EVERTON FC chief executive Keith Wyness last night described the offer on the table for the club to move to Kirkby as the “deal of the century”.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Post, Mr Wyness urged supporters to back the contro-versial move to Knowsley as the club confirmed details of a ballot of more than 33,000 supporters to canvass opinion.
Mr Wyness revealed:
* Tesco will contribute £50m to the new stadium on land contributed by Knowsley Council in a deal which will leave it with minimal debts.
* Increased revenue from the new stadium will mean manager David Moyes will have up to £10m a year extra to spend on players.
* The new stadium could be up and running as early as 2010.
* If the move does not go ahead, there is no Plan B and there are fears Goodison Park will not be fit for purpose in 10 years.
Mr Wyness spoke about the impact of the plans after it was confirmed that around 33,000 current and recent season ticket holders, shareholders and members of the club’s official fan club, Evertonia, can vote in the ballot, which will be run with the help of the Electoral Reform Society.
Mr Wyness said: “Emotions will be running very high on this issue and I understand that.
“As much as it would pain them to do it, fans will realise it is the only way forward to the future. The Evertonians are very reasonable. It is an amazing deal, the deal of the century. If the heart rules the head, we will never get an opportunity like this again.”
The new stadium will be traditional in style, eschewing the modern bowl-style arenas to deliver instead a distinct four-sided ground.
Architects are believed to have loosely based their designs on Cologne’s World Cup stadium, with Mr Wyness saying the club is keen “for people to have the identity of saying what end of the ground they sit in”.
The land in Kirkby is currently regarded as worthless, but with planning permission for a Tesco store and shopping complex, which will be half the size of the Trafford Centre, the value will rocket to £50m.
The supermarket giant will pay that price to Knowsley Council and the money will be made as a contribution towards the cost of the stadium.
Tesco’s contractor, a firm which builds all of its stores and has also worked on a number of British football stadiums, will then be called in.
It is hoped Tesco will then be able to cash in its loyalty points and a new stadium, worth up to £75m, will be built for the bargain price of £50m.
This means the club will be left with probably only the costs of the internal stadium fit-out, which could be as low as £10m.
Mr Wyness said he could not put an accurate figure on the overall costs of the project.
But the financial burden on the club will be further reduced by selling the naming rights to the stadium and the sale of Goodison Park, which is worth about £15m.
Mr Wyness added: “There is no other site that we have found that will involve the same level of contribution.
“We will be left with very little debt at the end of it. The deal compares very favourably with other clubs building new stadiums. We will be getting a very nice stadium for a small amount of money.”
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