Latest news with #DanMeis
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Everton cannot escape transfer reality after Hill Dickinson Stadium warning
Depending on where you want to start, this was a day either four years, nine years or even 133 years in the making for Everton on the banks of the Mersey. The Blues started construction of the 52,769 capacity arena that would become Hill Dickinson Stadium in 2021 when they came on site at Bramley-Moore Dock. They first identified the enviable location for their future home in 2016 when architect Dan Meis and then owner Farhad Moshiri – back here today – were both present among a delegation to assess the location. Then, if we go back to 1892, that's when Everton moved across Stanley Park from Anfield to construct Goodison Park as the first purpose-built football ground in England. Over her existence, 'The Grand Old Lady' as she became known, was for a long time the pre-eminent club ground in the country and by the time she closed for men's senior football, had staged more English top flight fixtures than any other venue. READ MORE: Everton player ratings as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and one more impress at Hill Dickinson Stadium READ MORE: Everton suffer early injury scare in Hill Dickinson Stadium friendly However, in the modern era, many of Goodison's rivals overtook her and by the time she finished, she was in the Premier League's bottom three in terms of generating matchday revenue. As David Moyes wrote in his programme notes: 'It will take us some time to get used to our new surroundings but the important thing is we know that we are now in our new home, and we want to enjoy many special times here over the next hundred years. 'I am incredibly privileged and honoured to be the manager who is taking us into this new stadium. I am excited about the future which looks so much brighter for Everton Football Club as we move away from some dark days in the past. 'We are starting from a blank page. We have built the stadium, and we are starting to rebuild the team.' That was evident here though as the Blues – whose only win in pre-season came in a behind closed doors game here against League One Port Vale – were beaten 1-0 by Roma. Moyes won by the Trent against Nottingham Forest and by the Thames at Fulham last season, but with Everton recording just five Premier League home victories in their final season at Goodison – the joint lowest in the club's history – it's clear that there is still a lot of hard work to do on the pitch.
Daily Mirror
08-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium to be ‘a little scary' to some fans, admits ground's architect
The US architect who designed Everton's new home will be present for the historic friendly with Roma on Saturday before attending their first Premier League home match against Brighton As the inaugural match awaits for Everton 's first team at their new ground with fans in attendance, Dan Meis has shared his thoughts on the unique experience of watching games at Hill Dickinson Stadium, which he admits could be "a little bit scary." The American architect behind Everton's new ground on the Mersey waterfront will witness the momentous friendly against Roma on Saturday. Despite the similar appearance all the way around from the exterior, Meis points out that the four stands inside are distinct from one another, offering a varied experience depending on where supporters find themselves seated. In an exclusive chat from his Third Avenue office in New York, which listeners can catch in its entirety on a special Royal Blue podcast episode, Meis – who will return for the opening Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion in a fortnight – explained to the Liverpool Echo: "It's obviously not as quirky and asymmetrical as some of the true historic grounds. "Because you want the stands to connect and for people to circulate around the whole building, so it's a bit of a hybrid in that way, but it really does have four different stands and people will have that feeling that they're in the 'home end,' that they're in the west stand or east stand. "It's not the same as if you're in the Emirates Stadium or Tottenham. I think people will really love that. The other thing is, even if you're in the highest seat, and I've done that myself, you still feel like you're right on top of the pitch because it's so steep. "Not everyone is going to love it because it's a little scary, but you feel like you're in the game, even when you're the furthest away." Reflecting on the challenges faced during the construction process, including Everton's own turbulent times, the global health crisis, geopolitical tensions and football politics, the architect acknowledged the collective effort. "I think so," he added. "I can't take a lot of credit for it other than my one little piece of that. It took incredible commitment from the club in the face of a lot of criticism. Obviously, there are a thousand people who came along to help. "Laing O'Rourke did an incredible job delivering the building, and Pattern and Planit and the other groups that were involved. In my role as a designer, it can often happen that once the project comes into the hands of a contractor, it can change drastically. "It can get watered down or the things that I felt were important, that weren't architectural things but were experience things good have easily been value engineered out of the building. But I think everybody throughout the process bought into this