There’s a custodian role, a vital role for Everton Football Club in ensuring the best and safest possible travel experience to and from a football match for all supporters. Equally there is a custodian role, as well as legal responsibilities, for local authorities to ensure the safe, secure and appropriate transit of fans whilst looking after the needs of residents and local businesses.
The flurry of activity, the media presence of the Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, the involvement of fan representative groups, Everton Football Club facilitating and issuing a rare public statement on the transportation issues, including genuine health and safety concerns for those making the journey to and fro from the Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore contrasts hugely with the activity levels of previous years and months.
It is important to stress that there’s nothing to be gained from apportioning blame as to the current totally unsuitable travel arrangements. The fact is that this issue has been hiding in plain sight ever since the initial planning documents were submitted for approval on December 23rd 2019. The focus then, and for much of the planning process was very much on heritage issues and the widest possible public engagement seeking support for building a new stadium on what was an incredibly sensitive world heritage site. Little attention was given to the practicalities of the stadium’s location.
The world has changed since those heady days. Covid was a significant factor ultimately pushing up construction costs, lengthening construction time and ultimately leading to a much higher interest rate environment than was ever envisaged at the time. It is difficult to envisage that if the project was put forward today that there would be a business case for it, in that location and with the lack of supporting infrastructure.
In addition to the macro events of Covid, Everton had its own crises driven by Moshiri’s appalling management, the invasion of Ukraine and Everton’s consistent underperformance on the pitch.
It is possible that such was the magnitude of Everton’s fight for survival and the lack of management bandwidth, particularly at board level, that little attention was given to matters such as transportation.
It is a background that perhaps explains why we are in the situation we are today. The stadium complete, but standing in near perfect isolation in terms of its connectivity to the city and existing infrastructure.
There is of course, another factor – the complete absence of meaningful investment around the stadium. Despite all the difficulties described above, the progress of the stadium construction and the likelihood of its successful completion increased month by month, quarter by quarter, year by year.
The reality of the current situation
The reality of the current situation is we find ourselves, all of the interested parties, scrambling to provide short term “make do” solutions to mitigate the lack of transport infrastructure and recent policy announcements such as the Liverpool City Council’s initial “experimental” parking proposals.
The short term mitigation strategies must continue and there must be the maximum amount of participation by fan groups and fan representatives. The range and scope of the short term solutions have to be expanded both in terms of number and scale.
The focus has largely been on Sandhills Station and in a sense, quite rightly so given the health and safety concerns and Sandhills’ total lack of suitable facilities to house and move a significant proportion of the 53,000 fans attending Bramley-Moore. However, Sandhills and Merseyrail are only partial solutions.
The additional measures include greater bus provision, soccer buses, park and ride schemes utilising Stanley Park and other parking facilities, plus the easing of parking restrictions for blue badge holders. In addition, much more information regarding alternative travel hubs – Bootle as against Liverpool City Centre for example.
For those fit, able and willing walking is presented as the only alternative option. Some have pointed out that walking is a key element in the existing travel arrangements of fans visiting Goodison. Whilst this is true, the 25% increase in capacity and the genuine safety concerns of walking poorly lit roads, many of which are in poor condition – paving, potholes and raised kerbs for example plus the greater isolation of Bramley-Moore makes walking an entirely different proposition.
Yet, the reality is, that the above measures are the only realistic short term solutions. The football club, fan groups and representatives and the local authorities must prioritise a massive improvement and expansion of these solutions before the start of our first season at Bramley-Moore, less than six months away.
Longer term solutions
The amount of investment to date, in terms of supporting infrastructure, given the scale of the challenges (an opportunities) the stadium presents is pitifully small. There will be (and have been) reasons presented for this. It’s understood entirely the financial position of the local authorities, the inability of Everton (pre Friedkin acquisition) to provide anything other than a minimal cash contribution (£1.6 million).
Yet, the inescapable truth is that more than £800 million has been spent on the stadium itself – £800 million by a private company! Can you really imagine a scenario whereby any other private business investing £800 million (more than four times its current turnover) into an area starved of investment and desperate for development opportunities would have no central Government or such limited public purse support?
Yes, there are rules around state support, yes there are rules about funding – artificial, arbitrary rules regarding costs and benefits. Yet, no one is asking for a blank cheque. No one is demanding (in central Government terms), outrageous sums of money.
The truth is that infrastructure spending fuels economic growth – as witnessed by the Crossrail project, the future expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick, what remains of the HS2 project. Under the current Treasury orthodoxy, funding for such schemes is justified by a business case, in part, a large part, built on footfall and utilisation of existing assets.
The problem with such is that it ignores those areas that have been left behind, neglected for political, economic or social reasons. Such as North Liverpool.
Where is the bold, decisive, visionary leadership that identifies North Liverpool as a massive opportunity, in part kick started by the Everton stadium? Where in a Labour government committed (at least in manifesto pledges) to economic growth and the so-called levelling up? Where is the local leadership, a broad church of politicians, not just a Metro Mayor, demanding much more for our city, and specifically the infrastructure needs around Bramley-Moore. Where is Everton Football Club and its new owners in demanding so much more?
Our city has contributed so much to this nation’s wealth – over centuries. Our people have provided the blood, sweat and tears that made Liverpool one of the greatest global sea ports for centuries. From such, much of the nation’s wealth and global influence has been created. Does any of this count for anything today?
In cultural terms, Everton’s contribution to football is equally significant. Football, itself, is a huge cultural asset to the UK. It has attracted huge visibility – it’s soft power validated by the degree of foreign State investment in individual clubs, it’s sporting power by the dominance of the Premier League.
We are underselling ourselves
Our city, our football club are huge, huge assets that are massively under-leveraged, it’s value carelessly and negligently, undersold.
This has to change. It can be changed by local politicians, by local businesses, by Evertonians, by the people of Liverpool. Perhaps we have all been guilty of thinking that the building of a stadium, by itself, would pull in the investment, pull in the interest, pull in the commitment of those that can provide the capital and legal frameworks to permit and encourage investment.
Clearly, that in itself is not enough. We have to demand more from all the stakeholders. We have to demand what this, our city deserves, and with my Everton hat on, what the club and its wonderful supporters need.
We can be the catalyst for change, but not in isolation – there are so many others can step up to assist Everton, our city and indeed themselves politically or economically. However, that time is now, we can’t wait for others to do it fo us.
All interested parties must coordinate and act now.