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Kenwright: Everton to stay in Liverpool

Bill Kenwright confirmed Everton are looking at a number of potential sites for a new stadium © Getty Images

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Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has stated his determination to keep the club in the city of Liverpool if they move to a new stadium.

Kenwright and chief executive Robert Elstone confirmed at an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders on Wednesday that the club are looking at a number of potential sites.

Everton have been considering a move away from Goodison Park for nearly two decades, as their atmospheric home is hemmed in by surrounding streets and houses, offering little potential for expansion.

But a proposed move to Kirkby, mooted in 2006, caused controversy because it would have involved moving the club out of the city for the first time in their history.

The plan was scrapped in 2009 after a planning application was rejected by the UK government.

Kenwright - responding to a fan at Wednesday's meeting who suggested that the club should consider building a shared stadium with Liverpool - said that Everton were instead investigating a site close to Goodison for a new home on their own.

He indicated that the club are in talks over a possible move with Liverpool City Council, led by mayor Joe Anderson.

And he told the Liverpool Daily Post that there will be no repeat of the storm over the planned Kirkby move.

"I absolutely understood the friction over the proposed move to Kirkby," Kenwright said. "So I was actually saying to the lad who was advocating the shared stadium that we've got sites in mind, but my favourite one is close to Goodison - it's not outside the city limits.

"But as Robert [Elstone] said, it's a whole funding matrix which has to come together and that's what we're working on. Joe Anderson has been really helpful."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.