18 June 2024 , 10:30
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Everton requested that their final Premier League match of the season not be played at Goodison Park for the 2024/25 season.
The coming term will be the Toffees' last at the stadium as they look to transition to a new ground after 133 years at one of English football's iconic venues. The final match, for the moment, will see Everton host Southampton on the Premier League's penultimate weekend of May 18, with a trip to Newcastle on the cards on the last day of the season.
As part of compiling the fixture list, clubs are required to answer questions by the Premier League. In March, the division sends a form to clubs, answered in conjunction with local police, asking questions such as whether there are any dates they do not want to play at home.
That can often include whether any side does not want to play at home on Boxing Day, though Everton's request came amid more unique reasoning. The Liverpool Echo reports the Blues submitted their request to the Premier League to ensure they can provide Goodison Park with a fitting send-off.
With the Premier League's final round of games all taking place at 4pm on Sunday, May 25, it has been suggested that the stadium's farewell could have been lost in the culmination of the top-flight. There would be a risk that attention was diverted with games broadcast simultaneously.
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In a bid to avoid such a situation, Everton bosses made their request to play away on the last day of 2024/25. Chiefs want to ensure a showpiece occasion that will see the moment achieve the coverage it deserves when it hosts its final match.
Everton confirmed in December that they would make the move to their new Bramley-Moore Dock ground in time for the 2025/26 season. The 52,888 capacity ground will be complete in advance of that time with interim CEO Colin Chong explaining their decision.
Everton's Goodison Park (Getty Images)He said: "It is a club decision driven by a combination of commercial insight, a comprehensive review of the logistics required, an analysis of the potential impact upon our football operations and, importantly, fan feedback sourced as part of our recent stadium migration survey, which was completed by almost 10,000 Evertonians.
"Everton Stadium remains firmly on track, as scheduled, to be completed in the final weeks of 2024. We will need to conduct test events at our new home, which will allow us to stress-test the stadium in a number of different ways in order to obtain our Safety Certificate. It will also give Evertonians a chance to see and sample the new facilities."
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