It's the debate that has got all Evertonians talking and will be a huge decision for club chiefs to make going forward - if the Blues new stadium is finished at the end of next year, do they move straight in or wait until the start of the 2025/26 season?
Three members of the ECHO sportsdesk have had their say on this hot topic.
Chris Beesley
Firstly I’ll start by saying a nice, neat and tidy transition with Everton finishing one season at Goodison Park and starting the next at their new stadium in summer sunshine is what I and most Blues envisaged when it came to the move.
However, with Colin Chong now publicly declaring that the project is on track to completed “in the final months” of next year – backing up earlier ECHO reports that contractors Laing O’Rourke are working to a timetable that ends in December 2024 – in the words of the chief stadium officer himself, who is also currently serving as interim chief executive, it raises the question as to whether the club moves in mid-season or waits. For those previously stated reasons, plus other logistical factors, upping sticks from their home since 1892 during a Liverpool winter is far from ideal but I just cannot see how the Blues can sit on a project of this scale and allow it to lie dormant for up to eight months.
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This is the biggest building job in the UK right now, it’s costing over half a billion pounds and once finished it will be – as club chiefs have already stated – a game-changer for Everton both in terms of finances and how they are viewed by the rest of the football world.
While most moves of this type do understandably take place in the off-season, Tottenham Hotspur have already set a precedent for switching mid-campaign and surely economic realities will demand the Blues are playing by the banks of the Mersey as soon as is safely possible. We all love ‘The Grand Old Lady’ but after waiting at least a generation for this pivotal moment, her long goodbye has already come later than it should have done.
Paul Wheelock
While it was heartening to hear the club's exciting new stadium project remains very much on track, it does leave Evertonians facing a conundrum.
I can't be the only one to envisage that the first competitive match at the club's new home on the banks of the royal blue Mersey would be played out in glorious summer sunshine. Now, however, it appears there is a good chance that will come in the early, winter months of 2025. And, while there's no predicting the English weather, it's fair to assume that we will all be wrapping up a little warmer if the grand opening of Everton Stadium does come in January or February.
Idealistic visions aside, would a move to the new ground mid-season throw up logistical problems for the club? How, for example, would Blues officials go about the pricing of season tickets? When it's fair to assume they will cost more once the departure from Goodison Park is confirmed?
There are other questions, too. But the precedent has already been set by Tottenham Hotspur moving from Wembley to their new stadium in April 2019 and, as argued by my colleague Chris Beesley above, the need for Everton to move immediately into their new home to unlock the financial benefits it will undoubtedly bring will be great. Equally, I'm not sure how I would feel about the stadium sitting unused for months after its completion.
Perhaps the best answer will be if the completion takes a little longer than the expected December 2024 date, allowing Everton to play out one full final season at Goodison before taking over the keys of the new ground ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. I'm not sure. Maybe I'm being too sentimental.
But the most important thing is that this is happening now when, for so long, a new stadium felt like a pipe dream.
Matt Jones
I think all Evertonians have an ideal Goodison Park farewell in their heads.
A gorgeous spring day, the team winning in the Premier League and hopefully pushing for something at the top end of the table. Then walking out of the old ground for the final time - maybe with a wistful look over the shoulder and a solitary tear rolling down a cheek - with some months to reflect and mentally prepare for a seismic shift in our match-going lives.
But it's Everton. It's unlikely to go that way.
While this team pushing for something akin to a European place feels fanciful at the moment, Everton may also have to wave off their longstanding home midway through a campaign.
For those who still cling to the notion of something resembling the perfect goodbye outlined, that will not be ideal. Starting one season in L4 and another down on the docks is clearly the best way to go if possible.
Everton will want to make the most of their new facility quickly though. If half a season at the new ground raises enough funds that in turn allows Everton to purchase a player that helps keep them in the Premier League the following year, that would surely outweigh the idyllic and emotional ending aforementioned, right?
Ultimately, football is consumed in different ways. Some will place more stock in the storybook Goodison farewell, while others would prefer to push on once an old chapter is closed.
So the decision and a preference feels like an impossible one to pinpoint. Whatever way Everton go, you sense plenty will be dissatisfied.
