Welcome to this week’s Talking the Blues Podcast with Andy and George Costigan. We look back on a momentous day with the first capacity crowd at the Hill Dickenson stadium. We examine the pluses and minuses in what was still a test event before opening the discussion into what type of club we want to be, and what the cost implications of that might be.
We examine the squad, talk in length about Grealish and any other potential signings coming our way. Andy & George in particularly good form!
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I was in the Upper Gwladys and can’t remember the last time I bought anything at the game and I’ve no attention of starting now.
I’m now in the East Stand Level 2 and just before half time I thought I’d have a wander round to the South Stand. Both E&S concourses were absolutely jam packed and there were queues everywhere.
There was also a lack of shelving etc where you could put a cup, glass or food etc and it was generally chaotic.
Having said that I think it was to be expected as most would have been like myself and just taking the opportunity of seeing what was where etc. I expect that once the season starts, and we all get to know our way around, the concourses will be much less crowded.
First of all please keep up the great work on your podcast. I always look forward to George’s ascerbic comments ! The Roma game was a test event but niggles to one side my observations would be as follows for what they are worth. I purchased the tickets for this game that will be my seats for the season ahead. These are Premium seating “Club View” in the East Stand. Gate entry was relatively untroubled with a queue as people (including myself and my wife!) fumbled with the phone pass system. What astonished me was that we were then presented with a staircase and no options other than to walk up 8 double flights of stairs to get to Level 3. We had already walked 30 minutes from the Old Hall St area. I had a knee replaced in April and my wife a hip replacement in January. By the time we got to the concourse we were both suffering. For what is a premium area I was astonished that no escalators were available (apparently they are in other stands). Moreover our seats are similar in size to this we had in the Top Balcony (which also had escalators !). All vending outlets weren’t open so queues for food and drink were long. The toilets were no better in many ways (capacity in particular) and queues again were prevalent. Water pressure on the wash basins was low. What again surprised me was the use of paper towels for hand drying ! In 2025 I would have expected a state of the art (as advertised) stadium to have modern electric hand dryers. All the other comments re customisation of the stadium are spot on too.
Thanks Stephen for your kind words. Sorry to read of your experience. There’s no doubt (IMO) that some elements that you would expect to be in place were ultimately not put in place or were subject to later cost cutting
Hi Paul
Interesting as always.
I don’t understand Andy’s comments about concerns about the amount of legroom for the seats.
All the seating has a row tread depth of at least 750mm , with most of the Premium seating being 800mm and with the most expensive areas being 900mm up to 1300mm.
The minimum recommended for new stadiums or stands is 700mm.
Spurs is predominantly 780mm , with Premium areas starting at 858mm. The Etihad is 780mm also and whilst the Emirates is 800mm in all general admission areas the benefit of this is somewhat wiped out by the considerably larger yet not very comfortable seats that are fitted.
Most of Old Trafford is 660mm, at least half of Anfield is 660mm ( the lower SKD stand is actually 610mm) and the great majority of Goodison is 660mm.
Therefore compared to Goodison there’s an extra 90mm at least of extra legroom…about 3.5 inches.
That’s more than enough to ensure knees aren’t rammed against the seat in front.
I am 6ft 2inches and I was fine sitting on my 750mm row. Whilst Andy may be a couple of inches taller he should be fine unless he’s got unusually long legs and he’ll certainly be a lot more comfortable than at Goodison!
The seat width is the minimum allowed under current regulations. It is still wider than my old seat in the Top Balcony and should n’t be a problem unless two large people are sat next to each other.
The alternative of wider seats would be reduced capacity and wider rows would mean less intimacy with the action which I guess most people would not want.
There are some issues with the new stadium, particularly the horribly scruffy unpainted dusty stairways to the upper level and the value engineered to death concourses, but seating isn’t one of them.
Regarding our identity going forward I would guess people would class me as being middle class, albeit being of working class origins as a child. As a middle class person I can categorically say the absolute heartbeat of Everton is its working class fanbase and any attempt to monetise the fanbase in a way that excludes that working class element whether by accident or design will be disastrous and will rip the soul out of the Club.
I merely repeat that current matchday admission prices at Anfield are lower ( in some categories considerably lower) than at Hill Dickinson….it does not seem to have stopped Liverpool from competing.
The reality is that whilst gate income has been driven up at Anfield by recent expansions in capacity and progression to the later stages of cup competitions and participation in the Champions League, ticket prices have remained relatively stable. Gate receipts in any case only make up about a sixth of Liverpool’s total revenue.
A more pertinent question is surely what constitutes success going forward for Everton in a context where the revenues of 6 clubs operating as a cartel far exceed not only our recent revenues , but any we might achieve in the future.
The only way to bridge the gap is through massive sustained overspending by a multi billionaire that eventually achieves success which then attracts much higher commercial income , attracts more TV income and gives regular access to the Champions League money pot. PSR precludes such a scenario and we haven’t got that type of ownership anyway so it’s never going to happen and certainly not by trying to monetise a fanbase in a part of the country which remains economically challenged. I repeat Liverpool as a city is not London.
Once football became big business it was always going to be difficult for a club like Everton who lacked the national (and now global fanbases) of Manchester United or Liverpool. London clubs can draw on a far larger and more wealthy population and of course Man City were propelled to their present position by petro state ownership.
Astute management and clever recruitment in the transfer market may after several seasons get us into the top half of the table with an outside chance of qualifying for the Conference or Europa League, but anything else is highly unlikely especially if Man United and Spurs get their respective acts together .
So what is success going forward?
Well a team playing attractive aggressive attacking football would be a good start.
One can only hope….
Thanks Paul for such a detailed message. I will answer as soon as I can. Much appreciated thank you
Just read this headline on Everton News…….
Everton are the Premier League leaders in the latest Fan Engagement Index.
Go figure!
I’m with you, Paul. I think they need to do a lot better. However, Angus Kinnear is viewing this as vindication of how much Everton is listening, communicating, and engaging with supporters.