The cancellation of a loan towards the construction of Everton ’s new stadium from Liverpool City Region is to be rubber stamped.
Last month, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said the combined authority would no longer be providing £30m to the club as part of a funding package arranged in September 2021 to support construction of Bramley-Moore Dock. That included a £15m grant to help pay for infrastructure and heritage work at the site, and a £30m loan to help with overall costs.
Mayor Rotheram confirmed in March that the loan would no longer be sought by Everton as it had “identified alternative commercial funding from the private sector” and as a result, the combined authority would no longer need to provide a loan, the purpose of which was to support regeneration and employment. The grant, which will progress, will be used to support heritage preservation and public infrastructure on the site.
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Members of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will now complete the process of cancelling the proposed loan. A report to the authority, to be discussed on Friday, said Everton “recognises and has thanked the Combined Authority for the support and commitment which it has provided.”
The club informed that it would not need the loan in January. Mayor Rotheram’s announcement of the loan no longer being required was brought forward from this month’s meeting following the scrutiny around Everton’s dealings with companies linked to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Mr Usmanov was sanctioned by the European Union, the UK and the United States due to his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine. The club has suspended their sponsorship agreements with Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota following the country's military invasion of Ukraine.
Mayor Rotheram visited the site of the new stadium this week and hailed Bramley-Moore Dock as one of the “most significant regeneration projects” in a decade for Merseyside and the surrounding area. The cancellation of the proposed loan is the second financial issue Everton have had to resolve with authority bodies in a number of weeks as it was confirmed it had agreed a settlement with Liverpool Council around fees spent exploring funding options for the new ground.
The club is expected to pay around half the original £700,000.
