Everton new stadium: Supporters put forward ideas for finale as new progress images shared

Everton’s past has been combined with the future in a poignant photograph taken by club photographer Tony McArdle.

Tony travelled to Everton Brow to picture Everton Lock-Up with the club’s future home, the 52,888 capacity stadium being built at Bramley-Moore Dock in the background. A Grade II-listed building, Everton Lock-Up is one of just two Georgian lock-ups to survive in the area – the other being in Wavertree – having been constructed in 1787, some 93 years before Liverpool was granted city status and was originally an overnight holding place for local drunks and criminals.

A depiction of the Everton Lock-Up has appeared on Everton FC’s crest since 1938 when it was adopted in a design by the Blues’ secretary and future manager Theo Kelly. Although it is also sometimes called Prince Rupert’s Tower, it wasn’t erected until some 143 years after Prince Rupert – a nephew of King Charles I – camped in the area during the English Civil War siege of Liverpool in 1644.

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Prince Rupert is supposed to have looked down at the Parliamentarian garrison holding Liverpool Castle from his lofty vantage point in Everton and disparagingly remarked: “It is a crow’s nest that any party of schoolboys could take!” Although it eventually fell, it took a week of heavy fighting and the loss of 1,500 of his men to take it.

Here is a round-up of other off-the-field news from around the club over the past week…

Everton-Filled Weekend For Irish and Norwegian Blues

As well as enjoying Saturday’s important 1-0 win over Burnley, Evertonians from the Irish Toffees and official Norwegian supporters’ club were treated to a weekend of entertainment and activity to mark their latest visit to Merseyside. Supporters clubs representing each of Everton’s four global supporters club committees regularly attend fixtures throughout each season but, for some, Saturday will have been one of, if not their final match at Goodison before the club’s move to their new stadium in the summer of 2025.

More than 110 members of the Irish Toffees were in town for their annual junior member trip and, in addition to taking in the match, enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium and had club ambassador Graham Stuart attend their get-together in the iconic Winslow Hotel on Friday evening. Before that, junior members of the supporters club, who were taking advantage of the Easter school holidays to travel over early, took part in football skills sessions and small-sided games put on by Everton in the Community coaches at Power League in Walton.

More than 140 Blues flew over from Norway for the meeting with the Clarets and, as well as having a tour of Goodison, met Seamus Coleman and James Garner for a post-match photo, before heading to their own Winslow event attended by 1995 FA Cup winners Barry Horne and Joe Parkinson. Young Irish Toffees also took home goody bags of Everton gifts, including an exclusive poster of Blues and Republic of Ireland skipper Coleman, while the club donated signed items to both groups to be given away as raffle and competition prizes.

Helge Grunnevåg, founder of the Everton Supporters Club Norwegian Branch and Fans Forum member, said: “It was fantastic to be able to bring over so many of our supporters club members from Norway, particularly as we know our opportunities to come to games here at Goodison are running out.

“This was an extra special trip over for us for that reason and it was made even better by getting to meet Seamus and James, to have Barry Horne and Joe Parkinson come to visit us as well, and to catch up with so many fellow Evertonians. The fans helped to create a great atmosphere and it was so important to get the win. I’d like to thank everyone who came over from Norway and everyone who helped to make the weekend so memorable.”

Affiliated Supporters Club are a vital part of Everton’s fan engagement framework, with the four global Supporters Club committees allowing members to have regular structured dialogue with club representatives throughout each season. The committees – the UK, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), the Americas and Asia-Pacific – were introduced in 2022 to further enhance engagement and give fans a greater platform to provide feedback and ideas related to the issues most relevant to them and supporters in their locality.

To find out more about affiliated Everton Supporters Clubs, or to find the nearest Supporters Club to you wherever you are in the world, click here.

Everton Stars At EitC Charity Golf Day

Everton in the Community is hosting a charity golf day, with all funds raised heading back into the award-winning charity of Everton Football Club. With support from Sporting Club, the charity’s annual Golf Day will take place on Wednesday May 8 and is inclusive to anybody looking to play at the picturesque Championship golf course, Carden Park in Cheshire.

Supporters who sign up will join Everton stars of yesteryear in support of Everton in the Community and its 60+ programmes and initiatives which tackle the region’s deepest-rooted social issues. Guests have the option to enter as a team of four, priced at £900 or individually, priced at £225 per person.

Guests will be welcomed with breakfast on arrival from 9am and can look forward to a relaxing evening after their game – with an evening meal, and a Q and A with former Everton stars all included in the price. The event is set to welcome supporters from all corners of the region and beyond, providing businesses and organisations a perfect opportunity to showcase their brand to potential new customers and partners, whilst aligning to the UK’s top sporting charity.

To register your interest in the event and to find out more about sponsorship, click here.

Junior fans discuss half-time entertainment

Everton’s Junior Fans’ Forum have met with club officials to discuss half-time entertainment for the final season at Goodison Park. The club’s Fan Engagement Team hosted the youngsters, aged 11-14, at the Royal Liver Building to brainstorm ideas for matchdays during the 2024/25 campaign.

Following an engaging behind-the-scenes tour of Everton’s main club offices, members worked in groups to plan their ideal half time for a matchday, which they then presented to the wider forum. These collated ideas were then taken away by the Fan Engagement Team to be discussed with colleagues at the club, in order to help shape the half-time entertainment for Goodison’s farewell season.

Lucy Hughes, Fan Engagement co-ordinator at Everton, said: “It was a pleasure to meet with the Junior Fans’ Forum and give them a platform to put forward ideas to enhance half time on matchdays. As always, some of their suggestions were enlightening and the information they shared will be extremely useful in helping the club shape matchday entertainment, during what is sure to be an emotional final season at Goodison.”

The Junior Fans’ Forum, which still has one more meeting to take place with the club this season, was initially launched in 2013 and gives members the opportunity to learn more about the work of all Everton’s departments and act as a sounding board on club initiatives. Previous meetings this year have been held to discuss the relocation to Everton Stadium, and the migration of supporters to Bramley-Moore Dock.

The initiative is open to any Blue within the 11-17 age bracket, with an open application process being held every summer. Supporters can follow the wider work of the club’s Fan Engagement team via X (formerly Twitter) and their handle is @efc_engagement.