Construction began in August 2021 and was completed in 2025. However, that shouldn’t imply that the project went entirely without a hitch.
“We were on the bubble for relegation more than once. We had a change of ownership and we had a war with Russia and Ukraine that affected the club,” said Meis.
The Toffees finished four points above the relegation zone in 2021-22 and just two points clear of the drop zone the following season.
Everton also cut ties with Russian sponsors in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine and the Friedkin Group took over the club in November 2024.
Nick Tyrer was lead designer for architecture and engineering firm BDP Pattern on the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“I work on sports stadia around the world,” he told BBC Sport.
“The joy, but equally the challenge of them, is that they are such landmark projects that are driven by politics, by the industry, by what’s going on in the world.”
He explained the design and build contract had been signed by the time Everton were facing potential relegation.
“On social media though, there was a lot of talk about how it would be the best stadium in the Championship,” added Tyrer.
“That’s a professional concern – you spend six or seven years of your life working on a stadium and it may open in a lower league.”
That apprehension will sound familiar to fans of relegation-battling Tottenham Hotspur, who face the prospect of their club playing in the Championship next season in a 62,000-seater stadium that only opened in 2019.
Meis also explained some of the technical challenges involved in building on disused industrial docklands.
“Once the builders got down to the floor of the dock they found unexploded ordnance from WWII,” he said. “They found a dolphin at one point and had to shut everything down.”
The designer now has a tattoo that reads 1878 – the year Everton was founded.
He attended the first home match against Brighton, which David Moyes’ side won 2-0, with Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner on target.
“I still get emotional talking about it. I had grown men with tears in their eyes hugging me, telling me how important this was to them,” added Meis.
“One of the most impactful things that happened to me on that first day was that I was walking from one of the club areas to the stadium and one of the female stewards opened the door for me. As I walked through, I heard her say to someone else, ‘he really listened to us’. I thought, ‘how great is that?’
“I didn’t do something for my ego – it was a realisation of tens of thousands of people’s hopes.”
