Everton to test evacuation process at second test event at Bramley Moore Dock

An evacuation exercise will be performed at Everton’s new stadium as part of the test event schedule that will enable the Club to obtain a safety licence for the 52,888-capacity waterfront venue.

The 25,000-plus supporters attending the stadium’s second test event – a friendly between the Blues’ Under-21s and Bolton Wanderers ‘B’ on Sunday 23 March – are to be asked to exit the stadium during the second half, before the full-time whistle.

The process will allow the emergency services and local authorities to monitor a large-scale evacuation from the Bramley-Moore Dock site and supporters attending the event are being asked to play their part in making the exercise a success.

The planned evacuation will signal the end of the match and supporters will not be allowed to return to the stadium. Attendees will be safely guided out of the stadium and will not be required to muster or congregate. Instead, once out of the stadium, fans will be encouraged to leave as they would if they were leaving after a game.

The Club is working with transport authorities to ensure local services are timed to manage the flow of people away from Bramley-Moore Dock as they exit the stadium.

Alix Waldron, Director of New Stadium Development at Everton Football Club, said:

“Being able to demonstrate the evacuation routes and processes that have been put in place for Everton Stadium is an important part of us obtaining the required safety certificate and licence.

“It will allow us to demonstrate as well as understand how supporters exit the stadium and we are asking fans to play an important role in supporting us by taking it as seriously as if it were a real emergency.

“That means supporters staying in their seats until the evacuation protocols begin and exiting the stadium in a calm, considerate manner, paying attention to instructions from stewards and being respectful of others also trying to leave the area.

“We hope that this will be the only time we ever need to evacuate the stadium but we are asking everyone to help us in this vital exercise so that we can look forward to opening the stadium to more than 52,000 people from this summer.”

Supporters attending the second test event, which kicks off at 2pm, are advised that the Liverpool Half Marathon will be taking place in the morning and the Kingsway Tunnel will be closed fully to traffic from 7pm on Sunday 23 March due to planned modernisation works. The Queensway (Birkenhead) tunnel will be open as usual.

Supporters are advised to leave plenty of time for their journeys to and from the event.

For more information on how to get to Everton Stadium, visit the Everton website.

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