Everton plan for new stadium jeopardised by lack of agreement with council• Club still seek confirmation of council’s terms for Walton Hall Park project
• But Liverpool mayor claims Everton yet to submit proposals for ground
Everton’s chief executive, Robert Elstone, told the club’s AGM on Monday a move from Goodison Park, above, to Walton Hall Park remained the board’s ‘key priority’.
Everton’s latest plan to relocate from Goodison Park appears in jeopardy with the club and Liverpool City council, who have been asked to fund a new stadium on Walton Hall Park, blaming each other for a lack of progress over the scheme.
The club’s chief executive, Robert Elstone, told the club’s AGM on Monday a move to Walton Hall Park remained the board’s “key priority” but no agreement had been reached with the council on the land or funding. Everton want a council that has faced severe spending cuts since 2010-11 to help finance a stadium that forms part of wider regeneration plans for north Liverpool.
The club has set aside £2.5m to commence work on the stadium should its funding proposals – that Elstone claims will give the council an annual profit – gain approval.
He described Walton Hall Park as “a fantastic opportunity for this football club” but also “a hugely challenging funding project”. He warned the club, that announced a record turnover of £125.6m for 2014-15 thanks mainly to the Premier League broadcasting deal, could not deliver the stadium “in isolation” and was disappointed the mayor, Joe Anderson, had said the onus was on Everton.
“We need confirmation on the city council’s partnership terms. We need to know the terms for accessing the park and the level of investment they are prepared to put in,” said Elstone. “We need a partnership approach with the city council and in my opinion at the moment we don’t have that. It is not just an Everton stadium with a few nice things around it. It is a vision for the regeneration of north Liverpool with a stadium in it. At the moment I don’t think the council sees it that way.”
Anderson, however, claimed Everton had not submitted planning or financial proposals to the council almost 18 months after Walton Hall Park emerged as a possible site. In a tweet posted while Elstone was taking questions on the stadium from shareholders, Anderson said: “Re EFC, CEO comments at AGM that they are ready on stadium. I am looking forward to receiving their planning and financial proposals tomorrow.”
The Everton chairman, Bill Kenwright, was unable to attend the meeting due to continued ill health. New investment remains a priority for the chairman, according to his chief executive, although Walton Hall Park is dependent on resolving fundamental problems with the council rather than finding an investor. “We are not working on the new stadium on the premise that we are about to secure new investment or need new investment,” said Elstone. “We think it could work in a true partnership sense.”
The CEO did not completely dismiss the prospect of Goodison Park being redeveloped should Walton Hall Park – Everton’s third proposed new stadium site in recent times – fall through. But he reiterated the board’s view that a redevelopment of Goodison was not financially viable.
Elstone also detailed Everton’s borrowing streams at the AGM. The club’s net debt increased from £28.1m in 2013-14 to £31.3m in 2014-15, despite the record turnover and TV deal.
“We have three sources of lending,” he said. “We have a long-term loan with the Prudential that expires in 2026, an overdraft with Barclays that is not enough to manage the day-to-day cash flow of the football club and, to address that, we borrow from JG Funding (a private company) against the TV money. It is all fully disclosed in our accounts, is approved by the Premier League and paid back at the end of the year.”
Guardian