I went inside Everton's new stadium - and came out in a food coma
The i Paper visits Everton's brand new home at Bramley-Moore Dock as the club holds a second test event - complete with toffee doughnuts and shiny blue seats
Mark Douglas got a glimpse of Everton’s new stadium for a second time (Photos: Everton/The i Paper)
So far, club officials proudly beam, almost everyone who has trekked up the two flights of stairs and into the venue’s vast concourses has stopped in their tracks as soon as they get sight of the stadium’s steep terraces and mass of shiny blue seats.
On Sunday, as Everton opened its doors to fans for just the second time, yellow jacketed staff cheerily obliged requests for pictures and waited patiently as families crowded around for selfies.
But the countdown to August, when this place will host its first Premier League game, is on and Everton are desperate to make sure the feel-good factor creeping back into the club extends to a pitch perfect transfer to their new home.
So when 52,000 are here for the start of next season and the place hums with expectation about the new era, a polite request to get to your seat before snapping away might just follow.
You cannot blame the army of awestruck Evertonians. What architect Dan Meis and his team of designers have achieved down by the River Mersey is a marvel of modern architecture – a venue that really feels like a football stadium rather than an airy, soulless revenue-generating machine that just happens to host matches on a Saturday.
It is incredible, really, when you consider what the club has gone through in the six years since ground was first broken on the site. It is no exaggeration to say Everton’s very existence has been under existential threat for a good chunk of the time work has been going on, given the financial worries gnawing at them until December’s takeover.
But those days feel a long way away now. While the skies may be overcast on Sunday – frustratingly for those at the club who say the place has been shimmering this week in the spring sunshine – there is a real feeling of positivity around Everton right now.
David Moyes’s instant impact means worries they might be kicking off at Bramley-Moore Dock against the likes of Wycombe Wanderers have evaporated, while billionaire owners The Friedkin Group have the club back on a stable financial footing.
A new chief executive Angus Kinnear is to fill in the gaps around the ownership’s grand plan shortly, we’re told, charged with being the “voice and ears” of the club’s American custodians.
A “serious” spending spree is planned, too, and you suspect the sales pitch to any ambitious new signing will start at this shiny new stadium.
Everton’s new stadium is an architectural marvel at Bramley-Moore Dock (Photo: Everton) The state-of-the-art facility heralds a new era for supporters (Photo: Everton)Our very own Mark Douglas was lucky enough to be invited inside (Photo: The i Paper)
When The i Paper walks in through Gate E just after 11.30am on Sunday, flashing a QR code after the digital ticket stored in my smartphone wallet fails, the first thing that strikes you is the scale of the place.
Some, both within the Everton fanbase and from jeering rivals, have questioned whether the 52,888-seater venue is too small for a club with European ambitions.
But that is not the impression you get as you stroll across the yawning fan plaza that can hold 17,000 and is already earmarked to host music festivals in the city.
It feels grandiose, the red brick design adding to the retro-modern feel of the place.
What I like is the hundreds of little touches here and there that suggest they have done more than just pay lip service to the club’s proud history.
Here is one: there are features of the Archibald Leach design that Goodison Park is renowned for transported into Bramley-Moore Dock.
The gates on the riverwalk are all the same design and when the sun shines from a certain direction, the shadows spell out Everton on the stonework.
Some smart designer has also flecked some of the flag stones with blue glass, which means that when the sun shines over the stadium it will shimmer and mirror the effect of the river that washes past one side of the ground.
After a dry run on a bracingly chilly night in early February for 10,000 fans drawn at random from their season ticket base, Sunday felt much more like the real thing.
With all four sides of the ground open – including the corner of the north stand that will host away supporters – there is a chance to walk around the stadium and also for the assembled media to glance left and see the vast South Stand, dubbed Everton’s royal blue version of Borussia Dortmund’s “yellow wall”.
It is remarkably steep and a couple of fans pointed out things could get interesting when the stadium experiences its first celebration “limbs”.
Another thing: the sound system is seriously loud, belting out Z-Cars before the game.
A brisk trade in food and drink is being done before the game, with Everton keen to show off the offerings that they have come up with.
I’m provided with the salt and pepper chicken – a Liverpool staple – that comes with a side order of chips and Korean BBQ dip. The club want to be known for it and it is fantastic, but comes with a £12 price tag. The pie is sourced with local ingredients and is pretty nice too for half the price.
But the piece de resistance is surely the toffee doughnut, smothered in blue icing and caramel flavoured cream with an edible club crest wafer.
What did our intrepid reporter make of the food?
The toffee doughnut – £3.50
The blue-iced doughnut is apparently “indulgent” and I can vouch for that. Getting blue icing in your beard might be an issue for hirsute supporters. 9/10
The ’30 Mile’ pie – £6.20
Gets its name because the ingredients are all sourced from local farms, which is a nice touch. I had the chicken and mushroom version but a chunky steak and Lancashire cheese and onion one will be on the menu. Beats your average stadium fare. 7/10
Salt and pepper chicken & fries – £12
Expensive but delicious, this was inspired by the city’s love of the Chinese dish. Drizzled in garlic mayo and spring onions, it is an instant winner. 10/10
This is what the toffee doughnuts look like in all their sticky glory (Photo: The i Paper)
Everton drafted in a team of chefs, run by Adam Bateman, who served his apprenticeship under Delia Smith at Norwich City, to construct this menu. There is more to come, along with the possibility of specially brewed Everton beer. On Sunday it was just cans of Corona.
The game itself ended after 65 minutes for a planned evacuation with Everton’s Under-21s a goal up against Bolton Wanderers’s B team thanks to Kingsford Boakye’s smart header. Fans filed out happy with what they had seen, a glimpse of a future coming into sharp focus.
