Supporters of the Premiership club have come out in favour of abandoning Gooidson Park and moving to bigger digs on Liverpool’s outskirts. As BBC Sport explains:

The club balloted more than 36,000 supporters on the move, which chief executive Keith Wyness described as “the deal of the century”.

Everton vowed to abide by the outcome of the vote but 59% of the 25,761 votes returned supported the proposals.

The 50,000-seater new stadium will be financed alongside supermarket giant Tesco and the local Knowsley council.

It is part of a planned £400m redevelopment of a 32-hectare (80-acre) site.

This may not be the end of the battle for the many who wanted to stay at Goodison; Keep Everton In Our City spokesman Dave Kelly said: “The ballot has served to split the fans. That makes me sad as an Evertonian. There is still a long campaign ahead because public opinion in Kirkby against a football stadium is growing.”

I suppose it’s nice of the club to even ask fans what they wanted, an all too rare courtesy in British football today. And it’s a matter of keeping up with the Jones’s. Still, Everton will lose a part of their history, and the Premiership more of its connection to the past. On the other hand, the new stadium design — modeled on a German example, apparently — could be worse.