Liverpool and Everton ‘must’ share new ground, council
says
• Liverpool might not be included on World Cup bid
• Everton condemn comments as ‘utter nonsense
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Liverpool and Everton must share a new stadium if they are to
thrive in future, the leader of Liverpool City Council has said. If
they do not, the city will not be included within England’s 2018
World Cup bid because “Anfield and Goodison Park do not fit Fifa’s
criteria”.
Warren Bradley, also head of the city’s 2018 bid committee, has
brought the groundshare debate to the fore again after Liverpool’s
accounts showed the club lost £42.6m last year. Bradley, who says
he has “seen the books of both clubs”, told The Observer: “We’ve
got to do something if we are serious about being a bidding city
for the World Cup. I don’t want to see everything migrate down the
M62 to Manchester where there are two
fabulous stadiums,” he said, refering to Old Trafford and
Eastlands.
“There is a need for a 60,000 fit-for-purpose, 21st-century
stadium in Liverpool. It would cost around £300m. Sure, we still
have the tribalistic supporters in the city who would say, ‘I
won’t sit in it after a Liverpudlian or Evertonian has.’ But that’s
not the argument, is it? I don’t see any reason why it can’t work
– it does so across the southern hemisphere, and in Germany, Italy
and America.”
The prospective stadium would be situated between the two clubs
on Stanley Park, where Liverpool have said they would like to build
their own new ground. Both clubs are dismissive of Bradley’s
claims, but Bradley is confident he has support across
Liverpool.
“What I’ve said is absolutely right and is now being amplified
in the city in business, at the clubs privately, and with the
supporters. When you speak privately to different people at the
clubs – at director level – they tell you what they think, but will
never publicly go on record.
“There is a groundswell of support now that it is the only way
forward for both football clubs.”
Bradley’s views are backed by the Northwest Regional Development
Agency, a major stakeholder in the city’s bid, which said: “The
Agency was supportive of the idea of a groundshare between
Liverpool and Everton due to the economic sense this made. However,
we accept that any decision has always been a matter for the two
clubs.”
Bradley accepts that they must be on board, but believes that
there is now no other choice. “We recognise the Fifa criteria that
both clubs must have 40,000-plus seats available to the paying
public that doesn’t include VIPs. I don’t believe either club is in
a position to satisfy that criteria, so therefore something needs
to be done quickly.” Goodison Park is definitely too small, while
Anfield’s capacity of 45,000-plus may also fall short of
requirements.
The struggle of Liverpool owners Bill Hicks and George Gillet to
refinance their £350m debt facility by the end of next month would
seem to threaten the club’s plans to build its own stadium on
Stanley Park. Liverpool declined to comment, but it is understood
they maintain it is business as usual.
Everton, meanwhile, will find out by the autumn if their
proposed controversial move outside the city to a new stadium at
Kirkby – in partnership with Tesco – will be agreed by the
government.
Bradley is sceptical. “The longer it goes on the less likelihood
it can be delivered financially by the club. I firmly believe
Everton is taking the wrong step by moving out of the city,” he
said. “This is raw economics. I’ve had a season ticket at Everton
for 30 years, so this is not about which way the wind is
blowing.
“I firmly believe the economic viability of both clubs, not
only in the present climate, but, in the future, has got to be the
ability to invest on the field, not in hard infrastructure. Having
looked at the books of both clubs, at the moment about 70% of the
bottom line goes to hard infrastructure. If they shared a stadium
they could cut that down to about 30 to 35 per cent and the rest
could go on footballers.”
While Liverpool would not comment on the record, Everton
spokesman Ian Ross was explicit in voicing the club’s anger at
Bradley. “Yes, the Everton directors have one view and that view is
that we should push ahead with the destination project. For Warren
Bradley to suggest that the directors have one view and that is [to
have] a shared stadium is the usual utter nonsense.
“We have spent nearly three years working on destination Kirkby
and are giving absolutely no consideration to any other scheme.
Perhaps councillor Bradley should have fought somewhat harder to
keep Everton inside the Liverpool city boundary if he is that
intent on a joint stadium.
“We would have welcomed more help from our city council – that
never happened, which is why we pursued Kirkby. For councillor
Bradley to now claim there is a weight of opinion to suggest we
should now have a joint stadium would appear to be opportunism of
the first order.”
Bradley said he will chair a meeting over the coming fortnight
of the stakeholders involved in the city’s bid to be part of
England 2018. It will include the directors of Liverpool and
Everton and the idea of a joint stadium is bound to be discussed
ahead of the first visit to the city by the 2018 committee next
month.
By then Liverpool’s financial situation may also be clearer. If
RBS, one of the two main creditors, does not
wish to refinance its part of the debt the bank could countenance
actually running the club itself. As the credit crisis has made the
government and taxpayer a sizeable owner of RBS this would be unprecedented in English football and
would have major implications for the Premier League as a global
brand.
The Premier League was unavailable for comment.
