Stadium Industry Updates - 25 June 2024
Everton announces farewell celebrations for Goodison Park, new project launched by Aberdeen to enhance matchday experience, green light for redevelopment Estadio Gran Canaria, revamp Ibrox Stadium not ready, enhanced security measures implemented by EUFA at the EURO's and much more in our latest stadium industry updates.
Everton announces farewell celebration for Goodison Park
A series of special events over the coming months will be staged by Everton under the ‘Gwladys Street Presents’ banner. After the events, the club will depart its long-term home to their new 53,000 capacity state-of-the-art Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
So far, Everton confirmed two evenings with shows that will be hosted on a big stage on the pitch with former players on August 21 and October 16. Fans can view the show seated in the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End stand. A new Farewell Experience gives the fans the opportunity to visit Goodison Park on non-matchdays. The Guided History Tours are also revamped and run daily. Next, the club will release publications capturing the of the stadium and merchandise inspired by Goodison Park will be launched in the second half of the season. Another initiative included in the campaign are the dedicated themes that will be taken on during home matches to mark memorable events of the past. The last-ever Goodison Sleepout will take place on October 11.
Construction of the new stadium started in August 2021 and will be completed later this year before the club moves into the stadium ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Aberdeen launches project to enhance matchday experience
Aberdeen FC, Scottish Premiership club, has announced the launch of ‘the Fans Project’ with the goal of enhancing the matchday experience at Pittodrie. The club hopes that the initiative will transform their home into a “fortress of colour, energy and atmosphere”. New activations at away matches and selected matches of the women’s and youth teams are also part of the project. Generated funds through the project will be used to support fan groups and local community causes. It will also support to celebrate significant moments in Aberdeen’s history.
A new committee has been created with members of their fanbase and will work with the club to raise funds Supporters can donate on the Aberdeen website or at a salespoint when purchasing merchandise or match tickets.
Green light by council to redevelop Estadio Gran Canaria
LaLiga club Las Palmas received permission for an expansion of their home. This expansion will increase the capacity of the stadium from 32,00 to 45,000. Las Palmas is bidding to be a host venue during the 2030 FIFA World Cup. FIFA rules stipulate that stadiums used during the world cup must have a capacity of at least 40,000. The total cost of the project is set to be more than €101m and construction work will take place between 2025-2027.
Redevelopment Ibrox Stadium not ready for 2024-25 season
The revamp of the Ibrox stadium, home of Premiership football club Rangers, is expected not to be fully finished before the 2024-25 competitive season due to “a delay in a materials shipment from Asia”.
The project began at the end of the most recent season with the revamp of the disabled section completed. But work still needs to be completed in the Copland stand. The club is in contact with SPFL and UEFA to review contingency arrangements. The Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh is tipped as a potential stadium to serve as a temporary home for the Rangers. This stadium is the biggest stadium in Scotland in terms of its capacity of 67,144.
Enhanced security measures implemented by UEFA for EURO 2024
UEFA has increased security measures at the EURO’S with the goal to stop fans getting to players on the pitch. This happened a few times during the tournament, but the problem peaked during the match Turkey-Portugal in Dortmund when at least six fans tried the take pictures with Cristiano Ronaldo. UEFA said that “additional safety measures will be deployed in the 10 stadiums that are hosting matches”. UEFA also made an additional statement saying, “any incursion onto the pitch constitutes a breach of the stadium rules and will result in expulsion from the stadium, a ban from all tournament matches and the filing of a formal criminal complaint for trespass”. More than half of games of the tournament half been played at the moment.
Oxford United new stadium decision pushed back
The planning application of Oxford United will now be considered in early 2025. The club is actively exploring short term provisions for the period between its Kassam Stadium lease expiring in 2026 and the new stadium to be ready.
Oxford United submitted its plans for a new 16,000-capacity stadium to Cherwell District in February. The club hopes to move into the new all electric stadium by 2026. Oxford United confirms that the exact timescale for the determination of the application has yet to be established.
The new stadium features a 180-bed hotel, conference centre, health and wellbeing space, restaurant, gym and a community plaza.
The ‘Child-Friendly Stadium’ guide published by Kindernothilfe
The new ‘Child-Friendy Stadium’ guide has been published with the aim of creating a child-friendly environment across football stadiums in Germany. Kindernothilfe is a non-profit advise centre for inclusion in football. The project has received funding from the DFL through its ‘Pool for the Promotion of Innovative Football and Fan Culture’ fund. The project launched in 2022 and has now been completed. During this period children and teens have been working on the guide for clubs to make their stadiums more child-friendly and inclusive. Some issues raised by the project includes sinks too high in the toilets and a lack of quality seating options for children in wheelchairs. It also suggested that some seats in the family section should be raised or height-adjustable to increase visibility.
Wrexham announced reassessment of stadium development plans
Wrexham, League One club, has reassessed its stadium development plans and confirmed that the temporary stand at the Racecourse Ground will have an increase in capacity to around 3,000. This stand will remain in place until redevelopment starts of the new Kop stand. The temporary stand was built in the middle of last season after it emerged that the new Kop stand would not be open for the start of the 2024-25 season. It is now unclear when construction of the new 5,500-capacity Kop stand will start. Permission was given to the club in November 2022.
New partnerships announced by Club Brugge to improve stadium access and payment system
The Belgian Pro League football team Club Brugge announces 3 new partnerships with the aim of improving the stadium access experience and the payment system used by fans. The club will implement the innovative system of SKIDATA to reduce waiting times at the different access points of the stadium. Starting next season, fans will also be able to see and manage their tickets inside the club app. Club Brugge will also improve their payment system with partnerships with Sjef and Adyen to include other forms of payment.