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Everton fans the world over have been clamoring to see some visual images of the designs that architect Dan Meis has been working on for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore, and finally, in the first of four fan workshops being held this week, we have seen the future and it is good.
Today’s workshop was held at St Luke’s Church next to Goodison Park with over 150 fans getting the first look at early stand designs that prioritized getting the fans as close to the action as possible while maximizing the “fortress” effect, and how they compared to other football stadiums around the country.
Goodison Park is renowned for being a ‘bear-pit’ with fans right on top of the action, and this effect will be magnified in the new stadium - the blue shading is Goodison overlapped on the grey of the Bramley-Moore stadium.
All pictures below courtesy of Birkenhead Blue on the Grand Old Team forum.
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Here are some comparisons to other arenas in the country - Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur’s new venue currently under construction and everyone’s favourite whipping boy, West Ham United’s London Stadium.
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Not only is the proximity of the first row to the pitch emphasized, but also done away with are the poor sightlines and uncomfortably tiny seats at Goodison, especially in the historic main stand, followed by comparisons with the same three venues again.
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The Reds’ “stapler” main stand, Spurs new stadium and the awful-for-football London Stadium.
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Inspired by Bundesliga side BVB Dortmund’s intimidating ‘Yellow Wall’, Meis has also focused on having a steep ‘home end’, and here is what that will look like, once again compared to Goodison’s Park End and the other three stadiums. Additionally, it looks like the club will investigate safe standing sections in the home end as well, with a stand capacity in the 12,000 - 15,000 fans range.
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On the somewhat touchy subject of capacity, it appears Meis is leaning closer to the 50,000 mark even though the majority of fans would like to see more. He also mentioned a giant television screen on the opposite end, which he would like to see implemented.
Meis spoke on the issue of capacity. While 99% of Evertonians want 50k plus, he is cautious of 60k. Says he believes in scarcity and the importance of selling out a venue. He pointed out that the last 10k seats in a stadium are the most expensive and bring in the least revenue. pic.twitter.com/yQyDeqoLbJ
— Christopher Beesley (@CBeesleyEcho) April 2, 2018
Meis, who met supporters at St Luke’s Church next to Goodison, also revealed there was scope for the largest stadium ‘big screen’ in the UK, a feature he hoped is kept in the final design. pic.twitter.com/QJ1gS0EjCC
— Christopher Beesley (@CBeesleyEcho) April 2, 2018
There are three more workshops scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and it will be interesting to see if the club reveals more details, or if the same concepts are discussed further.