Nice Interior, Shame About the Infrastructure!

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I began this season back on 90 grounds, having still not ventured south to Bromley, and with the new Everton ground now complete and on the list. The Premier League fixture computer originally had the Leeds United trip to the Hill Dickinson down for Saturday the 24th of January, and that was subsequently amended to Monday, 26th Jan... thank you, Sky TV, for that. Suffice to say, at this point, I still have not made that trip to Kent for a visit to Hayes Lane Stadium at Bromley in Kent. If I leave it until next season, then maybe they will have been promoted to League One. However, being a Leeds United home and away season ticket holder, now was my time to sample the new Everton gaff.

So, with Leeds having put together a decent run of results against some tough opposition over the last few weeks, and having pulled away from the drop zone at least for the time being, I was looking forward to my trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

I was travelling with the Shropshire Whites' supporters branch for this game, as the word was that the new stadium was a tricky place to get to. Most folk I know who were driving were parking in or around Liverpool and were then getting the train to the ground. Apparently, during the test event to prove ground safety measures, it was immediately obvious that the transport infrastructure around the ground was insufficient, with the tiny Sandhills Station the only viable nearby destination, aside from club coaches or walking. Walking from the city is entirely possible, and a suitable option if the weather is okay, but in the middle of winter, not so much! £100m has now been allocated towards new rapid public transport routes to Liverpool Airport, and the city’s two football stadiums, including Everton’s new home at Bramley-Moore Dock. Having now experienced the new stadium, I can vouch that the improvement is vital!

The Shropshire Whites had their pub stop at a Wetherspoon's in Prescot, Merseyside, The Watch Maker, and then we went on to the stadium from there. We left the pub about 6:30 pm. Traffic on the roads was heavy, but we arrived outside the stadium at about 7:10 pm, in plenty of time for the 8 o'clock kick-off.

It is one of my bones of contention with new grounds that, although they are often superb constructions in themselves - think The Emirates, The Etihad, The Tottenham Stadium, etc., etc., even Wembley - little or no improvement tends to go into the surrounding area for transport links or parking. It is always a nightmare getting away from those new London Stadiums, of course, despite the advantages of having handy tube stations. The new Everton ground has all the problems you'd expect, and with those new transport links not likely to be complete until the end of this decade, it's going to be a problem for a while.

The Shropshire Whites had pre-arranged a parking spot for our coach, suitable for the disabled person on board, and had been told to display his blue badge in the coach window, but when we arrived, it was chaos. There was already a long line of home coaches parked along Regent Road, a long straight road leading from the old Bramley-Moor Docks for miles along the banks of the Mersey. We were told to park at the end of the home coaches, which were even further down Regent Road. We tried to explain about the blue badge, but it was clear there were already so many coaches parked up that we just had to go where they told us! The first thought was how dodgy it was going to be, with fans of both teams having to walk back down the same narrow road together! Surely that is going to end in a running battle one day?

Anyway, we dropped the coach and set off on the long walk back up Regent Road to the ground. As you get closer, there are castle-like towers, presumably imitating the Everton badge, erected along the docks side of the road, but I have to say they look very tacky! At this stage, thousands of supporters of both teams mingled as we all trudged from the coaches. Then, at the first entrance to the ground, everyone had to file through one of three airport-style security gates. The queues were inevitably horrendous!

Once through the security, all done by machine with no frisking as far as I could see, the away fans were then directed to the right towards the North Stand while the Everton fans peeled off to the left. The photo below shows home fans making their way to their sections, with a large expanse of open space similar to what you find at The Etihad, albeit not quite as aesthetically pleasing.

Everton is one of the early clubs to adopt digital ticketing, which will become mandatory for all Premier League clubs from the 26/27 season, for both home and away fans. Leeds fans had already experienced digital away tickets on our visit to Newcastle over the Christmas period, so that went smoothly enough, and we've had digital home tickets on our phones for a couple of seasons now. There was a steward at each turnstile for this game, taking our phones from us and presenting them to the readers rather than letting us do it.

Once inside, the first observation was that the concourses were absolutely huge, with food and drink stalls similar to those at The Etihad or the Emirates. These new stadiums clearly understand that the more people that can gather in the concourse, the more food and drink they can sell! BUT, do they bother to think about the toilet requirements of 3,000 away fans? Of course they don't!

The toilet block on the concourse for the North Stand, where the away fans are housed, was enormous... but the number of urinals was pathetic! I didn't count them, but I reckon there might have been twenty spaces maybe, totally inadequate! At halftime and full time, I tried the toilet block on the little concourse outside block 120, the one I was in. That was even worse! A tiny space with four (4!) urinals and one cubicle! How on earth do they get these facilities (or the lack of them) through planning regulations? It's crazy. Inevitably, some of the lads just used one of the two hand-basins or even a large waste bin meant for used paper towels, and as we find so often in football grounds, the floor was inches deep in urine!

Inside the stadium, pitch side, I have to admit it looked fantastic. The view was excellent - the Leeds fans were in the NE corner of the North Stand. I was in the lower tier, about ten rows, maybe, from the front. There is a huge screen attached to the front of the roof at either end of the stadium, and full use is made of safe standing rails all around the ground, with plenty of leg room. I am told that the North stand is not as steep as the South Stand, which was built at the absolute limit of the angle permitted by law, and the intention, the club hopes, is to emulate the ‘Yellow Wall’ at Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion. It looked impressive with loads of Everton flags waving over there before kick-off, but, dare I say it, not as impressive as the Kop at Anfield.

So, full marks for the ground's interior, but nil points for much of the infrastructure and those ridiculous toilet facilities. After the game, it was a nightmare getting away from the ground, or even out of the ground, with thousands of fans now retracing their steps back to the dozens and dozens of coaches parked a mile or so down Regent Road. Thankfully, it was only cold and not raining, or everyone would have been soaked to the skin. With those transport improvements not scheduled to even begin until 2027, fans will have to put up with it for the time being and just hope that there is no street fighting on that walk.

For the record, this game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Leeds dominating the first half and Everton coming back in the second half.