Goodison Park transferred in the name of Women’s Team hoping to increase appeal of Everton Women to investors.
Everton transfer ownership of Goodison Park to their women’s team.
In an attempt to draw in outside funding as interest in the sport grows in the US, Everton has given their women’s team ownership of Goodison Park.
After David Moyes’s team moved to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, the club stated in May that Everton Women would have their home games at Goodison the following season. The Guardian has subsequently learnt that they have acquired the 133-year-old stadium.
Earlier this week, Everton sold the women’s team to a business owned by Dan Friedkin, the club’s owner. According to documents made public by Companies House, Everton Women Football Club Limited, along with Goodison Park, is now owned by Roundhouse Capital, the financial entity Friedkin established to purchase Everton last December.
Everton declined to comment, but the Guardian was informed by club sources that the new arrangement will see Everton Women Football Club host Goodison Park while Everton Football Club owns Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Although Roundhouse plans to keep its majority investment and only sell a small part, it is believed that the ownership transfer will make Everton Women more appealing to other investors.
Despite featuring Goodison Park, Everton Women’s market worth is far lower than Chelsea’s, which sold 8% of its women’s squad to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian earlier this year for a reported £240 million. The club has obtained pre-planning approval for a redevelopment that would feature affordable housing, a sports complex, and community structures that will be overseen by the Goodison Legacy Project, and the site is located in a conservation area.