Kieran Maguire issues ‘significant’ claim after £300m Everton stadium news
It is no surprise to see Liverpool City Council in hot water over the Everton stadium project given their “really poor” cost control record.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the funding for the 52,000-seater Bramley Moore Dock arena.
Everton are close to sealing a £300million construction financing agreement from a private lender, per Liverpool Business News last Sunday (17 April).
The Toffees had previously explored the idea of securing funds from Liverpool City Council, who were open to the idea.
Everton eventually settled on a different arrangement but not before the council spent £700,000 on fees relating to the now-scrapped loan.
As relayed by the BBC last Saturday (23 April), a Government review found that the local authorities had failed to keep costs down.
It is understood that Everton are now being asked to pay around £350,000 to the council because of a dispute over the botched funding plan.
Maguire claimed that a degree of political and financial fallout is inevitable in a project on this scale.
“I think this replicates many examples of when government, both central and local, have become involved in sporting issues,” he told Football Insider.
“You only have to look at what happened with the Olympic Stadium and the debacle of transferring it to West Ham.
“Councils aren’t noted for great cost control. There have been some really poor examples, so it’s no surprise that this has happened, in my view.
“It is a complicated project and therefore they have to outsource some of the work to contractors who charge these significant fees.”
Everton are slated to move into their new waterfront home in time for the 2024-25 season.
The Toffees are in the relegation zone following yesterday’s (24 April) 2-0 defeat at Liverpool.
In other news, Everton in hunt to sign Adama Traore amid Barcelona update.