In the third instalment of a four-part special, Chris Beesley looks at Everton’s long journey in building a new stadium to replace Goodison Park.
Peter Johnson dreamed big for Everton but ultimately most of his grand plans never came to fruition and that included an ambitious vision to quit Goodison Park for a huge bowl of a new stadium. By the mid-1990s, any post-Hillsborough clamour for Merseyside unity and a shared stadium had subsided and both the Blues and Reds were determined to go it alone, be it in ground redevelopment or moving to pastures new.
The Taylor Report, launched after the tragedy, called for all-seater stadiums which significantly reduced the respective capacities of both Goodison Park and Anfield at the same time that attendances were on the rise again because of an increased interest in the game after the formation of the Premier League. Liverpool would ultimately be able to redevelop by increasing their footprint on their existing site but with Goodison hemmed in on at least three sides, Everton looked to starting afresh elsewhere.
