Everton fans pen open letter over stadium transport

An official Everton supporters' group has written an open letter to officials to complain about a raft of transport issues it says developed on the night of the football club's first test event at its new stadium.

On Monday evening, 10,000 fans became the first people to set foot in the £500m 52,888-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock as the Toffees held the first of three trial games at its new home.

But Everton Fans' Forum expressed concerns about transport, parking and safety at Sandhills station, the closest Merseyrail station to the ground.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said they would be taking on board feedback from those who attended the event "to see whether immediate steps can be taken to address the issues raised".

It said Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram would also be meeting with supporters and "publicly respond to specific concerns they have outlined."

The under-18s fixture on Monday was held amid a vocal backlash against an experimental parking scheme around Regent Road and the surrounding streets as well as the installation of a fan management system at Sandhills station.

David Wycherley, from the Everton Fans' Forum, said fans had been messaging the group and "raising concerns around that outside infrastructure".

"It's only when some of these things are put into practice that people start to realise that actually we can do a bit better," he said.

"I'm a huge believer in not really looking at blame but looking at how we can work together to improve things," he added.

The forum said it wanted to seek answers ahead of the second test event in the coming weeks.

The forum meets with the club on a monthly basis to provide feedback from supporters.

In the letter, addressed to the mayor and Liverpool City Council, posted on social the forum said it had been "inundated with feedback on the car parking situation and the management of Sandhills train station post-game".

It continued: "We now openly ask Liverpool Council to listen and give us comments on why their road closures, and more importantly, the lack of decision making on blue bade parking closer to the stadium has been ignored."

The fans group asked for "clear communication" on parking for disabled fans. It described road closures year round as "excessive" and said they could potentially "damage local businesses." T

The letter added: "Events do not just happen on a whim, either do football matches, so the planning and organisation needs to be thorough, and you have plentiful notice to issue a road closure."

The letter also asked for confirmation of taxi, park-and-ride and supporter coach drop-off and pick-up locations, suggesting that guidance so far had been more about "where you can't go rather than assisting fans getting to and from Bramley-Moore".

With this in mind, the group has touted the possibility of a park and ride scheme crossing from Croxteth, Walton and County Road, including an option starting at Stonedale Retail Park.

A statement from the combined authority said: "We'll be taking onboard comments from people who attended the event to see whether immediate steps can be taken to address the issues raised, and the mayor is going to meet with Everton Fans' Forum and will publicly respond to specific concerns they have outlined."

Additional reporting by David Humphreys, Local Democracy Reporting Service

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