Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has revealed his club will take care not to run into the same problems as Tottenham with their stadium redevelopment.
Speaking on the Jim White Show on talkSPORT yesterday (Wednesday), Kenwright gave an update on the Merseyside club’s plans to move to a new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock.
The long-standing chairman warned of the need for Everton to take things “step by step” to avoid the headaches that have beset Spurs’ new ground adjacent to the old White hart Lane.
“I am more than excited about the prospect of going to the dock in Liverpool and having that major position,” Kenwright told talkSPORT.
“But as we always say, any new stadium at this moment has to be carefully planned and thought out. I mean, you look at the problems poor Daniel Levy’s having at Tottenham… it’s step by step and step by step.
“The architect’s working hard, the council are with us, the funding is going ahead – but we are not there yet.”
OPINION
As a director of any club that has moved to a new stadium will attest, there is no pain-free way of moving lock, stock and barrel to a new venue. Spurs’ switch has been exacerbated by the logistical difficulties of shoehorning a 62,000 state-of-the-art venue into a built-up urban area where space is already at a premium. The benefit Everton could have of their planned £500million move to Bramley-Moore Dock is that there is the space available to reduce many of the problems Tottenham have encountered. The final bill facing the north Londoners could be around the £1billion mark, a staggering sum that makes Arsenal’s move to Emirates Stadium just over a decade ago appear a bargain by comparison. Everton have made progress already on their front, with Liverpool City Council agreeing to lend them £280million towards a project that will have huge community benefits.