Why new Everton stadium will be evacuated before full time at next test event
The club will end the game early with an evacuation exercise, a necessary step towards Everton earning safety approvals for the new ground
The next game at Everton’s new stadium will end early with the club set to perform a test evacuation.
The Under-21s will face Bolton Wanderers B in front of 25,000 supporters on Sunday in the latest stage of work towards earning the safety and licensing approvals needed for the summer move from Goodison Park.
A key part of that process is the need to hold an evacuation exercise and the plan is to do that at the weekend. It means the friendly will end early, with supporters urged to follow the guidance signposted to them in order for the scheme to be properly tested.
READ MORE: West Ham players send classy Goodison Park message and hail Everton under David MoyesREAD MORE: David Moyes faces two biggest Everton selection dilemmas yet for crucial gameThe game will end when the evacuation begins and will not resume, so there will be no reason to linger in the ground – nor will there be a requirement to gather at any muster points.
Supporters will be guided out of the 52,888 capacity venue with emergency services monitoring the event to ensure adequate protocols are in place.
Alix Waldron, director of new stadium development at Everton Football Club, said: “Being able to demonstrate the evacuation routes and processes that have been put in place for Everton Stadium is an important part of us obtaining the required safety certificate and licence.
“It will allow us to demonstrate as well as understand how supporters exit the stadium and we are asking fans to play an important role in supporting us by taking it as seriously as if it were a real emergency.
“That means supporters staying in their seats until the evacuation protocols begin and exiting the stadium in a calm, considerate manner, paying attention to instructions from stewards and being respectful of others also trying to leave the area.
“We hope that this will be the only time we ever need to evacuate the stadium but we are asking everyone to help us in this vital exercise so that we can look forward to opening the stadium to more than 52,000 people from this summer.”
The club is working with the travel authorities to make sure that public transport is timed to coincide with the evacuation exercise.
