Stadium Architect Gets Permanent Reminder of Everton's Endless Drama
Dan Meis, the man behind Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium, has marked his turbulent design journey with an 1878 tattoo - because apparently designing a stadium through relegation battles, ownership chaos, and global catastrophes wasn't memorable enough.
You know a project has been particularly memorable when the architect decides to get a tattoo about it. Dan Meis, the designer of Everton's shiny new Hill Dickinson Stadium, has permanently etched '1878' onto his skin - the year the Toffees were founded, and presumably the last time things went smoothly for the club.
Meis has opened up about the rollercoaster ride that was designing Everton's new home, a process that makes your average soap opera look positively sedate. The American architect didn't just have to worry about sight lines and hospitality suites - he had to navigate his way through what can only be described as Everton's greatest hits compilation of chaos.
The design process, which should have been about creating the perfect footballing cathedral, instead became an exercise in crisis management. While Meis was sketching out stands and calculating capacities, Everton were busy fighting relegation battles that had supporters reaching for the antacids with alarming regularity.
As if on-pitch drama wasn't enough, the project had to weather ownership changes that came thick and fast, each new regime presumably wanting their own stamp on proceedings. Then, just to keep things interesting, a global pandemic decided to gatecrash the party, followed by the small matter of a war that sent shockwaves through international markets.
It's a testament to Meis's dedication - or perhaps masochism - that he stuck with the project through all these tribulations. Most architects might have quietly updated their CVs and looked for a nice, straightforward library commission somewhere peaceful. Instead, Meis embraced the madness and made it part of his personal story.
The Hill Dickinson Stadium represents more than just a new ground for Everton - it's a monument to persistence in the face of seemingly endless obstacles. Every brick laid, every beam installed, has been achieved despite circumstances that would have tested the patience of a saint.
For Meis, that 1878 tattoo isn't just a reference to Everton's founding year - it's a badge of honour, proof that he survived one of football's most chaotic stadium projects. When the first match kicks off at the new ground, he'll be able to look at that ink and remember not just the triumphs, but the absolute bedlam that made them possible.
If dedication to the cause was measured in tattoos, Meis would be running out of skin.