Jamie Carragher moots government money for Everton, Liverpool after Manchester United news

Everton and Liverpool should get government money to pay for their stadium works if a “northern powerhouse” is to be developed in football, Jamie Carragher has claimed.

The Sky Sports pundit reacted via Twitter on 8 March after it was reported that Manchester United are to form a new task force on redevelopment of Old Trafford [The Athletic, 8 March] led by IAAF president Sebastian Coe, sarcastically suggesting a man with links to the government was no coincidence.

New minority United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe had suggested the club could be given public money to build a new ground as a northern alternative to Wembley [i News, 22 February], but Carragher says the two Merseyside clubs should be beneficiaries of government investment first if it is going.

Carragher wrote: “A task force led by Seb Coe! I wonder why Man Utd chose a man with links to the government.

“If people want to talk about a northern powerhouse helping football clubs & not just Manchester ones, let’s start with helping Everton finish off their stadium & pay off Liverpool’s new stands!!!”

Everton stadium development deserves public help before Old Trafford plans?

Evertonians already feel like they have been unjustly punished for a stadium development that is supposed to be the proper way of increasing club revenue. The huge expense of the new dockside home has helped push Farhad Moshiri to look to sell and interest payments on the project have contributed to the profit and sustainability woes at Goodison Park. It is already a galling situation for the construction to contribute to major issues on and off the pitch for the Toffees when the likes of West Ham and Manchester City have benefited from acquiring the use of publicly-funded former athletics stadiums Ratcliffe and INEOS’ hopes of getting taxpayer money to build a new ground when they already have the highest club capacity stadium in England would multiply the feelings of uneven treatment of different clubs hugely.

The likes of Gary Neville and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, an Everton fan who has been so vocal for the Toffees in his opposition to the Premier League and the independent commission, are also involved in the Old Trafford task force.

Whether they will get what has been suggested remains to be seen but would no doubt spark outrage in the current era of spending crackdowns around the league, which has hit no club harder than Everton.

In other Everton news, Anthony Gordon claims a Goodison situation is why his he is “villainised” and his new teammates hated him.