vision and that's been incredibly rewarding to see it. "Nobody individually has control over it, there are so many factors that go into it. We've seen other projects in the UK that have been nice ones, but the contractor suffered in the end, contractors have gone away, owners have had to dig deep to finance them and that puts the club in a different position, there have been a lot of challenges in delivering sports venues in the UK in general. "That's a whole different story about Hill Dickinson Stadium that I don't think everyone does realise. There were so many challenges and so many things had to go right and it really has to deliver the building." When examining the individual architectural drawings, the completed stadium similarly mirrors Meis' initial concepts – something the architect considers a source of great satisfaction. He explained: "The stadium really does look like the images from my designs. That doesn't happen always. "If someone said, 'How are you different from the other firms that do what you do?' I think that's one of the hallmarks of our practice. Not because I'm lucky. I think it relates to the fact that the images we create, there's a lot of meaning to how it looks the way it does. "It's not an arbitrary thing. There was so much thought that I wanted it to look like it grew out of the dock with this wave coming over, that very simple idea. So much of it, if you changed it, it would lose all the meaning. "Throughout my career, I've tried really hard that those images we created at in the beginning are used to tell a story that we want the owner to really believe in and buy into. It has to be that again or the whole process doesn't make sense. "But in Everton I think, there was some fear of that and there was this moment where I felt it was completely out of my control and I didn't even know whether I was going to have a voice in what was happening but for all the fear of it, they've done a great job in matching up to those original ideas." Hill Dickinson Stadium will boast a capacity of 51,769, a significant increase from Goodison Park's largest recorded attendance of 39,376 during its final Premier League season, achieved against Leicester City on February 1. This expansion allows Everton to host a third more fans. Despite Goodison having seen over 70,000 spectators for 16 Blues matches, it hasn't drawn a crowd of over 50,000 for a home game in more than 38 years, since a League Cup quarter-final against Liverpool on January 21st, 1987. Everton's ambition to surpass their historical high of a 50,000 average attendance, achieved during their 1962/63 title-winning campaign, hinges on filling Hill Dickinson Stadium to create record-breaking matchday crowds. Meis has stood firm against critics who argue that Everton should have aimed for a larger venue, especially considering rivals like Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Manchester City, and Manchester United boast capacities exceeding 60,000. "I understand it on a simple comparison level that people want to be elite and somehow bigger is better, but I very passionately tried to argue how important it is to have the building right sized," he explained. "It's incredible how much impact the fans have on the game but if you have a building that's only three quarters full, the players feel that, and it does change the tempo of the game and how they play. "Most fans would argue that we have this incredible waiting list and of course we'd fill this 70-80,000 capacity building. But it just doesn't really work that way. When people know that there's always a seat available, they're much less likely to buy a season ticket. "If the club doesn't know how much revenue is going to come, it's hard for them to plan their business. It was also a reminder that for all this chest-thumping and ambition, it's a business in the end. You really do have to right size the building. "I also often use the example that Billy Joel played Madison Square Garden like a hundred times. You can argue, 'Why don't you build a 200,000-seat arena as you could sell it out?' But that's just not the way it works. It's going to feel huge compared to Goodison, but hopefully still pretty intimate." For Meis, the prevailing sentiment is sheer excitement as he and Everton fans alike eagerly anticipate the inaugural match day at Vauxhall after 133 years at Goodison Park, England's first purpose-built football stadium. He expressed: "It is going to be really fun to see it full. There are a lot of people who haven't even been inside the dock wall yet. From the fan zone, to the experience on the pitch, seeing a real game. There's still a lot of trepidation and I hope people love it as much as I do. "There are all those feelings but now I'm feeling, 'How do I do the next one?' It's not, 'How do I do another design?' it's how do I find another club I can fall in love with and hopefully embrace me in the same way? It's not an easy thing. "My message would be that it's been a long road and there have been a lot of ups and downs – and sometimes, too many downs. But I think in general, it's a fanbase that keeps the faith, they know there's an incredible history there, and this really is a turning point. "You have a new ownership, you have a manager that knows the club well and obviously we have already seen how the players have reacted to that. Having the power of a new building and almost twice as many fans on a game basis, it's going to be such a boost. "There's nothing stopping the club from being a top team in the Premier League in a short time and all of this contributes to that." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Behind the scenes at Everton's new £800m stadium
Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium is a hive of activity. On the day of The Athletic's visit, cranes fill the north Liverpool sky. One facilitates the installation of the first of what will eventually be four club crests, situated on the far corners of the east and west stands. Other recent work has centred on displaying the branding of naming rights partner Hill Dickinson, a local legal firm come good, on the roof. Advertisement Inside and outside the near-53,000 capacity stadium, there is an urgency about the activity. That is because the countdown to the new £800million facility's opening is very much on. In just over a month, Everton will host Italian side Roma in a pre-season friendly that will serve as the final test event. It is just over 50 days until the club hosts its first Premier League game here against Brighton & Hove Albion. Structurally, the stadium is complete. A marriage of old and new, red brick and futuristic steel, its American architect Dan Meis wanted to give the impression it had emerged out of the dock on which it is situated. It is easy now to forget Hill Dickinson Stadium is quite literally built on sand. Construction took three and a half years, during which the project was recognised as the largest single-site private sector development in the country. The extent of the change has been remarkable. Four years ago, this was a semi-derelict site in a largely abandoned part of north Liverpool — a jaded, post-industrial relic from the city's maritime past. The infill took three months and involved a dredger making 130 round trips, over 20 miles out in the Irish Sea, and the collection of 480,000 cubic metres of sand from the sea bed, before it was fluidised and pumped into the dock. The stadium's skeleton is made up of around 12,500 tonnes of structural steel, seen predominantly on the north and south stands. Heritage assets — of which there are many — have been preserved and in some cases restored. Historic features likes cobbles and tramlines have been retained. The walls of the existing dock have been incorporated into the design, with surfaces visible in places. During the construction of the main supporter entrance, individual bricks had to be taken out, catalogued and then put back in the same order. The preservation of the wall means the site can, if necessary, be turned back into a fully functioning dock. The Grade II listed hydraulic tower and Engine House, built in 1883 and located in the fan plaza housed in front of the east stand has been restored. Its future use is still to be determined. Initial ideas included a museum of Everton memorabilia, but the sense now is that the space is too small to do that justice. With the rooftop area being turned into an outdoor space, it is possible the tower becomes another a bar. There are subtle nods to Everton's history and heritage too. Everton Way, a collection of around 36,000 small stones bearing the names of club legends and supporters, is close to being finished. Railings feature Goodison Park architect Archibald Leitch's famous criss-cross pattern. Further attempts to Everton-ify the interior and exterior are underway. The Athletic starts its tour in the West Stand, where Everton's players will arrive. The media lounge is currently home to the stadium operations team and there we pick up high-vis jackets and hard hats. The latter is essential when we head pitchside later, with work in the bowl and in particular the corporate lounges above continuing. Some staff have personalised Everton high-vis jackets featuring the club crest and their names. Advertisement A short walk away is the media auditorium where manager David Moyes will hold his post-match press conferences. It seats around 80 and has a high platform where the Scot and his peers will be able to tower over assembled media. The platform is so high that smaller members of the press may end up needing a hand putting their dictaphones in front of Moyes. We work our way through the bowels of the West Stand towards the tunnel. On one side, there are booths for post-match interviews. Opposite, there will be a glass wall behind which members of Everton's new Tunnel Club can sit and watch the action unfold. There are multiple routes for the players but they will be encouraged to head past that era pre and post match. Temporary wooding flooring has been put in to preserve the carpet as work continues in front of us. A retractable blue tunnel is being installed during our visit, while there is an acceptance one side of the tunnel will need Everton decorations. Goodison's tunnel had pictures of fans, players and legends in a banner style. Something similar is likely at Hill Dickinson. The bulk of the remaining work is in the corporate lounges, with hundreds of staff every day said to be helping with the internal fit-outs. As such, some of those areas are off limits. With the stadium move, the club's corporate capacity is set to swell from around 1,500 to 5,500. Heading outside by the dugout area, the pitch already looks immaculate. The initial surface used for the first two test events was dug up and relaid in April. Goodison had a camber for drainage purposes. Here, there is no need due to an advanced undersoil heating system. There have been small recent cosmetic changes with the stadium bowl. Numbers have been