Everton's £800M Stadium Showdown: Inside the Public Funding Secrets of Bramley-Moore Dock

• As part of their effort to obtain a safety certification, the club conducted the evacuation.
• Manchester United might demand several hundred million pounds to construct their new stadium.
• TUNE IN NOW: The Debate Begins! Can England's Team Claim the World Cup Title?

Everton held a successful test evacuation of their new stadium on Sunday, as it emerged that only two per cent of the £800million cost of building it came through public money.

The evacuation occurred 65 minutes into the game between Everton and Bolton Wanderers ' under-21s, was part of the club's attempt to secure a safety certificate for the 52,888-capacity waterfront stadium, where they will play from next season.

At a time when Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe Hundreds of millions of pounds in public funds are required for the development of the new Old Trafford stadium. In contrast, Everton’s stadium project at Bramley Moore Dock has utilized only £15 million from public resources.

Despite this, funds have been set aside specifically for local heritage projects aimed at restoring a Grade II-listed Victorian hydraulic tower and engine room structure located within the stadium grounds. This facility was instrumental in powering the docks during their prime years. Interestingly, the expenses required to preserve the tower amount to quadruple the sum provided as a local council grant to Everton FC for its restoration efforts. While the club plans to integrate the tower into the new stadium’s visitor experience, they haven’t yet finalized the specifics of how this will be achieved.

Fans who attended the test event expressed agreement that Everton shouldn’t have received public funds for constructing their stadium. 'We're a Premier League club. How would it look in a city short of public cash and public services if we'd been given money?' said one fan, 40-year-old Jan Stevens, as she joined the evacuation. 'It should be the same for Manchester United. They should not have public money.'

A significant number of the approximately 25,000 spectators attending the test event had their first experience with the stadium. The design featuring sharply inclined seating areas—part of American architect Dan Meis’ contribution aimed at preserving the energy of Goodison Park—is expected to generate an electrifying ambiance as Everton kicks off their matches here.

There was evidence of fan bottlenecks at the Merseyrail Sandhills station, which serves the stadium and is a brisk 10-minute walk away from it. There was overcrowding at the stadium around two hours before kick-off, with trains running every 15 minutes and so full that they couldn't stop at some stations. Services seem likely to run more frequently on proper matchdays though there is clearly work still be done.

There was less crowding after the match, with queues moving and waiting times shorter. Everton won the game through a Kingsford Boayke header.

Read more