Everton’s start to life at their new stadium has not gone exactly to plan.
The Toffees hosted their first test event at the 52,888-capacity arena on Monday night.
GettyThe Toffees held their first test event at their new stadium on Monday[/caption]
An under-18 friendly between Everton and Wigan was watched by 10,000 fans in the South Stand.
It was the first match to be played at the venue ahead of the club’s move from Goodison Park in the summer.
However, it was the visitors who scored the maiden goal in the new Everton Stadium.
Midfielder Harry Rimmer opened the scoring after just 13 minutes in front of the home fans.
“That young man there, Harrison Rimmer, has just had a moment he will remember for the rest of his life,” the Everton FC commentary said on YouTube.
The Liverpool fan even taunted those in the crowd with his celebration after being mobbed by his teammates.
Rimmer held up six fingers to the crowd in reference to the Reds being European champions on six occasions.
His antics came a week after Everton grabbed a stoppage time equaliser in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park last week.
Reacting to the celebration on X, one fan wrote: “Couldn’t get more Everton could ya?”
Meanwhile, another supporter added: “Bet it got the first boo at the new ground.”
Everton’s night went from bad to worse just four minutes later as Cole Simms added a second for the Latics.
Despite a late strike from Ray Roberts, Wigan held on to win 2-1 in the first of three test events.
Rimmer later posted about the goal on social media, joking he had rattled the Everton fans.
The Toffees’ under-21 side will play a friendly at the stadium in late March or early April with an increased capacity of 25,000.
A third test event is also expected to take place later in the campaign although details have yet to be confirmed.
Everton will move into their new home ahead of the 2025/26 season after over 132 years at Goodison Park.
The stadium has been the club’s home since it was built in 1892, having previously played at Anfield for eight years.
Goodison Park is set to host its final match on the penultimate weekend of the season, with Everton facing Southampton on May 18.
There have been a number of false dawns and missed opportunities since the idea of leaving Goodison Park, their home since 1892, was first seriously mooted in the mid-1990s.
Plans to build on a site by the River Mersey, a 45-minute walk to the south, were abandoned in 2003 as the club could not raise the £30m investment for a share of the £125m stadium project, although they argued a large factor in the decision was that they would not own the ground.
In 2009 the government rejected controversial plans to construct a 50,000-seat stadium in Kirkby and a few years later a site in Walton Hall Park was identified but the idea was shelved after opposition in 2016.
But work on the current site finally began in the summer of 2021 and the build was completed in December.
And next season – providing Everton maintain their current position well above the relegation zone – the 52,888-capacity ground will become the Premier League’s seventh biggest. The venue will also host matches at Euro 2028.
The project, the cost of which incorporates some regeneration of the immediate area, will contribute an estimated £1.3billion to the UK economy and create 15,000 jobs.
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