Everton get green light for £9m development alongside Goodison Park

Everton have received planning permission to build a £9m retail and administration centre alongside Goodison Park. The four-storey development, which will house a shop, museum, cafe, hospitality lounge and office space, will bring the club's staff under one roof at the Park End of the stadium and thereby allow for an increase in corporate facilities inside the ground. The club's retail partner, Kitbag, and stadium catering partner, Sodexo, are to finance the building, with work due to start before Christmas and expected to be completed next autumn. Everton's chief executive, Robert Elstone, said: "This new scheme is totally self-funded by partners so there is no net cost to the club. In fact, it is cash-positive from the start."