Work to build up the layers of what will be Everton’s new pitch is well underway at the new waterfront landmark

Everton’s future pitch has now been cleared of vehicles as work to build up the layers of the playing surface continues.

The complex process of creating the pitch at the new waterfront stadium began in April, when contractors arrived at Bramley-Moore to start underground work. It is now in full flow, with those working on the pitch doing so while surrounded by a state-of-the-art stadium in which more than 50,000 seats have now been installed. The complicated procedure of creating the pitch on which memories will soon be made and Blues heroes will be crowned started in the spring with work to dig out the piling mat, a layer of recycled stone that had been rolled out over compacted sand to allow for vehicles to work inside the stadium.

Once the piling mat was taken care of, enabling work began on features crucial to broadcast cabling, irrigation, undersoil heating and drainage. It also allowed SEL Environmental, which is overseeing the pitch work, to start installing the root layers ahead of planting the first grass seed – which could begin next month.

That process is likely to take weeks and will be followed by the use of specialised machinery that will stitch synthetic fibres into the roots of the grass to strengthen them and help to create what the club is confident will be a “world class” playing surface.

Other progress at the complex means the pitch is one of the few remaining recognisable areas that is yet to take shape. Most of the blue seats – including those in the dugouts – have now been installed, including rail seating. Other landmark developments already ticked off this summer have been the completion of the barrel-roof cladding that gives the stadium its futuristic glint and the installation of the iconic club crest on the ceiling of the home dressing room.