Everton FC look to convince Liverpool FC on groundshare
Everton FC face a much bigger battle than Sunday's 212th Merseyside derby, if they are to convince rivals Liverpool FC to ground-share.
Everton FC's plans for a new £400million 50,000-seater stadium and shopping complex in Kirkby, in association with Tesco, are in tatters after being rejected by Communities and Local Government Secretary John Denham on Thursday.
Chief executive Robert Elstone admits Everton FC will now consider all possibilities, including teaming-up with their neighbours across Stanley Park.
On the face of it a ground-share would seem the obvious option with Liverpool FC having put their more advanced plans for a replacement to Anfield on hold due to the current global recession.
However, the Reds’ American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are opposed to the suggestion as it would severely impact the anticipated revenue streams which come from sole ownership of a 61,000-capacity stadium.
Rivals fans would also not welcome a ground share but Elstone admits, with a club debt of upwards of £36million, they have to explore every alternative.
"It’s certainly one of the options that we will need to cover," he said.
"We are going to look forward and look forward positively. A shared stadium is perhaps an option if it’s affordable.
"We have to look at where we can raise money, because potentially Liverpool will have to obviously contribute to that, and Liverpool City Council perhaps might need to find some money.
"If we are the first major English club to look at sharing then we’re not scared of making those decisions.
"So we’re going to have to start to have those conversations, we’re going to have to be open-minded about solutions."
However, Liverpool FC’s deputy executive director Peter Shaw played down the possibility of the city’s two clubs sharing a stadium.
"It’s not on our agenda at the moment. Liverpool are progressing forward with our own stadium. That is the position we are still in," he said.
"The LFC stadium is quite far progressed and once the financial markets reopen for business the LFC stadium will progress further."
When asked whether the idea of a groundshare with Everton FC could be a possibility, he said: "That’s not for me to answer."Finance is at the heart of Everton FC’s problems - as it has been for Liverpool, whose new Stanley Park stadium was scheduled to be open in 2011 but now has no completion date.
Part of the attraction of the Kirkby plan was the tie-in with Tesco, and Elstone admits they need to search out new ways of bringing in the funding.
"The solution is not about finding land - this is a solution that is about finding money; it’s about affordability," he said.
"That was the big attraction to Kirkby, that it was affordable.
"Then it’s about reviewing alternatives and sitting down with partners, all the stakeholders in this region and anybody who can help Everton deliver what it needs - which is a world-class stadium that’s going to secure our future for years to come.
"Anything that we have to do going forward has to be clearly affordable and clearly make commercial sense. So that’s the big challenge."
The knock-on effect of not having a bigger ground generating more income than Goodison Park will be felt in the club’s longer-term planning.
Everton FC hoped the Kirkby project would provide the boost to revenue to help manager David Moyes with necessary funds to invest in the squad and push for a lucrative place in the Champions League.
Elstone accepts those plans will need to be re-thought.
"The motivations were about driving Everton forward and ultimately giving David Moyes a fairer crack of the whip in the transfer market," he said.
"That challenge hasn’t gone away and it’s a challenge now that we’re going to have to pick up and run with and perhaps find another solution."
Liverpool City Council leader Warren Bradley refused to discuss the possibility of the two clubs sharing a stadium.
Speaking at Wembley, where Liverpool was submitting its bid to be part of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, Bradley said: "I’m not going to even go there on that. I don’t think it’s the time and place to talk about ground-sharing.
"We haven’t had any discussions, real hard discussions, around the future of Everton and Liverpool football clubs, and I think it’s up to the clubs first and foremost to lead those discussions."
However Bradley and Elstone have had a short conversation since the stadium plan was rejected.
Bradley said: "We haven’t resolved everything, in fact we’ve resolved very little at the moment, but it’s about agreeing to come forward and talk about Everton Football Club in the future."
He explained: "As a lifelong Evertonian it’s been very, very difficult through this period but we are where we are and we’ve got to work with them now."
The Kirkby plans could still be revised and resubmitted.
Detailing what must happen next, Bradley stressed: "We need to make sure there’s a lot of trust there.
"There’s got to be trust built between Liverpool City Council, between all the other partners, and Everton Football Club to move forward. Once we’ve established that trust I do believe we can move this forward quite quickly."
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