Truly incomparable: a tribute to Goodison Park

Ahead of Everton’s final-ever game at Goodison Park, Click Liverpool’s sports reporter Richard Buxton pays a personal tribute to ‘The Grand Old Lady’:

The tears will flow freely this afternoon from all four sides.

For the majority of the 39,000-strong crowd taking in the last-ever game for the Everton men’s team at Goodison Park, the reality still hasn’t fully sunk in.

How do you even begin to reconcile leaving behind something which has been a constant part of so many peoples’ lives for the past 133 years?

Everyone will have take away their own memories from the years of spending every other week in the company of ‘The Grand Old Lady’, and journalists are no different.

First impressions are often the most lasting and my maiden experience of the Goodison press box definitely ticked that particular box, even if a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in October 2009 does not sound the most soul-stirring.

But that cold and dank autumnal afternoon, spent in an enclosure which was 40 years outdated even at that stage, proved a perfect crash course in how to cover games with the best and worst elements this place could throw at you.

 

Each primal roar emanating from all angles – in front, behind and adjacent – as David Moyes’ side were chasing the game in the closing stages, while a man down, made the hairs on the back of this reporter’s neck stand on end.

Over the next 16 years, there were more experiences that became seared on the brain; often not for the right reasons. As those of the long-suffering royal blue persuasion need no reminder, they were most definitely not ‘good times’.

Some, however, stand out as moments when it was a privilege to say “I was there”.

Tim Howard capitalising on high winds to score from his own penalty area against Bolton remains unforgettable. Roberto Martinez’s side zipping their way to a club-record Premier League points tally was another highlight.

Then there was the night when the ground beneath your feet shook during that game against Crystal Palace in May 2022. When people talk about the power of Goodison, it was most definitely felt on that evening under the lights.

So, too, did the last Merseyside derby to be played at this most historic arena. James Tarkowski well and truly lit the blue touch paper with his last-gasp volley.

Covering games behind closed doors during the pandemic was surreal; from working at makeshift desks where fans should have been sat to an eerie silence which was only punctured by sporadic in-game shouts by players.

Thankfully, it proved to be relatively short-lived and ended not long after planning permission on what is now the Hill Dickinson Stadium was granted.

Everton’s impressive new home on the city’s waterfront has righted several past wrongs and offers a legitimate springboard to a more prosperous future.

Ideally, they would not need to relocate several miles away to close the competitive gap but that, unfortunately, is the cost of Goodison’s rustic charm.

 

Yet Sunday will be less a case of ‘goodbye forever’ and more ‘see you later’.

This week’s announcement that it will have a second act as Everton Women’s new home is fitting as well as a relief that the bulldozers have been called off.

Razing one of English football’s most iconic grounds never felt right, especially as its successor was an incoherent blueprint with tower blocks at its centrepiece.

This corner of Liverpool 4 has been home to generations of Evertonians; dating back not only decades but in some cases several centuries; ingrained in the fabric of countless friendships, family ties and often acquaintances.

Everyone had their own rituals and routines; like the elderly gent that sought out familiar faces on Goodison Road to hand out sweets – Everton Mints, naturally – or those that converged on either side of The Winslow’s front door.

But time waits for no one, and football’s sole survivor now, finally, moves with the winds of change. It has been incomparable and will remain unforgettable.

Please note: This is a comment piece and the opinions expressed in this item are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the stance or opinions of the management and owners of Click Liverpool.