Is it now time for Everton and Liverpool to consider a Groundshare?

Given the problems that have faced Everton and Liverpool with regards to their proposed stadiums, FFC columnist and Everton fan Joe Jennings explores the pros and cons of a potential ground share.

One big City, two great clubs and separated only by a few acres that is Stanley Park. Both clubs need a stadium; proposed plans seem to have their flaws so you could forgive any neutral for suggesting, these two Bastions of the English game, join forces and build a shared stadium. The deficiencies of the Kirkby proposal continue to leek out and makes me wonder; is a ground share with the enemy now a better possibility and one we could be proud of?

 
Reasons against Groundshare
 
Passions have ALWAYS run high between two of Britain's most traditional and successful clubs. Although Liverpool's successes mean that they arguably are one of the most recognisable team in England in the eyes of the rest of the world (not helped by the fact that they carry the city's name), it was Everton who were at the forefront of the domestic game for most of the 20th Century.
 
Everton were founder members of the Football League in 1888, founder members of the Premier League in 1992 and have spent more time in the English top tier in between than any other club. Everton are, for that reason, the top flight club, whether our current image reflects that or not. We have accumulated the most points in the history of the English league, a feat that shouldn't be underestimated.
 
It is the sheer force of the history and honour that poses the biggest obstacle to discussions about a ground-sharing proposal and explains why neither Board has publically entertained the notion as anything other than a non-starter. With what colour do you replace the blue seats of Goodison, or the red of Anfield?
 
The prospect of Everton being embroiled in a stadium project that will almost certainly be marketed as Liverpool's home, with Everton effectively reduced to the role of peasant tenants in the eyes of the rest of the nation, could be the undoing of any plans to get a ground-share initiative off the ground. Pride comes before anything in the city of Liverpool and perhaps such pride could prevent the prospect of sharing becoming a reality.
 
Do you have an Everton half of the stadium and a Liverpool half and, if so, who is going to want to sit in the rival's half for the remaining 18 home games of the season that don't pit the two clubs together? All somewhat trivial; petty considerations to the outsider, yet central to opinions of both sets of supporters.
 
Reasons for Groundshare
 
The very fact that Evertonians are beginning to continue this discussion shows that we all love our club. Goodison is the cathedral, the place of worship and it always will be. But it is the team that is the religion, the one that continues to do us proud. We don't go to watch the stands, or the grass, we go to watch the game we love being played by the team we love. Kirkby is the wrong deal at the wrong time. If decent proposals for a ground share are produced then it should be considered a viable option.
 
We all want what is best for our team, our club we love so dearly. We will move on, everything and everyone does eventually, although leaving the Old Lady will reduce me to tears. Goodison will not, cannot, last forever- I can accept that. Many of us have shared a house with a Red(s). How many have been brought up in a "mixed" family? Did that make us any less Blue? Of course not, if anything it made it all the sweeter!
 
A redeveloped Goodison would be choice one, but is it realistically viable and worth the downsides that come with it? I can see the sense behind sharing the building cost of the stadium and the general running costs of it. The money saved from that could go in to new players, better facilities, cheaper tickets etc. In that sense, it would be great.

The stadium, potentially, could be the best in the world. Something the city of Liverpool would be proud of. I'll be frank, I cannot stand our dark neighbours, that goes without saying but we must consider the options. If they go ahead and somehow finance their "mega" stadium we will be seething with envy, every time we see it, bitter. Even more angry if we end up in a lifeless, merciless retail park development.
 
Conclusion
 
I remain undecided. However one thing I'm certain about is that the potential Kirkby relocation is not right for Everton Football Club, now or in the long term. Identity is a big issue; can we keep such a unique identity when we will be sharing a home with the arch rivals? We would have to be equal partners, there is no way we could enter a venture with Liverpool knowing it isn't really ours. We could never be tenants of Liverpool FC, it would be degrading to our great club.
 
When talk of sharing has been mentioned previously, I have been strongly against it. The thought of sharing a seat with somebody else is not desirable, horrid infact. But the pain the Kirkby move will cause me is slowly altering my stance. I feel it is an imperative that Everton remain in the city of Liverpool; this compromise could be the answer.
 
Redeveloping Goodison, as stated earlier, will always be my first choice. But slowly demolishing stand by stand could have a catastrophic effect on the club, at a time when we are beginning to get back to where we feel we belong. Ask any Evertonian whether he would rather share a stadium with Liverpool or take the undesirable option of redeveloping Goodison Park stand by stand, the chances are they would opt for the latter every time, perhaps rightly so.
 
Maybe that's ignorance; maybe it's just sheer pride. Regardless, common sense perhaps should prevail. One thing's for sure, Kirkby has to be halted at any cost, for the good of the fans, for the good of the club, for the future generation. I want to pass on the Everton I love to my potential children and their children with pride and admiration, quite simply, that will be impossible if this Kirkby haunted tunnel reaches fruition.