Everton saw off Nottingham Forest comfortably on Saturday afternoon, moving them to just within reach of the top four.
David Moyes’ men ran out 3-0 winners at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a result that means they have now picked up four wins from their last five matches.
They are sixth in the table, sitting only two points away from a Champions League place.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put in another standout display, while Thierno Barry caught attention by scoring his first goal for the club.
Gary Lineker was spotted in the crowd that day, watching all that in person. And now, the former Toffees striker has shared his thoughts on Everton’s new 52,000-seater stadium.
Gary Lineker impressed by Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium
During a recent episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker spoke about his first visit to Everton’s new ground.
He said: “I was at Everton, I had a good time actually, it was really good.
“Peter Reid said I had to come up and see the Hill Dickinson. I went up with my mate JD and it was brilliant, what a stadium… honestly it’s amazing and the acoustics inside… they’ve obviously done some work for the sound and it was jumping in there.
“It was really good, they looked after us really well, saw a few faces I hadn’t seen for a few years, which was lovely. All in all we had a really good time, good food.”
Hill Dickinson Stadium built to amplify crowd noise
Dan Meis, the architect behind Hill Dickinson Stadium, spoke with the club’s website earlier this year and explained why the new stadium feels so loud.
“I think one of the other things that people will notice is the acoustics of the building, because of the shape of the roof, it was something we worked with our engineers on keeping the shape of the roof and the closeness of the roof to the stands to really enhance the acoustics of the building.”
Meis went on to say: “People often forget how important noise from a crowd can be for what happens on a pitch. That was a big part of our job – not only did we want fans to feel close but also for players to hear them in an intimidating way for opposing sides.”
Gareth Barry recently said that Hill Dickinson’s atmosphere is almost as good as Goodison Park. The designers clearly made an effort to keep that sense of intimacy fans loved about Everton’s old ground, and it paid off.
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