Everton Football Club has submitted a planning application for a new 50,000-capacity stadium in Kirkby.

The proposals handed in to Knowsley Borough Council form the centrepiece of the £400m Destination Kirkby project and include details for a new 24-hour Tesco store adjacent to the stadium, as well as 50 additional high street retail units and opportunities for community leisure.

Everton’s chief executive, Keith Wyness said: “This represents the next. Key stage in what has been a complex and demanding process.

“We continue to work closely with our partners, Tesco and Knowsley Borough Council, and we remain very optimistic about what is a hugely ambitious and significant project.”

The Destination Kirkby scheme also outlines a range new leisure developments in the existing town centre, including a hotel, new bars, restaurants and family leisure facilities.

Knowsley Borough Council is expected to reach a decision on the application by summer 2008, and if accepted, Everton FC is hoping to start construction on site by the end of the year.

Everton chair, Bill Kenwright, said the decision to move the club from its current Goodison Park stadium wasn’t easy, but one which was made by a vote by its supporters last year.

“Goodison Park has been the home of Everton FC for more than a century,” he said.

A close-knit local community actually grew up around the stadium, but we have ambition means that we have to leave our much-loved current home for a new, modern stadium boasting larger capacity and vastly superior facilities