Huge Premier League stadium in running to host 2025 Ashes Test
Everton's new stadium could be in line to host an Ashes Test!
Could next year’s Ashes be about to be held in a world-class Premier League stadium that hasn’t even opened yet?
That’s the latest speculation which has emerged in the national media, with the Daily Mail suggesting that Everton’s brand new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock is now firmly in the discussion to host one of the games between England and Australia.
The 52,000-plus all-seater stadium in Liverpool is scheduled to open for the first time next summer – and it is now seemingly in the running to host Shaun Wane’s side as they face the Kangaroos in a mouthwatering three-Test series.
Everton’s new stadium has been touted by rugby league fans as a potential venue of interest for major events including the Grand Final and Magic Weekend ever since it emerged it was being constructed.
It would be a bold move and a sign of real ambition from organisers if they opted for Everton, given the size of the venue. However, the prospect of playing such a major fixture in an elite sporting venue would undoubtedly appeal to fans new and old.
Rugby league has held major international fixtures in Liverpool in recent years, with England playing New Zealand at Anfield as recently as 2018. That game only attracted a crowd of 26,234 though – and there would have to be an expectation that a much bigger crowd would attend the Ashes for the game to be staged there.
Nothing has been signed off yet, with talks still ongoing about the Kangaroos’ agreement to tour England next year and what it may involve.
One game will definitely be in London, with the other two held on separate sides of the Pennines. A report earlier this week suggested Wigan’s Brick Community Stadium was under consideration for the game in Lancashire.
Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are considered to be the two frontrunners to stage the London Test.
And it now looks as though another huge Premier League stadium is in the mix for a game, too.
FRIDAY’S PICKS ON LRL
👉🏻 Ian Watson lands eyebrow raising first coaching role since Huddersfield Giants departure
