I feel privileged to have put Everton's new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium on the map

A lifelong Evertonian said it has been a “real honour” to put his beloved club on the map.

After three-and-a-half years of construction on Liverpool’s famous waterfront, Ordnance Survey (OS) has finished surveying Everton Football Club’s grand 52,888-capacity home, and built up a precise picture of the Bramley-Moore Dock development with centimetre-level accuracy.

With the stadium staging its first test event, additional data has been captured by field surveyors on the ground to finalise details such as pitch measurements and access points, ahead of Everton’s next season.

Among the Ordnance Survey’s team is John Kells, a proud Blue who said the project was a “dream”. A field surveyor for more than 40 years, John’s day to day role includes surveying the features of new buildings and structures and incorporating them on to a large-scale map.

A career highlight for the Toffees fan, John played a key role in putting the Bramley-Moore Dock stadium on the map and we chatted to him about the experience and the features that are set to impress next season.

“In the last three and a half years, we’ve had a plane flying over the site to pick up the outline. Then, we’ve incorporated drones to capture extra detail. In the last month, I’ve come in and done what’s called the ‘finer details’ of the stadium - things like emergency access points,” he said.

“An army of construction works have been involved in the Everton Stadium and I was a person who went in with a hard hat and yellow high-vis right at the end.”

As part of his role, the 65-year-old got to see inside of the impressive new grounds and said it was an “emotional” experience. “Where the players will eventually come out of the tunnel, walking out on to the pitch and just seeing it, it was quite emotional. That was my favourite moment, stepping out.”

John even got to experience what it would feel like to be Jordan Pickford, noting: “I didn’t go to the middle of the pitch as we weren’t allowed to but I went around the side and obviously behind the goal as well. Just to see what it would be like to be in goal, be Jordan Pickford - because my position was goalkeeper when I started playing football - I just had to stand there and take it all in.”

John said the pitch was one of his favourite features of the new stadium, noting that the crowd are going to be “really close to the players”. He added: “It’s going to be a great experience - and for the away fans too.”

Another highlight for the field surveyor was the concourse outside, which overlooks the Mersey. “To just linger there before the start of a match, to just talk to your friends overlooking the river, that’ll be great,” he added.

While John is excited about the new stadium, he has fond memories of Goodison Park and says it will be difficult to leave it behind. Attending his first match with his father in 1969, the Evertonian watched his team beat Sunderland 3-1 and go on to win a trophy. He described how the Toffees have had a rocky journey since, but said: “You take the rough with the smooth and soldier on.

“There’s a lot of sentiment around Goodison... it’s going to be really difficult emotional leaving that. But, come the next season, it’s going to be great.”

Reflecting on his career, John said: “I’m probably getting to the tail end of my career surveying now. It’s been a great job and to actually survey the stadium of the club I support has been a great privilege. It’s a real honour they let me do that and when I do eventually retire, I can walk past that ground and think, ‘I put that on the map’.”