I stand in awe at what is in front of me. For five long years I never thought this day would come. It was a fantasy - but is now reality. I am about to step foot inside the newest stadium in the Premier League for its very first game. Bramley Moore Dock, the new home of Everton Football Club.

As a season ticket holder for over 16 years, getting to be one of the first inside our new ground on the banks of the River Mersey was nothing short of special and unbelievable.

Walking to the ground was a sensation in itself, I had been previously (around 18 months ago) when there was still a fair bit to be done, and then again not too long ago. But walking to a match for the first time and seeing it after it had been completed was honestly a bit nerve-wracking. There were a lot of questions swirling around in my head: Will it be as good as Goodison? What will the atmosphere be like? Will it be soulless? What will the food be like!?

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But my first thought upon seeing our new home was just one. Just, 'wow'.

I stand to take it all in, almost not believing that the day has finally come. But here it is. Everton have a new stadium. And it brought home even more that we are finally leaving Goodison Park, which is all I have known for the last 16 years of my life.

The stadium itself is going to be one of, if not the best in the entire country. Its unique design, its location, its shape. I was blown away. As were my dad and my brother, who I have been going to Goodison Park with since 2009.

The three of us walked around the ground, what we could of it, to take in as much as possible. Then it was time to enter the stadium itself.

E-tickets scanned and we were in. The 10,000 fans in attendance were seated in the South Stand, which is also where our season tickets are for next season. After visiting St James' Park in 2019 for an away day, I know just how tough the climb is to the stand and seats.

This climb, whilst nowhere near as bad, reminded me slightly of that. But the climb was worth it.

After clambering up the stairs onto the concourse, the true size of the stadium hit me. It is bigger than I even thought possible. The South Stand looks out onto the River Mersey and the city of Liverpool itself, but the concourse was abuzz with excitement, agitation and also speculation. How steep is the stand going to be? How close to the pitch are we going to be?

The three of us walked up the steps to look out onto the pitch for the first time, and we were all in amazement of what was in front of us. This is our new home. This, like St James' Park, will play hosts to national teams in 2028.

And when we were in our seats, we got a true feeling of what the stadium is going to like at full capacity. It will be a hard task to emulate the atmosphere of Goodison Park, which has had some great nights down the years - Bayern Munich in 1985, and more recently, but for the wrong reasons, - Crystal Palace in 2022 and Bournemouth in 2023. Also not forgetting the last two derby results.

But I digress. The noise of 10,000 fans was incredible, so I can only begin to imagine the noise that 52,888 Evertonians are going to make. The sadness of leaving Goodison did start to sink in, and I was also reminded that getting to this point, the first test event, had not been an easy one.

The move to a new stadium for Everton has involved a number of failed stadium moves along the way. And this is one of the situations that I think Newcastle as a club and its fanbase must think about if they are to ever leave St James' Park in the future.

The move to Bramley Moore Dock has taken all of five years to come to completion. Everton received planning approval from Liverpool City Council in February 2020, and took possession of the site on Monday, July 26, 2021 – and the three-and-a-half-year construction phase was completed on Christmas Eve, 2024. But a move away from our home, Goodison Park, has long been on the cards since before then.

There have been two failed stadium moves in the past for Everton, one to King's Dock in the early 2000s, and another to Kirkby, which originated in 2006 and was eventually rejected by central government in 2009. This move in particular infuriated Evertonians (I was only eight at the time the plans were rejected) as it would have seen the Club move out of Liverpool and into Knowsley.

Whilst there is no doubt Newcastle will never move out of the city, from my experience at Bramley Moore, there are a number of factors and motives to think about, as well as the head vs heart argument.

There have been a few similarities between the clubs in recent years (not league position as my friends remind me about all too often). The clubs have both gone through years of mismanagement and poor ownership, with Newcastle's new owners bringing hope, Champions League football and competitiveness back to this great club. We as Everton fans can only hope for something similar with our new owners in the years to come.

One of the main arguments with moving from St James', like it was with Goodison, is retaining the atmosphere. On its day, the atmosphere in St James' can be the best in the league, and any new stadium will have to retain one of the aspects that makes it so special. The atmosphere is one thing that cannot be sacrificed and it all depends on the stadium - look at West Ham and the London Stadium, for example. Losing the atmosphere at a new ground would almost feel like losing Newcastle's identity.

While there is hope for us Evertonians that our new stadium will retain our atmosphere, you have got to look at the positives of moving from Goodison.

Goodison is old and we cannot expand because of where it is, possibly like Newcastle and St James' Park. But I can already see the number of benefits that a new stadium will bring not just to us supporters and the club, but also to the city as a whole.

The area surrounding Bramley Moore has been completely transformed. The once-in-a-generation development will have a massive impact on Liverpool and the UK, contributing an estimated £1.3bn to the UK economy, creating 15,000 jobs and attracting 1.4m visitors to the city of Liverpool, annually.

Football, in today's world, seems to be about money, profit, revenue. Everton will be able to generate more money and more revenue, and in time, more profit. A new stadium for Newcastle will ultimately, in time, do the same.

Bramley Moore, unlike Goodison, also has a platform for growth. The capacity can expand to around 60,000 in the future, major events can be attracted to the city, including European football matches, concerts and potentially other sports. All which will bring in more money for the club and city. (For example, it is estimated that Liverpool Football Club made around £3million a night last year during Taylor Swift's Eras Tour).

Another positive is the food (yes I have finally made it on to talking about the food). My dad coined the food at the new stadium as the "death of the Rollover hotdog" - it was nowhere to be seen. Instead there were offerings of salt and pepper chicken, sticky Korean chicken, pies and even an Everton doughnut. It is safe to say that the food at the new stadium will definitely be better than the food at Goodison.

Some of my friends who are Newcastle supporters say that the concourses and the food offerings at St James' are pretty average, and despite the fresh lick of paint it still really is not up to standard. But I can say that a new ground will bring improved concourses and improved food offerings.

But if a new ground comes to fruition for Newcastle in the next, five, ten, 20 years, all of the above factors have to be taken into consideration. St James' Park is special - and any new ground for Newcastle United will have to be even more special.