It’s a turn of phrase, not literal. But then I suspect you probably knew that.
If you're trying to make direct comparisons, being "literal" is probably the way to go tbh.
I get what Charlie is saying. Since the Taylor Report, apart from the disabled viewing areas and a few cosmetic touches, Goodison has had literally the least spent on it of ALL premier and football league clubs in the country. Even some tiny football clubs in the conference have spent more on their stadia than we have on GP. Just one very basic stand (Park End) was added in all that time (even that was partly funded by a grant). So, in summary it is a 100 year old Leitch double-decker stand, another almost 90 year old Leitch double decker stand, plus a 55 yr old triple decker stand....... albeit classic british football stadium architecture, versus a brand new £750m stadium, a bit of an unfair comparison IMO.
However, what Goodison has in spades is character and history. On that score, it wipes the floor with any ground in the country, hence the many plaudits that it has been receiving from all commentators and the media throughout its final season. Let's not forget that Goodison was comfortably the finest stadium in the country..... literally for generations! It was that good, that it was the automatic choice for a world cup semi-final in 66 (despite fortunes being spent on new cantilever stands at both Old Trafford and Hillsborough). Even going into the Premier era, GP required the least investment of all stadia to be fully compliant with the Taylor Report, and still yield a 40k capacity, such was its inherent quality. Needless to say, our board lived up to the club's new adopted motto of Nil satis nisi minimum..... and did the absolute bare minimum, while all around us invested and rebuilt for the future.
Someone asked for a practical comparison of one thing that is better at GP, well for one, a good unobstructed view in any of its upper tiers will not be bettered at BMD for combined viewing distance and viewing aspect ratio. Not bad for a stadium designed all those years ago, by someone who had never even heard of c-values.
Of course, if we are going to be totally fair and impartial, perhaps a far better comparison would have been with what Goodison could have been with anything from £150m-£750m+ spent on it. We were never shown those possibilities at any point..... but suffice to say, at anything close to that maximum outlay, I doubt very much that we would've been looking at just 52k seats and 20 exec boxes, not to mention the potential for more "affordable" seats due to the cost savings of redevelopment (yes, we need cheap seats too). How clear cut would the comparison be with say a 60k Goodison, with 6k corporate and 50 boxes for £250m or perhaps a 70k Stadium with 8k corporate, 80 boxes and closing roof etc for say £350-500m?
That's before you go into the debt that nearly wiped us out completely in the process, made one billionaire owner have to sell-up (at a massive loss) before it was even finished and bankrupted (thankfully) one potential carpet-bagging new owner at the same time.
It is also before we even consider the transport issues that we're still yet to experience in their fullness, while GP still has a good dispersal time rating, and would be given planning permission for 60k+ capacity, without any major transport investment required.
All that said, I suppose "all's well that ends well....?"
