Everton’s official hospitality partner Seat Unique typically sells two types of ‘standard tickets’ for Everton home games.
These are Premium Tickets priced at around £129 for standard fixtures, and Club View tickets priced at £150 for games. Often these are the cheapest way to get tickets to Everton once the ballot is over, but which is best?
The Premium Tickets have the benefit of being slightly cheaper than Club View and you still get the £10 voucher to spend in the ground on food and drink. However, Premium Tickets are usually located in block 229, which sits you directly above the away fans in the corner of the North and East stands. In short, Premium Tickets are basically standard tickets with a £10 voucher thrown in and an inflated price.
The Premium Tickets do have one major benefit over Club View; the block does allow you to walk around the concourse and see the rest of the stadium including the view from the South Stand across towards the city.
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What about Club View?
We have a season ticket in Club View, the new hospitality space marketed as the club as a new ‘perspective’ when it comes to watching the match. Season tickets are £1,200 so you’re paying a big markup on the seats if the ticket costs £150.
In short, it is not really worth it. Club View does have the elevated seating with some of the best views in the stadium and if you value that half way line spot more than anything else then Club View could be the place for you.
For everything else the section is at best unfinished and at worst completely mis-sold to the four blocks of fans who now call it home.
Club View is accessible through entrance 16 at Hill Dickinson but there are no escalators. It means a long walk up several flights of stairs that can be a bit much for some people. There are lifts that you can request if you have mobility issues.
Once into the concourse you quickly find you are blocked in. There is no way to walk around the rest of the stadium and see the view from the South Stand or use the clever ‘walk in’ areas to get food and drink quickly.
The Club View concourse is a sparse concrete area that looks unfinished. It does have one large window with nice views over the fan plaza and beyond but much of this has been blocked by a stage, bins and napkin stations, which means there are limited spaces to actually get near the window.
It is a long way from the club’s description of an area that “will feature bespoke artwork and memorabilia celebrating the Club’s rich history and legacy.”
The ‘private bar’ has the most limited food options of anywhere in the stadium, with just a couple of things including a pie and a loaded sausage roll. The lack of kitchen facilities means the seasonal delicacies offered elsewhere are not available to Club View members.
The bar itself often has large queues thanks to the £10 credit fans can spend before the game. There are only around four beer taps and staff seem unable to cope with the number of people. You will have to arrive an hour or so before to ensure you can spend your credit.
Club View also includes a few self-serve machines and food kiosks that do not accept your match day credit.
Fans will also be able to shop at a tatty Fanatics store, which has a few kits of sparse coat hangers and looks more like the back of a discount store warehouse.
Club View promised the chance to meet players and that sort of happens. A small stage in the corner often features a singer and holds a short interview with a couple of past players shortly before kick off.
The entire area feels sad. It lacks shelves to place your food or drinks, has vast empty spaces at each end and a huge bottleneck in the middle, and very little decoration. The bare concrete and soulless, half-hearted prints on the wall somehow feel bleaker than decrepid areas of Goodison Park while providing no upgrade in amenities.
Everton will face a major problem when hordes of Club View users ask to be moved to standard areas of the ground after this season because as it stands it simply does not work as a premium experience to watch the match.
To be fair to the club it has improved significantly after teething problems in the first couple of games. There are more places to get food and a drink, and there are a few shelves being installed. You get a free programme and the toilet facilities are a huge improvement over Goodison Park.
The real benefit is the incredible view once you are in your seat and if that is what matters to you then it probably will not ruin your experience as long as you go in knowing the issues with the area.
If you are considering a ticket to watch Everton via Seat Unique your cheapest option will be a Premium Ticket and that would be our recommendation. If you can stretch to a Village Street or Trinity Place ticket then that would be an even more preferable option.
Club View is not a terrible experience. It is just not a good one either. If you are seeking a more premium experience at Hill Dickinson Stadium you should probably look elsewhere.
You can get Premium Tickets or Club View tickets here.