Everton insist their plans for a new stadium in neighbouring Kirkby are not dead despite the Government "calling in" the scheme for further examination.
Government officials announced their decision on the plans on Wednesday night, and a public inquiry could add a year to the planning process.
Everton accept that costs will rise, and there had been fears a delay would kill off the £400m joint pro
posal with Tesco, but club officials said although they were disappointed by the decision it "did not spell the end".
The 50,000-seat stadium proposals are part of the wider regeneration of Kirkby town centre, which is in Liverpool's neighbouring borough of Knowsley.
The Department for Communities and Local Government, which has been assessing the application, said ministers had carefully considered the plans.
A spokesman said: "Ministers thought long and hard about the case and decided the only appropriate decision was to call it in. There is long established process in place where less than 0.01% of all planning cases are called in.
"A case is considered to have more than local significance if it triggers one or more of the call-in criteria such as conflict with national policy, or if it causes national or regional controversy.
"The decision to call in does not consider the merits or otherwise of an application - which is a matter for the inspector to consider at inquiry."
A statement from the club said: "We are disappointed by the decision.
"We shall now engage in detailed discussions with our development partners, KBC and Tesco, to assess what options are open to us."
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