Supporters will be able to get a first taste of the matchday experience at Everton’s new stadium next month.

Everton’s Under-18s will play the first ever game at the ground in front of an audience of 10,000 spectators on Monday, February 17. The match will be the first of three test events to be held ahead of the iconic waterfront venue becoming the home of the club next season.

The second event, expected to take place in late March or early April, will see the Under-21s play in front of a capacity of 25,000.

READ MORE: Dominic Calvert-Lewin Everton transfer latest as Serie A claim addressed

READ MORE: Everton could get transfer payout as out-of-favour defender set for January move

Tickets for both games will be available through a ballot process, which will open at 10am on Friday, January 3 and run until 11.59pm on Friday, January 10. Adult tickets will be priced at £5 and concessions (under-18s and over-65s) will be available for £2.50.

A third test event, likely at full capacity, or close to it, is anticipated towards the end of this season.

The opponent for the U18s friendly has not yet been confirmed. For that game, those lucky enough to get a ticket will be able to watch from the South Stand, including amid the new rail seating. The whole stadium is expected to be open for the U21s match, though with reduced capacities in each stand. Details will be confirmed after the completion of the first test event. The incremental increase in capacity for each game is part of requirements of the testing process through which the stadium will acquire its licensing and safety certificates.

The tickets for the first two test events will be made available to season ticket holders, shareholders, Goodison Park hospitality members and 2025/26 premium members. The ballot will open on Friday morning with all eligible supporters invited to enter via email.

News of the test events comes with excitement growing ahead of the opening of the new stadium. The club received the keys to the ground just before Christmas as part of a ceremonial handover of the site from contractors Laing O’Rourke. Work is now focusing on the ‘fit out’ that will turn the stadium into Everton’s new home.

Highlighting his excitement at the stadium move, for Everton and Merseyside, club interim chief executive Colin Chong told the ECHO at the start of the year: “Everton Stadium's importance to the footballing future of this club and, more dramatically, its importance to the economy and the people of the Liverpool City Region, can't be underestimated.

“It is the fans that make Goodison such an iconic auditorium for football – and it will be the fans that elevate the truly beautiful stadium that has risen on the banks of the Mersey into our new fortress, and one of the finest sporting venues on the planet. The aim has always been to deliver on a promise to build something that all Evertonians can be proud of.

"When you finally walk through the entrances in that boundary wall, I’m sure you will agree it will be that and much, much more."