Liverpool Special: Everton Groundshare Talk Adds Spice To Derby Clash

It has not been a great week for Merseyside's two football clubs, both on the pitch and off it. With Liverpool's elimination from the Champions League, successive away defeats for Everton, and a combined injury list that encompasses around 20 players, times are tough in the North West.

To make matters worse, the government has rejected Everton's plans to move the club out of the city, and into a new 50,000-seat stadium in Kirkby - nine miles outside of Liverpool. It is the third time the Toffees have failed in a bid to leave Goodison Park in the Premier League era.

It was also a blow that few at the club saw coming. The reaction of the Everton chief executive, Robert Elstone, to the news this morning suggests as much. His comments will also have resonated with the red half of the city.

"A shared stadium is perhaps an option if it's affordable," said Elstone.

"We have to look at where we can raise money, because potentially Liverpool will have to contribute to that, and Liverpool city council perhaps might need to find some money.

"Our history is one of creativity and innovation, and if we are the first major English club to look at sharing then we're not scared of making those decisions."

The language used by Elstone - "perhaps", "potentially", "if", - suggests that such a scheme is very much in its infancy at this stage, but still his words will have both halves of the footballing divide gossiping on Merseyside, especially with Sunday's derby match assuming huge importance in the face of both sides' poor form of late.

Night fever | Anfield has a special atmosphere

Liverpool, of course, have had their own stadium issues in recent years. The promises made by co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett upon their purchase of the club have not been kept, and proposals for a new, 60,000-seat stadium on Stanley Park - a stone's throw from Anfield - have been shelved for the time being. Elstone's groundshare talk will certainly have reached the USA.

The fans, of both sides, are likely to be mortified by such a suggestion. For years commentators have referred to the Merseyside derby as "the friendly derby" due to a perceived lack of animosity between the two sets of supporters, but even if this were true - and the signs are that the rivalry is edging away from "friendly" - would a groundshare really be an option?

These are two sides with proud history, proud tradition, proud supporters. Their respective stadiums encapsulate all that the club stands for.

Anfield, with the Kop End and its special atmosphere - especially on European nights - is a stadium that oozes history. The ghosts of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley et al walk the narrow corridors daily; what they would make of sharing their facilities with the blue half of the city takes little working out.

Everton meanwhile, are rightly proud of the atmosphere, the hostility and the tradition that flows from Goodison Park. It, along with maybe Villa Park, is one of the last remaining "old-school" grounds, wrought with memories, legends, and pride. Their fans do not like allowing Liverpool into their stadium for derby matches, how would they feel about sharing on a bi-weekly basis?

And yet, football is changing rapidly. Money is talking now more than ever. A quick look at the two clubs' most recent published accounts shows how far they lag behind in terms of matchday revenue. Liverpool, for the 2007/08 season, collected in around £40 million in gate receipts, whilst Everton's amounted to just over £20m.

Contrast these figures to Manchester United (£101.5m) and Arsenal (£95m), and it is not hard to see why new stadiums are at the top of most clubs' shopping lists these days. Arsenal are discovering themselves the benefit of taking the plunge, their average attendance since moving to the Emirates stadium is up around 18,000 on its Highbury counterpart.

From a financial standpoint, Liverpool and Everton would both benefit enormously from a new stadium. That is clear. But whether a shared ground would be a feasible option, in both financial and footballing terms, remains to be seen. Expect the supporters, both red and blue, to have their say on the matter come Sunday.