Everton Football Club were on the front pages this week following Kelvin McKenzie’s bigoted attack on one of their homegrown young players, and the club’s subsequent decision to ban his publication from their premises. Meanwhile, a much lower-profile decision, made a few weeks earlier, has the potential to transform the fortunes of the club and the city as a whole.
Everton styles itself as the ‘people’s club’ on Merseyside; more community-minded club and supported by the locals, as opposed to the commercial outfit followed by tourists and day-trippers on the other side of Stanley Park. Its intention to move to a new-build stadium on the Mersey Docks is an opportunity to add real substance to the claim.
The re-location, which is now formally supported and financially backed by Liverpool City Council, is part of the ‘monumental regeneration scheme’ of both sides of the River Mersey that is led by Peel Holdings.
However, it’s absolutely crucial to recognise that the construction of a new development of any kind – sport stadium, shopping mall, culture quarter – does not equate automatically to urban regeneration. This is particularly true of football grounds. Look at the new stadiums erected for the World Cup in Brazil, the mixed fortunes of the Plaine Saint-Denis development in Paris and, closer to home, the limited local impact of the new Wembley.
If it is prepared to be ambitious, the ‘people’s club’ could pioneer football-led community regeneration where others have failed. Learning from the above examples and others, there are four connected components to achieving this.
As well as helping its own supporters, being a pioneer of community regeneration is a chance for Everton to put one over their city rivals. I took a Scandinavian architect for a stroll around Anfield last year. He compared Liverpool’s ground to an alien spaceship hovering above a city; dominating the skyline, but disconnected from daily life. Everton could achieve the opposite by making football-led community regeneration a reality and demonstrating that it really is the ‘the people’s club’.
Enjoyed the article. Definitely a big opportunity for a football club to set a new standard and create a new model for maximising social value. Everton make a fantastic contribution to Merseyside the Everton Free School being a great example wor king with more challenging young people.
HI James, Thanks for the comment. The opportunity / potential of football clubs to play a really significant is what is so exciting. I will do more digging into Everton Free School to find out more. Thanks for the pointer too.