Fans reported waits of up to an hour at Everton's Sandhills station after Wednesday's match, with queues that barely moved for 30 minutes. Transport chiefs have pushed back on claims that the station is too small, even as the post-match journey was disrupted by a separate train fault.
Transport chiefs defend Sandhills
Simon Finnie said the station is coping with the demand. "No it isn't," he said when asked whether Sandhills was too small, before adding: "It's handling more than enough passengers through in the hour."
That view sits against the fan experience on the night. About 8,000 supporters are thought to have used Sandhills after the match, and Merseyrail apologised to affected customers, particularly those travelling home after the football.
The disrupted extra service
The wider delay was not down to crowding alone. A fault was found with a train's door-monitoring cameras, and the additional 22:20 BST post-match service was moved after 10 minutes and later terminated at Sandhills.
Everton have had to adapt to life at Hill Dickinson Stadium after moving from Goodison Park last year, and the club says the transport transition is still being worked through. Mo Maghazachi said Goodison had had "probably 130 years" of transport planning built around it.
Sandhills has already been upgraded for matchday crowds, including a queuing area and footbridge, and plans to extend the queuing area are due before Liverpool Council's planning committee. Everton's next home game is against Ipswich on 2026-09-19, with Chelsea due to visit on 2026-10-17.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
