In many ways it feels like there are ‘two Evertons’ right now but the concern over the one that matters the most at every football club – the team on the pitch – continues to cause many understandable concerns to a loyal but long-suffering fanbase who have already been through the wringer far too often in recent times.
Back in 1892, John Houlding was thwarted in his attempts to create a second Everton when the club who were his tenants at Anfield fell out with him over the terms of their rent, decamped to their own site across Stanley Park and constructed Goodison Park, England’s first purpose-built football ground. Eager to still have a team to fill the financial void, the Tory businessman promptly created his own club who he initially called Everton (Athletic), the Football Association said no, his new creation became Liverpool FC and the rest as they say is history.
Over 130 years later at a time when the Blues are moving towards the completion of another new stadium, it now seems as if there are two Evertons from within the same club itself. One is the smooth, well-oiled machine in the shape of the magnificent 52,888 capacity arena at Bramley-Moore Dock that almost two thirds into its three-year build, already dominates the maritime cityscape of Liverpool’s world-famous skyline.
