Everton’s new home at Bramley-Moore dock will be known as Hill Dickinson Stadium, the club has announced, after a naming rights deal with the commercial law firm.
Everton have been seeking a naming rights partner for their £800m stadium for some time and had hoped to attract a blue-chip company to their impressive development on the banks of the Mersey. They have signed a long-term deal with Hill Dickinson, which was founded in Liverpool in 1810 and has expanded into Europe and Asia in recent years.
Neither party has announced the length or financial terms of the deal but Everton claim it is “one of the largest stadium naming rights deals in Europe”. That would value the deal at around £10m per year.
USM, the holding company of Alisher Usmanov, paid £30m for an exclusive option on naming rights for the new stadium in 2020 only for Everton to cut ties with the oligarch’s companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Everton’s men’s team play their final game at Goodison Park on Sunday before the move to Bramley- Moore dock.
David Moyes has said the club had to “move on” from Goodison but must be careful not to leave the community heart of the club behind when relocating to the more corporate offering at Bramley-Moore.
The manager said: “We used to hear about the prawn sandwich brigade and that was a bit controversial at the time but I do think football is moving into a world where there is a lot of money being generated and the money coming into football is phenomenal. It looks as if it’s continuing to grow.
“We’ve got to watch that we don’t stay in the past. We have got to move on. Everton need a new stadium, undoubtedly. I know we love Goodison but the facilities behind the scenes need redoing and people are looking for much more now in life. It will still attract the same people, the same people will go. The new stadium might attract a different breed but I hope we still keep the community.”
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Moyes confirmed that Everton’s long-serving captain, Séamus Coleman, would stay on in a playing capacity next season and more decisions on players’ futures could be made before the Goodison finale against Southampton. Coleman has struggled with injuries this season, starting only one Premier League game, and the 36-year-old’s deal is due to expire this summer.
Moyes said: “The plan is to keep him on a playing contract but we’ll decide when we need to use him and when we won’t. I need him here. With his leadership and his message to the dressing room, it would be wrong to let him go.”
