When the 2025/26 Premier League fixture list was announced a few weeks ago, we highlighted the opening match of the season (away to Leeds) and the triumphant first-ever competitive match at Everton's new home at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
But with just weeks to go before the start of the campaign, the powers that be have already decided to adjust Everton's schedule, moving the opener against Brighton & Hove Albion at Hill Dickinson into the Sunday afternoon slot on August 24 rather than the originally announced Saturday date.
The match will kick off at 2 PM local time, which isn't exactly the spotlight the Toffees may have been hoping for as a beginning to the new era at the new stadium. Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forrest will also play in the same window, with Fulham and Manchester United facing off in the early evening slot.
The disappointment here may not be the change in date, but the fact that Hill Dickinson will not receive a solo spotlight for the first match in the history of the stadium, with the league cowtowing to a club like Manchester United for the primetime spot.
On some levels, the move to Sunday makes a lot of sense in order to alleviate some of the conflict with that weekend's Mathew Street Festival that's also happening in the city. But the move ultimately feels like a halfway move, with Liverpool already playing away to Newcastle, the match which gets the Monday night slot, which would have made for a great opening salvo for Hill Dickinson.
As fans of the Premier League and European football in general, we're used to the shifting of fixtures, so that isn't so much the issue in this case. But it doesn't feel like the league did Everton any favors with the less-than-auspicious timeslot for its new stadium.