Football
Mike Whalley 10y

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright confirms plans for new stadium

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has confirmed that the Toffees are forming plans to build a new stadium less than a mile from Goodison Park.

Kenwright has identified Walton Hall Park, in north Liverpool, as the site for the proposed stadium.

Everton originally said in June 2013 that they were looking at potential venues for a new home with the help of Liverpool City Council -- but this is the first time any club official has publicly named their preferred site.

They want to move because a modern stadium would allow them to generate more revenue.

Goodison Park, Everton's home since 1892, has a capacity of 39,571, few corporate facilities and little room for expansion, as it is hemmed in by housing.

The club are set to work with the council and housing association Liverpool Mutual Homes on a project that will see a stadium and new homes built in the Walton Hall Park area as part of a wider regeneration project.

No application for planning permission has so far been submitted, and there is no target date as yet for work to begin on the project -- but Joe Anderson, Liverpool's mayor, has said that the city's public will be consulted fully on their views ahead of any planning decision.

And Kenwright told the Liverpool Echo: "On my journey to our home games, as I pass Walton Hall Park, I inevitably think that I am only a minute away from our beloved Goodison.

"For several years now I've also thought, if only it was available for our new stadium, it ticks all the boxes.

"It would fill me with great pride, it could be something very special for our city, the residents of North Liverpool and all Evertonians -- a new home that goes beyond football and does what Everton does better than anyone else.

"Of course there's enormous work to do -- that again involves fixing a huge financial jigsaw -- but we are certain it's an opportunity we should pursue with great commitment, endeavour and ambition.

"To get every aspect right will take time as well as the continued support we've received to date from Joe Anderson and his colleagues at the council."

Anderson added that Walton Hall Park was an area desperately in need of regeneration, and that Everton's stadium project could play a key role in that.

He said: "The park is probably one of the most under-used in the city. We get complaints about anti-social behaviour and that it's just used for dog fouling.

"I think a proposal that enhances a park in that area and provides other facilities, better facilities, is a better opportunity for the city."

He added: "The council is going to put some money in and that will be around regeneration, not directly into the football club or stadium without getting a financial or commercial return."

Everton chief executive Robert Elstone said at the club's annual general meeting in April that they were "cautiously optimistic" about plans for a new stadium after nearly 20 years of effort to find a site.

They first went public with plans to leave their current home in 1996, when then-chairman Peter Johnson announced proposals to build a new 60,000-capacity stadium.

Plans were drawn up for a 55,000-seater stadium at King's Dock, on the city's waterfront, in 2001 -- but were abandoned two years later as the club could not raise enough money to fund their share of the 155 million pounds project.

A proposed move to Kirkby, mooted in 2006, caused controversy because it would have involved moving the club out of the city for the first time in their history.

The plan was scrapped in 2009 after a planning application was rejected by the UK government.

Kenwright pledged in June 2013 that any new stadium would be in Liverpool.

Steve Coffey, chief executive of Liverpool Mutual Homes, said of the new proposals: "We are very excited at the prospect of integrating any proposals with the existing communities and we look forward to working with local residents and other stakeholders to explore this further."

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