Sefton Council and Everton team up for matchday transport plan

Everton Football Club and Sefton Council have agreed to work together to improve transport between the borough and the Club’s new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.

The two organisations will work in unison with the end goal of promoting effective travel to and from the stadium from Sefton.

Transportation links
Public transport links will be the focus of the collaboration along with active travel, parking and leisure opportunities both around the new stadium and in Bootle town centre. Events programmes that might attract fans before and after matches at the spectacular waterfront stadium, which is set to open in the summer of 2025, will be explored.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Leader of Sefton Council, said: “This is an exciting time for Bootle town centre and with Everton Stadium little more than a goal kick away, it makes absolute sense for the Council and Everton to work together to make sure fans have a range of choices in how they arrive and depart from the new stadium.”

Warmup in Bootle
 

With Bootle Strand Bus Station and the town centre offering park and ride opportunities for supporters, Sefton Council is also highlight investment plans for the nearby Strand Shopping Centre. This includes the development of Salt & Tar – a 3,000-capacity event space featuring street food, bars and live entertainment – as a potential pre-and post-match venue close to the transport hub.

Given the relatively close proximity of the new stadium and Sefton, meaning many supporters will be travelling to and from matches through the borough, Everton Football Club and Sefton Council are committed to working to improve transportation. This could include a new park and ride scheme, involving shuttle buses to and from Bootle Strand and using public and private car parks in the borough.

The partnership will also investigate active travel opportunities such as cycling and walking. And it will promote better information around the well-served local train network that caters for the Southport to Liverpool and Ormskirk to Liverpool lines - both of which stop at Sandhills Station, close to Everton Stadium.

Working together
Alix Waldron, Director of Stadium Development at Everton, said: “By working with Sefton Council we can continue to strategically review all of the different opportunities and impacts our new stadium will have to support the borough and its residents.

“We have been very open about how Everton Stadium can offer ‘once in a generation’ opportunities and we have seen this already with a clear boost to the local economy, the direct and indirect number of jobs being created and the tourism boost our new home will give to our city region. This agreement will look at how we can work jointly to not only harness the socio-economic opportunities for Sefton but also facilitate and manage real-world logistics like supporters travelling through the borough and liaising on potentially competing events in the same area.”     

Both parties have committed to joint engagement and management of public messaging relating to transportation arrangements before, during and after any matches and large-scale events.

Commitment to fans
Cllr Atkinson added: “It’s incumbent on us all to make sure the right information is available for fans to make informed choices about their travel arrangements and matchday choices.

“We have been supportive of Everton throughout the planning and development phases of the stadium. We are delighted to continue that relationship through the promotion and alignment of our respective investments, and through a commitment to providing fans with the best and most up to date travel information and leisure opportunities.”

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills said: “I’m very pleased to see the progress of Everton’s stadium development at Bramley-Moore Dock, which will bring a significant boost to the City Region economy, to Sefton and in particular to Bootle.

“The benefits of a near 53,000-capacity stadium on our doorstep could be huge and, while the challenges need to be managed, I’m delighted for the Council and the Club to be committing to work together proactively.

“I hope we can ensure that Bootle and South Sefton is considered when providing home and away fans with travel information and are clear on the alternative opportunities that Bootle town centre can offer, pre-and-post-match, which will help alleviate pressures at the stadium site and in the city centre. I’m really looking forward to cementing this relationship, as it’s about so much more than transport links, widening into the local community and economy”.

The agreement will also explore wider partnership opportunities, including the joint promotion and marketing of respective events, commercial place-making proposals that offer mutual benefit to the Club and local authority and Sefton Council’s increased engagement with the Club’s award-winning charity, Everton in the Community.