Early reports suggested Everton would benefit from Hill Dickinson Stadium to the tune of around £50m per year and a large part of that is the club’s hospitality offering.
Tickets for Village Street in the West Stand sold out quickly, while Trinity Place in the East Stand and the famous £25,000 a season ‘loge’ seats all help the club maximise revenue from its new home on the banks of the River Mersey.
Hoping to see more of our beautiful new stadium (and, honestly, trying to avoid Club View while the teething problems are ironed out), I decided to book tickets in the club’s premium Beyond lounge for the Mansfield game in the Carabao Cup.
Usually priced at around £700-£1,000 on Seat Unique, the club’s official hospitality partner, they were on sale for a bargain £170 for the game so this was a once-in-lifetime chance to experience one of Everton’s most exclusive lounge experiences.
What is Beyond Tunnel Club?
- Location: Lower level of the West Stand
- Price: £170 (usually prices are £700+)
- Tickets: On sale here via Seat Unique
- Features: Free bar, three course meal, free programme, padded seats near the dugout, view of the tunnel from the lounge.
Exactly as it suggests, Beyond is marketed as a premium lounge at pitchside in the West Stand. It is a small, exclusive bar with booth-like dining tables, plenty of screens to watch the action, and the big sell; a huge glass wall that gives you a full view of the team tunnel, entrance to the dressing rooms and media areas.
You also get a nice padded seat with cup holder situated directly behind or alongside the dugouts, thrusting you into the heart of the match day like never before.
It comes with a free bar that is available a few hours before and one hour after the game and a three course meal.
Is Beyond worth the money?
Hill Dickinson Stadium blows you away when you attend a game but there are still some rough edges around the stadium as the club puts the final touches to the various concourses.
That is not the case with Beyond, where every aspect of the shiny lounge area has been meticulously planned. Everything feels premium from the moment you enter the room right down to the beautiful cutlery and plates.
The room itself is part high-end restaurant and part modern sports bar. The dark, moody lighting is brightened by the numerous screens showing Sky Sports and the huge scrolling LED displays informing you of the times the players will be emerging from the tunnel.
Everything in the room faces one way; the large glass wall that gives you a close up view of Hill Dickinson’s tunnel. Adorned with Everton badges and the excellent ‘The Originals’ logo, the tunnel is the main focus of attention and gives you a close up view of the players and staff before and after the game.
There is something voyeuristic about being a thin pane of glass away from the players as they line up. It’s a surreal experience to be so close to the action and it feels like you are inside a sacred part of the match day experience.
On this side of the glass the experience is very much a premium one. An army of attention staff, all wearing retro blue football shirts with the iconic number 9 on the back, are the real highlight of the day. Every member of staff are smiling, helpful blurs of activity, serving food, topping up drinks and ensuring everybody is getting whatever they need.
It is even more impressive that will have been only the second chance for the staff to get their bearings in the new stadium. You feel instantly at home and they were knowledgeable and chatty throughout the day.
The food and drink options are excellent too. An extensive drink list offers everything from wine and cocktails, to 16 year old Lagavulin whisky. There are soft drinks, beer, cider and Prosecco options and drinks can be ordered for half time and after the match, where they are waiting on your table.
The food was superb. A small bowl of nachos was offered as a starter followed by a choice of Lake District Sirloin (as recommended by James Tarkowski, apparently, sea bass or a vegetarian lasagne option. The steaks were simply sublime, while the huge bowl of sea bass was cooked to perfection with crispy skin.
Dessert was a choice between a selection of cheeses and – fittingly – sticky toffee pudding with a dollop of ice cream. The sticky toffee pudding was another winner and every dish was as good as any high end restaurant delivers.
Every ticket comes with a seat surrounding the tunnel entrance and the dugouts. Having watched the Brighton game from the back row of the East Stand it was an interesting experience watching this one from the very front row of the West Stand, five yards away from the manager’s technical area.
From here the stadium looms over you and you really feel the steepness and scale of the stunning South Stand. The comfortable padded seats are so far removed from my faithful wooden Top Balcony one that it could be a different sport entirely.
You can hear the managers discussing tactics and urging on players – it was fascinating to see Moyes coaching Harrison Armstrong to drive into the box just seconds before he did just that to set up the opener – and you feel part of the action like never before.
At half time and full time you make the short trip (about ten steps) to your table again and watch the players return to the dressing room and through to media duties. There was a funny moment when Mansfield’s squad lined up at the back of the lounge to watch the Manchester United defeat to Grimsby.
Would I recommend Beyond? Yes. The experience is above and – ahem – beyond anything I expected this early in the stadium’s life.
Watching Everton is always better with your friends and family, packed in to a stand that is a wall of noise. It is about the crowded pubs and enjoying a drink on the concourse with an overpriced sausage roll. To that end the clean, relaxed environment of a hospitality lounge may not resonate with all football fans.
However, Beyond is something that everybody should try once. The incredible views of the stadium, the unprecedented access to the tunnel and the simply brilliant service makes for a brilliant day out and a unique way to enjoy our new home.
Prices drop drastically for cup games and I would suggest you keep an eye out for midweek games where they are cheaper. At £700 it may be a stretch but at anything below £200 Beyond represents incredible value. I can see it being booked up for many years to come.
You can book it here.
Anything they need to improve?
I’ve saved this until last as it can definitely be classed as a teething problem. We had real issues with tickets for the lounge. Booked through Seat Unique, we were promised tickets 2-4 days before the match.
Instead we were still waiting with hours until the doors opened. After several hours on the phone and just as we were considering cancelling the whole thing, tickets arrived in our email. However, only two of the four were sent.
A quick call back and we were then sent four completely different seats. It was an incredibly stressful experience and while we received the tickets eventually, I simply don’t think they would have arrived without me taking two hours to chase them down.
The tickets also came with zero information. Again I had to ask when doors opened and find out the dress code myself. We also didn’t bother asking about the promised parking spot and no information was forthcoming.
Incredibly, the information email arrived the day after the match. It all feels a bit amateur but can easily be ironed out.
For a premium experience communication prior needs to be better. Everything inside Beyond was perfect – but a lot of high paying customers will be put off by the poor experience in the run up,