put on supporter entrances and accessibility markings are now in place. Sight lines are much improved from the dugouts. Previously, Goodison's camber meant staff were effectively below pitch level, straining for a view of the action. Some preferred to sit in the press box at a higher vantage point. The home dressing room is far cry from Goodison too — spacious and circular instead of rectangular and cramped. A huge blue Everton crest is emblazoned on the ceiling. The adjoining rooms house showers and hydrotherapy pools, with a sole TV hanging from the wall of the latter. There is a faith room for players. Other room functions are still subject to potential change as staff assess how best to use each space. The two-tiered South Stand will hold around 14,000 home fans and has rail seating in the lower section. Rail seating will also be available in the away end, situated in the corner of the North Stand. At a 34.99° gradient, the South Stand is as steep as it can be while remaining within the rules, with the legal limit 35°. Meis' idea was to create the sense of supporters being close and on top of the pitch, aiding the atmosphere. The acoustics of the roof have been designed to allow sounds to reverberate around the stadium. There is still space, towards the top of the South Stand, reserved for Hill Dickinson branding if needed. Advertisement The long South Stand concourse offers stunning views of Liverpool's waterfront and city centre skyline. Everton hope supporters will remain there after games, making use of the food and drink on offer. Already selected as a host venue for Euro 2028, the club want the stadium to be used 365 days a year. In total, there will be 747 toilets at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Everton say it be the most accessible stadium in the UK, with its 279 wheelchair bays the most of any football arena. The club also believe it will the most sustainable stadium in the country, harnessing sun, wind and rainwater to utilise 100 per cent green energy. Some supporters have called for more Everton iconography inside the stadium. Goodison, with its painted blue and white seats, was unique and instantly recognisable. For now, at least, all seats at Hill Dickinson are blue. While there is potential for blue seats to be changed to white if necessary, the club believes the use of LED displays and big screens will make the stadium feel more 'homely'. A fan mural, also featuring Everton legends, is still to go up on the west side of the stadium. No plans are in place to bring any of Goodison's statues to the new site. The idea is that club icons will remain at Goodison, where they forged their legacy. In time, new heroes and statues may well appear at Hill Dickinson too. A new chapter is just around the corner for Everton. The work to get the new stadium ready for its curtain raiser continues apace. (Design: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic; Images: Everton FC, Getty)
New York Times
25-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Dan Meis on Everton's new stadium: Doubts on project, recreating Goodison's ‘cauldron', club's faith
Dan Meis, the American architect behind Everton's new stadium, has said he wondered 'lots of times' whether the project would ever happen. Everton will move to the new 52,888 capacity arena from the start of next season after overcoming a number of significant hurdles during the course of the £800million scheme. Advertisement Planning permission was granted in February 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, while Everton were forced to abandon sponsorship deals, including a potential naming rights partnership, with companies linked to the sanctioned Uzbek-born oligarch Alisher Usmanov after Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine a year later. Construction also happened at a time when former owner Farhad Moshiri, himself with links to Russia and Usmanov, was looking to sell the club and with the team in regular relegation trouble. As a result, funding plans had to change several times and the club became increasingly reliant on short-term, high-interest loans to cover costs. Everton have since been bought by The Friedkin Group, based in Houston, Texas. Asked whether he had ever considered the prospect that the development would not proceed, Meis said: 'Lots of times. We had Covid, the war in Ukraine… all kinds of things that threw the club into disarray at various times. It's not for the faint of heart and really does take a lot of commitment. 'I know fans at times were questioning all kinds of things about the leadership. (Former Everton chairman) Bill Kenwright, for example, became a bit of a lightning rod at times. 'This building would not be here without him. Full stop. He was a passionate defender of mine and I wouldn't be here without him, so it takes so much for these things to fall into place.' 'It's been a long, 10-year road to get to this stage, but it's heart-pounding to see people in the stadium and to see their reaction. It's really priceless.' Everton Stadium designer @Meisarch on an emotional experience at yesterday's test event. 🏟️ — Everton Stadium (@EvertonStadium) March 24, 2025 Meis was in attendance at the Everton Stadium on Sunday for Everton Under-21s' 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers B — the second of three test events to be completed before the site obtains its safety certificate. Speaking to reporters at the event, the Los Angeles-based architect said his main preoccupation during the design process had been capturing the 'history' and 'magic' of Goodison Park, Everton's home of 133 years. 