Everton Football Club’s transition from the storied Goodison Park to now, the state-of-the-art Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium marks a significant chapter in the club’s rich history.
Acknowledging the need for modern facilities and greater capacity, the club invested £750 million in building a new 52,888-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The stadium opened its doors for the first time with a test event, where 10,000 lucky Toffees fans watched the club’s U18s face Wigan.
Central to the new stadium’s design is its commitment to inclusivity and building a community around the stadium.
The facility boasts eight inclusive faith rooms, two quiet rooms, and a sensory box with a pitch view accommodating 14 supporters, including provisions for wheelchair users.
A faith room is a dedicated space within a stadium where fans of all religious backgrounds can pray or observe their faith in a quiet and respectful environment. It ensures that supporters can practice their beliefs without missing out on the matchday experience.
On the other hand, a quiet room is a calm, sensory-friendly space designed for individuals who may need a break from the noise and intensity of a stadium. It offers a peaceful retreat for those experiencing anxiety, sensory overload.
Everton’s proactive approach sets a benchmark, emphasizing the club’s role as a community-centric institution.
The blue side of Merseyside joins clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the Premier League who have prayer and quiet rooms.
At Liverpool the multi faith prayer room is on the ground floor next to to the hospitality ticket collection booth, and is only available on matchdays.
Arsenal unveiled their faith rooms with Egyptian Elneny cutting the ribbon last year in March, although this prayer room seems to be only open to the players and not fans as Elneny said, “Having this space to contemplate and pray will change the lives of future Arsenal players.”
Similar steps have been taken by clubs in lower tiers of English football, Walsall FC in League 2 inaugurated theirs just 2 days ago with staff and club officials.
While most of these clubs have multi faith prayer rooms, Everton stands out for having special muslim prayer rooms.
One fan raised the question of why there’s need to bring religion into football, “Why? It’s not a church or a mosque. It’s a football stadium.” The account @TonyHibberto gave an apt response, “Practicing Muslims are required to pray 5 times a day. If they need to at the match whats the problem they be given a small space to do it in peace?”
A passionate Evertonian took the funny route talking about the faith and quiet room signage:
Another fan quipped, “Be more going in Faith room to pray. But the boos will be loud.” While Everton are on the come up, fans are welcoming any sort of players to help them climb up the table, “Absolutely give us all the prayers you got lads,” said one user.
Apart from the reactions to these faith and quiet rooms, the view on the stadium has been overwhelmingly positive:
“We could not have wished for a better stadium. Everyone is excited, old and young,” said Andy, a Goodison season-ticket holder who has signed up for Bramley-Moore next season.
