Former boxer Tony Bellew has his season tickets for Everton’s new stadium but he will still feel sad when men’s team bid farewell to Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon
Tony Bellew says it will break his heart that former Everton chairman Bill Kenwright is not around to witness his vision of the club’s new stadium becoming reality.
The former boxer knows bidding farewell to Goodison Park on Sunday will be a “sad day” in the Toffees’ history but he is excited to begin next season in their shiny new arena having already had a preview look inside for a recent test event.
Bellew and family have already snapped up their season tickets for Bramley Moore Dock and he says the financial reasons for moving are impossible to argue against. But that will not stop him from possibly shedding a tear after the weekend’s meeting against Southampton.
“It’s very hard to say goodbye to Goodison Park. Personally for me, massively. But the flip side is it has to happen, it really has to because we can’t get left behind,” he said when promoting his BBC podcast series Hooligans.
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“Everton Football Club is too big of a club to be left behind. Everton were one of the founding six of the Premier League and if we don’t move stadium we’re going to be left way behind. We have to go. It’s going to be a very sad time, a very sad day when we move.
“But I’ve been in the (new) stadium. I know it was only a test event, an under-18s game, but we’ve got to go. It’s one of them things where it’s for the best of the club.”
Aside from being a regular at the ground since childhood, Bellew won the vacant WBC cruiserweight title against Ilunga Makabu at Goodison in May 2016. He also paraded his belts around the pitch at half-time of matches.
He was close to former club chief Kenwright, who passed away in October 2023 aged 78. And the fact the past chairman will not be able to see their team run out at the new stadium saddens him.
Bellew added: “What breaks my heart the most is that my friend Bill, the old chairman, is not going to be there to see it. That breaks my heart to be honest.
“The new stadium is unbelievable. The chairman’s vision has come to life. We’ve all got our season tickets, my family, and we can’t wait to get in there. The test event was good. It felt like we were in the future, like we had been on fast forward.
“We’ve been so used to watching Everton at Goodison Park with our obstructed views and whatever else, it felt insane to be in there. There were escalators in the ground taking us to floor.
“That sounds silly and miniscule but when you’ve been going to the game as long as I have and watching the game the way I have, that felt crazy. We can’t wait to get in there.”
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