Everton and Liverpool meet for stadium talks

LIVERPOOL FC and Everton FC were today sitting down for a top-level stadium summit with city council leaders.

Representatives from Liverpool university and the North West Development Agency (NWDA) were also expected to attend.

LFC chief executive Christian Purslow and his Everton counterpart Robert Elstone are trying to find a solution to their outdated grounds. Both were due at the meeting.

It is understood the clubs will be urged to let the university carry out a feasibility study into options.

NWDA chief executive Steve Broomhead said: "We welcome the meeting. People are beginning to look at the opportunities again. Both clubs need solutions, either singly or jointly."

Both Everton and Liverpool declined to comment on the meeting.

One option that may be examined during the meeting is the "football quarter" put forward by fans' group Keep Everton in Our City (KEIOC).

The KEIOC idea would see Goodison Park rebuilt - with a hotel and other developments around Stanley Park helping pay for it.

In a separate development Liverpool Labour leader Joe Anderson is writing to EFC and LFC to suggest they enter into a feasibility study with the council about the possibility of a shared stadium. He said the option needed ruling in or out once and for all, and that above all clarity was needed.

City council leader Warren Bradley has said he thinks the idea of a football quarter based around Stanley Park is a "cracking idea".

In the past any talk of a shared stadium has always been ruled out by Liverpool FC.

The club maintains it remains committed to building a new £400m, 60,000 seater ground in Stanley Park. It is understood the club is looking for £100m to get work started - but has so far struggled to raise the cash.

Building a new stadium is Purslow's number one priority. The lack of progress is a prime source of discontent among fans fed up with US owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Everton fans are equally desperate for a new home.

The club was forced back to the drawing board after the government rejected the £400m Tesco/Kirkby project.

It is understood the club is now studying the possibility of re-developing Goodison - although this has always been ruled out as unaffordable.

The club is also understood to be carrying out a new search for sites with the city council. But in the past none of the sites identified by the council proved affordable because of the need for "enabling" development to help off-set the cost of the stadium.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.