'The thing that really hit me the very first time I went to Goodison was how it really was this cauldron,' Meis said. 'You were really on top of the pitch and, sure, there were things in your eyesight like columns, but it was a proper English football stadium and that's hard to recreate. 'That was very intimidating because the last thing I wanted to do — and I've seen that with other new buildings — is that you lose some of the magic of the history. So it's subtle. But proximity was important, steepness was important. No fuss — we didn't want a bunch of commercial things getting in the way, just fans on the pitch. Advertisement 'I was very conscious that I was American and didn't want to take anything for granted. In some ways, that worked to my advantage because I dove deep into the history of Goodison and the city. It wasn't about a shiny new building. It was: 'How do we take that magic and move it to a very important, historic site without losing that energy?'. 'The direction from the club was very clear early on. It was, 'We're not Wembley or even Tottenham for that matter'. This is about a proper football stadium. Of course, you need it to be commercially viable and help the club grow, but to do that in a way without losing the on-top-of-the-pitch feel and intimidation.' Meis spent Sunday morning walking around the site and getting a progress update on the development, with Everton in the final stages of completing the internal fit-out of the corporate lounges. A third test event will happen later this season, with the bulk of the work over the summer likely to centre on improving the pitch and making the stadium more 'homely' before Everton's first competitive game in August. Meis expects to be in attendance for that match and for the Goodison atmosphere to translate across to the new waterfront site. 'Walking in, it feels so much bigger,' he said. 'There was always a fear that it wasn't going to fit (on the site), but now you walk in and it's just massive. Compared to Goodison, it feels huge, but it's also going to feel very intimate because it's so steep and we're so close to the pitch. 'I can't describe it (the feeling). I remember sketching (a design) on a napkin and, all of a sudden, it's there. It's magical. It feels like it just appears. 'That first Premier League game is going to be crazy. I can't wait, and it's great to see the club on a better footing. Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief because it could have been bad. Advertisement 'I can't say enough about the commitment of the club to do this. They could have picked sites that were easier and far less expensive, and so for all the ups and downs, I think the city and region will benefit from this.'
New York Times
06-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Everton agree £350m refinancing package for new stadium
Everton have agreed a £350million ($450m) refinancing package for their new stadium. The funding, sources with knowledge of the process say has been arranged by the US financial services company JP Morgan, replaces borrowing that supported the construction of the new 52,888-capacity venue, set to be opened early next season. Advertisement In a statement on Thursday, Everton said the 'offering was oversubscribed multiple times, ensuring competitive terms beneficial to the club'. Under previous owner Farhad Moshiri, Everton had been increasingly reliant on short-term, high-interest loans sometimes as high as 15 per cent. The new deal, secured predominantly against the new stadium, is said to see interest payments more than halved. It continues the financial restructuring of the club under new owner, The Friedkin Group (TFG), which completed its takeover in December. One of TFG's first acts was to significantly reduce Everton's debt, which at one stage had sat at around £1bn, by paying off long-term lenders like Rights and Media Funding and converting most of their own loans into equity. GO DEEPER A breathless and brilliant first look at Everton's £760m new home Designed by the American architect Dan Meis, the Everton Stadium is set to open in August, in time for the start of the new Premier League season. As well as hosting games at the 2028 European Championship, the club estimate it will generate an additional £1.3bn to the local economy. It is likely to host events 365 days a year, with sporting events and conferences part of its offering. Everton hope the move from Goodison Park, their home since 1892, can unlock higher revenues after a period of financial turmoil and help improve fortunes on the pitch. During Moshiri's time, the club slumped from mid-table to perennial relegation battles. The process to secure naming rights for the new stadium is already well underway. Everton held the first of three test events last month, with the club's under-18 side hosting Wigan in front of 10,000 fans. The next event scheduled for Sunday, March 23, will involve an under-23 game in front of a crowd of around 25,000. A final test event, close to capacity, is still to be scheduled. Most of the stadium is now complete, but work is ongoing to finish corporate boxes and bars ahead of the new season. Everton are 16th in the Premier League table, 15 points clear of relegation after a run of seven games unbeaten under manager David Moyes. They are next in action on Saturday when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. ()
