make a stronger case! But if Everton didn’t put their ground forward, then why not?

Hill Dickinson Stadium is a magnificent venue, and Everton need to be absolutely maximising its value.

However, there has still been no confirmation of the concerts that are due to take place there next year.  And while Hill Dickinson Stadium has held an England Women game and a Scotland fixture, and established itself as the new home of rugby league, and even hosted an England rugby union clash, the club are, in my book, still falling short of expectations.

There is so much potential and so much room for growth. 

Everton must have (or should have) been banging UEFA’s door down to insist that Hill Dickinson Stadium take a spot in the next cycle of final venues. They have Euro 2028 as an existing obligation and what better way to tee up that tournament than to have the 2028 Europa League or Conference League final there?

Hill Dickinson Stadium’s capacity is around 11,000 greater than that of Juventus’ Stadium. It is roughly the same as the National Stadium Serbia, which will host the 2029 Europa League finale.

We shouldn’t play the blame game, but with everything else that has gone on at Everton in recent weeks, this latest news only adds to the sense that the people at the top of the club, TFG and the rest of their appointed leadership included, simply lack the ambition or know-how to really capitalise on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Until they start to show that they do, in fact, have the foresight and drive to enact real change, then why should Evertonians think any differently?

Read more - “He’s made the manager think”: Irvine praises Dibling after first Everton assist seals win over Wolves

 

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