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Everton could revive its one-time dream of building a new football ground on the banks of the Mersey.

The ECHO understands Liverpool council and Everton FC are examining a site in the north docks area of Liverpool and another at Stonebridge Cross off the East Lancs Road in Croxteth .

On Monday Liverpool council and the Blues announced they had abandoned plans to build a new stadium on Walton Hall Park.

And they said in a joint statement they are now looking at two brownfield sites in the city.

Stonebridge Cross

Of the two sites under consideration Stonebridge Cross would appear the most viable on face value.

Two years and £1.5m was spent diverting the River Alt in anticipation for the possible construction of a huge Amazon warehouse.

The site is ready to be redeveloped.

Located off the East Lancs Road, there is plenty of surrounding land for ‘enabling development’ (retail and leisure), which would help cross-subsidise the building costs.

Liverpool north docks

The huge area of land north of Liverpool city centre on the banks of the Mersey is earmarked for the landmark Liverpool Waters Development.

Owners Peel want to build a series of skyscrapers in the derelict docklands area - but nothing has been built since the huge £5.5bn scheme secured planning permission in 2012.

Peel have so far shown little appetite for a stadium-type development on their land.

However, given the lack of progress with the scheme they may consider a landmark Everton stadium the ideal way to breathe new life into the project.

A new stadium in three years?

Meanwhile, Mayor Joe Anderson said he expects the club to have a new stadium within three years .

He said: “I’m confident the new stadium will be up and running in three years’ time.

“I think there is a real acceptance by them and I’m pretty confident that within three years there will be a new stadium for Everton football club in Liverpool.”

The long search for a new home

The club and council had hoped a £300m scheme using part of the park in north Liverpool would see 1,000 new homes and 30,000 square metres of leisure, retail and restaurant space, plus the new stadium.

But a statement released on Monday said due to the economic climate the Walton Hall Park plans would no longer go ahead.

The plans for Walton Hall Park were part of a wider regeneration scheme, and also faced determined opposition from local campaigners who rejected the use of local green space for the development.

Everton spent three years working on plans to build a new stadium at the Kings Dock - where the ECHO arena now sits - before scrapping the plan in 2003 after failing to find the £30m needed to seal a deal with the council for the scheme.

The idea of a waterfront ground was much more appealing to Blues than an alternative plan to move to Kirkby, which was killed off in 2009 following a public inquiry.

Everton’s biggest shareholder Farhad Moshiri told fans he would look at the options when he invested in the club in March.

He said: “We will also be looking at the best options in relation to our stadium.

“Goodison Park has served the club extremely well but we need to make sure the club has a suitable stage to perform on for the future.

“We will review the best options and how to finance, especially as it is likely to cost a little more than the £3,000 it apparently did back in 1892.”