It may have been a dark, freezing Monday evening on the banks of the Mersey, but Evertonians hope this day signifies the start of a bright new future. Everton’s magnificent new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock opened its doors for the first time to 10,000 lucky Toffees fans successful in a ballot for an under-18s friendly against Wigan. Four years in the making and at an estimated cost of more than £750m, the club will move in fully over the summer in time for the start of the 2025-26 season. The first thing that strikes you on approach to the stadium along Liverpool’s dock road is its sheer size. It is absolutely enormous. Goodison Park, flanked on three sides by rows of Victorian terraced housing, can sneak up on you. But there is no missing this place. A gigantic, futuristic mesh of steel and red brick, combining the old and the new. The Bramley Moore pub, directly opposite, is doing a roaring trade, with Elton John’s ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ belting out over the speakers. The sense of anticipation and excitement is palpable. “It’s out of this world,” said Andy, a Goodison season-ticket holder who has signed up for Bramley-Moore next season. “We could not have wished for a better stadium. Everyone is excited, old and young. “It will be a wrench to leave Goodison but when you see this, it is going to be the envy of everyone.”