Everton will face off against AS Roma for the final preseason match leading up to the 2025/26 season, a match that will also serve as the last test event for Hill Dickinson Stadium before the new stadium officially opens to start the new campaign.
The match will take place on August 9 with kickoff set for 3 PM local time. It will be the first time that Hill Dickinson will be filled to capacity before the first Premier League matchup of the season, which will be announced later this week.
The club have also included information on how the ticketing will work for the event, starting with current season ticket holders being able to purchase their own seat for the match beginning on June 30, with subsequent availability for members of the Forever Blue program coming in early July based on their tier. General sale will open on July 10.
Roma, of course, area also owned by the Friedkin Group, who secured the purchase for Everton earlier this year. That made the matchup a fairly obvious one, but also rather historical, as the two clubs are two of the older clubs in their respective countries.
This is actually the second straight preseason friendly between the two clubs, as Roma visited Goodison Park on August 10, 2024, in a match that finished as a 1-1 draw on goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Everton and Lorenzo Pellegrini for Roma.
Regardless of that, it is an opportunity to say that the first full capacity match in the history of Hill Dickinson Stadium was an international friendly, even if the connection between the two clubs via the ownership makes it an easy pairing.
We'll know more about the inaugural season at Hill Dickinson in the next few days when the full 2025/26 fixture list is announced, but until then, this is an exciting addition to Everton's already jam-packed preseason campaign.