This is the second part of our correspondentPeter’s adventure to finally watch the Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park. Read the first part here -The End of Innocence: A Journey to End my Goodison Curse
After a couple of days to recover from the debacle at Old Trafford, I was heading back for round two of this Everton odyssey. I had spent a few days in Derbyshire and had tried my best to put my experiences deep into the recesses of my mind.
Early on Wednesday morning, I headed onto the motorway for the two hour journey to go to Goodison Park. As I got up to speed, I received a warning of fog ahead from my phone. My mind wandered back to my English teacher who told me about how onomatopoeia is often used to build tension in a story. The weather mirrored the impending doom in the story and after the debacle in Manchester, my heart sank.
I had to stiffen my resilience and banish the demons before I got to Liverpool. I also had to keep my eye on the road as the traffic was building. I should mention that much of this writing was done on the motorway and the distraction may have caused me to miss the turn off for the M62 but I was able to quickly move over and begin heading west towards Liverpool.
Heading to my birthplace in the city has a special place in my heart, but there was no doubt that the apprehension was obvious. The loss to Manchester United made the Wolves match far more important. The future run of games in December was expected to be a desolate market as William Blake once said.
After walking around town for a couple of hours, I met up with my friend Pam who was going to be joining me at the match. We were also able to have dinner with Royal Blue Mersey’s youth correspondent Geoff Blunt before we headed up Stanley Road to Goodison Park.
He dropped us off outside Stanley Park and we walked down toward the lights of the Grand Old Lady. There is no feeling quite like seeing the blue sign shining for a nighttime match.
Our seats were in the Lower Bullens and for the first time in my experience with Goodison Park I was able to experience what is described as “an obstructed view”, something that will be history when we move to the new Everton Stadium.
The players were warming up and the Goodison lights were shining brightly. The supporters around us were anxiously awaiting the kickoff and after my United experience, my nervousness grew. Could we get a goal? Could we get a win?
I was hoping and praying that the Evertonians around me could lift the team one more time. This isn’t a match report, but I do have to say that the darkness of Manchester was replaced by the glory of Goodison. A fast start from the home team and an early goal had the stadium rocking as I had seen it many times on TV. Even when VAR was called into play certainly gave the fans a chance to voice their hate of the league but the players did not let the disappointments stop them from getting behind the team.
In the end, Everton put the ball in the back of the net six times for me to make up for the four at Manchester. We were singing proudly and loudly and thankfully I don’t remember any words of criticism coming from those around me.
Perhaps it was because we were so poor at Manchester once we went behind. What I will say is that the team played on the front foot for almost the entire game. The middle of the park was under our control and Wolves gave us very little to worry about. Redemption was found in L4!
What I did know was that the players showed some heart and an interest in getting forward and trying to score. The set pieces worked and no one let off after we got the lead. Exactly what we need on Saturday when I finally banish my Goodison Curse when I watch the Merseyside Derby in person!