£15m Grant And £30m Loan Offered For Bramley-Moore Stadium

Image of the new Everton stadium Everton Football Club’s half a billion pound plans at Bramley‑Moore Stadium have been boosted by The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s proposed offer of a £15m grant and a £30m loan.

The £15m grant would be used towards meeting the costs of infrastructure work to public spaces and preserving heritage assets around the new stadium site.

Everton have been planning to invest as much as £55m on preserving heritage items on the waterfront site and the grant from the Combined Authority would help with that.

The £30m loan that leaders will consider next week would go towards overall costs of the project, with the understanding that the money would help towards the club's extensive and costly preparatory work on the former dock site.

The Combined Authority have described Everton's new stadium plans as a "vital catalyst for regeneration of Liverpool’s north docks and the area around Goodison Park" and the club forecast that once the new stadium is built, the knock-on impact will see a £1bn boost to the local economy and the creation of 15,000 jobs.

They have also stressed that the potential £45m injection of cash into the project is "not an investment in a football club".



A joint statement by all the relevant Borough Council leaders stated: “The Combined Authority exists to drive economic regeneration, create jobs and opportunities for local people, and breathe new life into an area that has continually been left behind by national governments.

“Devolution is all about local leaders taking control of our own destiny and working with local people to shape the future we want for our region.

“This project stands as one of the most significant regeneration projects our region has seen in more than a decade and will be a major catalyst for regeneration and revival in an area that has been crying out for investment for decades.

“This is not an investment in a football club but in an important project that will generate a myriad of social and economic benefits for communities across our region.

"From creating thousands of jobs, training and apprenticeship opportunities for local people, attracting hundreds of thousands of new visitors to our region and launching programmes that will help to tackle health and social inequalities, whilst supporting the vulnerable within our communities.

“The financial returns generated from this investment will ensure that we are able to invest in further regeneration projects and services across the city region.

"Given austerity and the financial constraints that local councils continued to face, this is an innovative way of generating new money and investing to improve our region.”

Should the funding be agreed upon, then it would be delivered to Everton with "conditions" that would see the club agree to targets for employment and training opportunities for local residents.

The Combined Authority have also said that there would be a return on the investment and the interest from the £30m loan would help fund other projects and services in Liverpool.

Everton, as part of the funding deal, will also agree to "take the lead" on campaigns that target chronic health issues in the north Liverpool area.

A report going before the Combined Authority next Friday states: "The project provides the opportunity for transformational regeneration of North Liverpool and South Sefton/Bootle areas.

"It comprises a number of elements: the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, the Goodison Legacy Project; and wider and accelerated regeneration of the Northern Docks area, alongside expanding the outreach and offering of Everton in the Community’s activities."

The Combined Authority have used grant funding to help numerous projects in the city region while local authority investment in new stadium projects has been effectively targeted at Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and West Ham United.

An aerial image of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock