New classrooms have been created at Everton’s Goodison Park stadium in a bid to inspire young learners.
Everton Football Club has partnered with Everton Multi-Academy Trust to install the learning areas in the Park End stand, in former TV broadcast boxes.
The college classrooms have been designed with views of the pitch in an attempt to encourage children from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend school.
Former Everton midfielder Graham Stuart, who is also the club’s ambassador, hoped it would inspire children.
“It must be great for the kids to be able to turn around and say, you know, where I go to school, Goodison Park,” he said.
“Hopefully it is inspiring to the kids. One of the classrooms overlooks the pitch so I bet there’s a clamour for the kids to be in that classroom.”
The stand has been redeveloped inside to accommodate 250 Everton College students, some of which will sit in view of the pitch during lessons.
Others will learn in what used to be the hospitality area at Everton’s original home.
The aim is to further link sport with education, getting more young people to attend school.
Connor Atkinson, who works for Everton in the Community having previously studied at Everton College, said he didn’t take school seriously until he joined the college, and the lessons involved sport.
“I was a little bit disengaged and I didn’t do the best in in in terms of GCSE results,” he said.
“Linking sport and education is massive. Every child, every young person is different and every child and young person has a different learning style.”
Steven Baker OBE, CEO of Everton Multi-Academy Trust, said it was about combining “the power of football and the Everton crest with our award-winning approach to education, helping all children to thrive”.
Stuart added it was important to see how Goodison still serves people in the area despite the men’s team moving away.
“Some people’s concern was that once we went down to Hill Dickinson we’d forget all about L4 – but that certainly was never, ever going to happen,” he said.
“Goodison Park, our original home, is still hugely important to us and the whole community.”
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More on this story
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- How Goodison Park is more than a football ground
- ‘Fingers crossed’ – Fears for life after Goodison
