Goodison Park Set to Be Home of Everton Women

Goodison Park hosted its first game all the way back in 1892, having been built for a bargain sum of £3,000. Even allowing for inflation that comes in at the excellent-value price of less than £500,000, or roughly what a half-decent footballer can earn in Saudi Arabia for a week’s work. It was, and remains, the world’s first purpose-built stadium and the “Grand Old Lady” remains one of the most historic grounds in world football.

It has hosted more top-flight games than anywhere else in England, was the venue for the 1894 FA Cup final, as well as the replay in 1910, and even hosted the semi-final of the World Cup in 1966. As well as that clash between West Germany and the Soviet Union, Goodison staged the thrilling clash between North Korea and Portugal, when Portuguese legend Eusebio inspired a 5-3 fightback from 3-0 down; as well as all three of Brazil’s group games.

Goodison truly is steeped in history, and boasts many further notable firsts, including being the first English ground with dugouts, the first to be visited by a ruling monarch (in 1913), the first to boast double-decker stands on all four sides and the first to build a triple-decker one. It is the ground where Dixie Dean brought up his record-breaking 60 goals in a league season and the first ground in England to have undersoil heating.

There is so much history at Goodison Park and yet, largely due to financial necessity, the club will finally leave their home of 132 years. Or will they? Everton versus Southampton on Sunday the 18th of May 2025 was scheduled to be the final game at Goodison, with a host of special events scheduled. However, the club recently announced that the Grand Old Lady will live on beyond 2024/25, with the historic, if aged, stadium, set to become the permanent home of Everton’s women’s team.

Original Plans

After a number of test events, Everton will move into their shiny new home at Bramley-Moore Dock for the start of the 2025/26 season. Built at a cost of around £800m, it will have an increased capacity of almost 53,000 and much-improved facilities for players and fans. In particular, it will have far greater corporate and hospitality options and this, along with its suitability to be used for other events (the rugby league Ashes and Euro 2028 are already booked, but boxing, live music and more will follow), will greatly increase the club’s income.

Goodison was all set for its final send-off at the end of this season, with the historic venue, home of so many memories for so many fans, set to be used in a range of ways after that. It was to be a legacy project, with the centre circle preserved, not least because Dixie Dean’s Ashes were scattered there. This would be an open public space, with part of the ground preserved as a museum and heritage site and others turned over to community projects and affordable housing.

A New Home for Everton Women

Everton Football Club is proud to announce that Goodison Park will become the permanent home of Everton Women from the start of the 2025/26 season! 🔵🔽

— Everton (@Everton) May 13, 2025

Everton were bought by the US Friedkin Group in December 2024 and a few months after that it was announced there would be a viability study into using Goodison as the home of Everton Women. That process took a little over a month and then on the 13th of May, the club announced that from next season Goodison would be used as the full, permanent home of the club’s women’s team.

Women’s football is clearly on the rise and has been for several years. Its growth in this country was accelerated by the brilliant performances of the national side over the past five years and more. The Women’s Super League (WSL) has gone from strength to strength, with more investment and more lucrative TV and commercial arrangements.

The Friedkin Group also own Roma and their women’s team has enjoyed great success in recent times too. Since 2021, they have won the league twice, also winning the cup a couple of times. The US has long been at the forefront of women’s football, and the national team has enjoyed incredible success. The current and five-time Olympic champions have also won the World Cup a record four times, and so the Friedkin Group clearly understand just how big Everton Women can become.

Huge Step Up for Women

Playing at Goodison will be a huge honour for the club’s women, though they have played there before. Some clashes with Liverpool have taken place at the stadium, but the fact that this will now be their permanent, full-time home is a huge step. Goodison will be the biggest women’s stadium in the country and one of the biggest in the world.

It will not be used solely by the women’s team though, with some academy games set to take place at the Grand Old Lady too. Goodison will also now allow for the expansion of the club’s community projects. The club’s new CEO, Angus Kinnear, said that the women “will have an unrivalled permanent home in the WSL”. He also added that there were “obstacles we need to overcome to make this a success both practically and economically”.

Is It Really Viable?

One has to assume that the club’s viability study looked into the issue in far greater depth than anyone from the outside could. So on that basis, it is hard to produce a compelling argument against Goodison becoming Everton Women’s new home.

However, from the outside there are obvious question marks about whether or not it is sustainable. The women have previously played at a number of different grounds and have called Walton Hall Park home since 2020. That facility has a capacity of around 2,200, with just 500 seats.

Can Everton’s women attract enough people to Goodison to support the cost of opening the stadium? In 2023 over 22,000 attended the ground for the women’s derby but that is one game. It is an ambitious move by the club, and one that will support local businesses who feared the worst about the ground closing. But it seems likely that at least in the short term, it will be a decision that costs the club money.