Top Ten: Merseyside Groundshare Pros and Cons
Jonny Abrams
Posted on: 01 December 2009 - 14:09
Football
A thorny issue? Not half. Everton’s latest bungled attempt at moving out of Goodison Park has yet again given rise to suggestions that perhaps a groundshare with Liverpool is the best way forward for both clubs. However practical the idea, though, it continues to sit uneasily with fans on both sides. Sport.co.uk examines the potential pros and cons of a Merseyside Groundshare…
PROS:
1. It would be an impressive stadium – The city of Liverpool is as football-centric as they come, so a stadium built to house both of its two major clubs would be very high up on its list of priorities. Despite each club’s less-than-convincing motions towards moving out, it’s hard to imagine that a shared project wouldn’t be granted a prime location and superior design. As opposed to a soulless, mid-range affair on a retail park outside of the city.
2. The 2018 World Cup – Should England’s bid for said tournament prove successful, such a stadium would be a shoe-in for staging games. Liverpool is in danger of being seriously overshadowed by the two world class stadia lying down the road in Manchester.
3. Costs on both sides would be halved - …allowing more money to be invested in the clubs’ playing staffs. A brand new stadium is all well and good, but not it your team is so dreadful that no-one bothers to come and watch it play.
4. It’s worked on the continent – Inter and AC Milan’s respective identities and heritages have not been degraded by sharing a stadium, and then there is the example of Bayern and 1860 Munich’s ground, which is lit up red or blue depending on who’s playing at the time.
5. Purple is very fashionable at the moment – Something to think about when mulling over seat colours…
CONS:
1. The flagrant disregard of two proud heritages – Everton and Liverpool are, historically, two of the greatest clubs in the land. It would be a sorry sight indeed to see them reluctantly cosying up just because of mismanagement and lack of vision from both sides. No other major local rivals have shared a ground in the modern age, so why should these two great footballing institutions? The city is in many ways defined by its love of football, so keeping the two clubs defined themselves assumes a greater importance than it might do elsewhere. We’re talking about the next hundred years here; anyone viewing the move of either club as a cheap, short-term escape route is anathema to not just the culture of a great city but also to English football as a whole.
2. Inter and AC Milan are going their separate ways for good reasons – An inability to maximise corporate earnings and significant wear and tear on the pitch, to name but two. The “it works on the continent” line is called into further question by Juventus’ abandoning of plans to groundshare with Torino.
3. It sets a dangerous precedent – In other words, where would it end? How long until US-style franchising throws up a fixture like Liverpool Merseybeats at Sheffield Steel?
4. It would only create half the number of jobs – Pretty self-explanatory, really.
5. The stadium would stage some seriously rubbish gigs – Would you want U2, Coldplay, Elton John and Lady Gaga playing at your ground?