Council leader holds out hope on Everton stadium

Everton’s search for a suitable site for a new stadium could still swing back within the Liverpool city boundaries, according to city council leader Warren Bradley.

The club are currently involved in a period of exclusivity with Knowsley Council and Tesco as they investigate plans for a proposed new stadium in nearby Kirkby.

Because of the exclusivity deal, Everton are unable to comment on any issues relating to the stadium, but have long maintained they believe they have exhausted all possible options within the city.

Bradley appeared today to provide a tacit acceptance that Knowsley represented the club’s most likely option.

He told BBC Sport Online: “If Everton’s deal with Knowsley falls through, I hope they will be able to discuss possibilities in Liverpool.”

Bradley, who is also an Everton season-ticket holder, added: “As a city council leader more than an Evertonian, do we really want to see a commercial business the size of Everton move out of the city? Of course we don’t.

“What we have got to do is all we can to retain them in Liverpool. We’ve done work on finding land and we are doing work at the moment on finding further commercial partners.”

Everton chiefs understand some fans’ reluctance to move outside city limits but believe their two other alleged options – a joint stadium with Liverpool, or complete redevelopment of Goodison Park – are non-starters.

Liverpool’s recent takeover has effectively scuppered what little hope there remained of a joint-stadium deal, while redevelopment is considered unfeasible due to the housing areas around the club’s existing ground.

However, Bradley believes the club’s outlook on that issue is unnecessarily bleak. He added: “The main issue is what commercial partners Everton would get in that area. I know Everton have an opinion on that.

“But what I would say is if Everton feel they can get some commercial support or commercial sponsors in there to do something special, there is no reason why we can’t do some land assembly work to ensure that we can extend the footprint of Goodison.”