Photographer and Everton season ticket holder Laura Gates reflects on what it was like to capture the emotion of the final men's game at Goodison Park
Confetti falls in the Main Stand as Everton supporters celebrate the entrance of their players ahead of the match with Ipswich Town, the penultimate men's game at Goodison Park. Image: Laura Gates
Confetti falls in the Main Stand as Everton supporters celebrate the entrance of their players ahead of the match with Ipswich Town, the penultimate men's game at Goodison Park. Image: Laura Gates
Everton now have the date for the club’s historic first fixture at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. With the broadcasters having had their say, the Blues will host Brighton on Sunday, August 24 in a spectacle Sky Sports will beam around the world.
Sat among the 52,769 who will have the privilege of being able to say 'I was there' will be photographer and Blues season ticket holder Laura Gates.
Like most of those taking in the club’s new home, there will be moments when she reflects on its old one. Next week, it will be two months since Goodison Park hosted its final men’s game. Amid the emotions of that win over Southampton, Laura was in the thick of it - at one point capturing images of the huge crowds from the top of the car park wall overlooking the junction of Goodison Road and Spellow Lane.
The images she caught through the clouds of blue smoke are among those featured in her coffee table book celebrating the final season at the Grand Old Lady: Commence Operation Goodison Farewell. It was an emotional process for the 29-year-old but one she hopes supporters will agree captured what made the stadium so special to so many.
Reflecting on the project, she told the ECHO: “Goodison Park holds so many incredible memories for so many people and I hope that I have done it justice for fellow fans, I hope that I have captured some of their favourite places in and around Goodison in the best way possible.”
An Everton supporter takes a moment before heading into Goodison Park for the game with West Ham. Image: Laura Gates
An Everton supporter takes a moment before heading into Goodison Park for the game with West Ham. Image: Laura Gates
The importance of the season was lost on few when it kicked off against Brighton in August. The demand for her services ensured it was not lost on Laura, whose reputation had grown to the extent she was being inundated with personal requests.
Laura, from Wirral, recalled: “I felt a lot of pressure throughout the season to capture Goodison Park. I had a lot of requests from various people and places to capture certain elements of the stadium, certain parts and places that I don’t have access to as a fan.
“I first started this out as just me enjoying two of my favourite things: Everton and photography, I’ve just been very lucky in that so many people have enjoyed my work and my creativity, they’re the ones who’ve given me the push to actively do it more and to take steps outside of my comfort zone to push myself in my photography more and more.”
Liverpool players slump to the ground as Goodison erupts following James Tarkowski's stoppage time equaliser in the final senior men's Merseyside derby at the Grand Old Lady. Image: Laura Gates
Liverpool players slump to the ground as Goodison erupts following James Tarkowski's stoppage time equaliser in the final senior men's Merseyside derby at the Grand Old Lady. Image: Laura Gates
On the pitch the farewell was not always pretty, the first half of the campaign including a series of disappointing displays and results as the Blues limped through the opening months and another relegation fight loomed.
That did not stop Laura from capturing plenty of stunning images. Most of her favourites from the campaign come from matches the Everton did not win - the woman tucked away against the brickwork while having a smoke before heading in to watch the Blues sneak a last-gasp draw against West Ham United, the confetti falling from the Main Stand ahead of the game with Ipswich - in which the hosts threw away a two-goal lead. Another highlight, of course, was the aftermath of James Tarkowski’s stoppage-time leveller against Liverpool.
The return of David Moyes also felt poignant, she said, reflecting on an image captured from his first match back, the home defeat to Aston Villa. Laura said: “I had swapped seats with my brother so that I could sit in my old childhood season ticket seat to watch David Moyes, the manager I knew for my entire childhood supporting Everton, become Everton manager once again.
“It felt like a real full circle moment for me personally, although we lost the game it felt like a real change was coming. Plus, on a personal note, I got to later give a framed print of this photo to the gaffer himself. I’ve been told he’s put that up in his office.”
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The match that was ever present in her mind was the visit of Southampton, the final game before the men’s team's move to the stunning new stadium. Work for the big day started 24 hours early, when Laura trekked the roads around the ground and came across the party being set up on Oxton Street.
On the day itself, Laura was trying to do it all - do the occasion justice, take in the spectacle as a supporter and complete a community driven project designed to raise funds for Fans Supporting Foodbanks.
She recalled: “It’s through this friendship with Dave Kelly and David Feehily [who help to run FSF] that I was invited up to the foodbanks van for the final game, Dave had packed a ladder for me to climb up and stand on top of the wall on Goodison Road, so that I could have a unique vantage point above the crowds. It was incredible. I’m absolutely terrified of heights so I was nervous being up there, but seeing the scenes from that POV was amazing, an absolute sea of blue.”
The sea of blue beneath soon became a fog of blue that rose from the streets below as smoke of the pyrotechnics climbed into the Walton sky.
David Moyes stalks the touchline in his first game as Everton manager, the home defeat to Aston Villa in January. Image: Laura Gates
David Moyes stalks the touchline in his first game as Everton manager, the home defeat to Aston Villa in January. Image: Laura Gates
Asked how much more challenging that made her work, she said: “I actually really like photographing through the blue flares, I find they add a bit more depth and atmosphere to the photographs. Plus, it adds so much more blue, which is great.
“While I was up on the wall, I had a great vantage point to see everything going on around the ground. I had a great view of Duncan Ferguson coming out of number nine and making his way through the crowds and being met with cheers and chants whenever he showed his face. I also enjoyed seeing people I know spot me up on the wall, it made for some very excitable reactions. But that was also helped by the vibe of the day, everyone was happy, excitable and in good spirits creating a really good, enjoyable atmosphere. It felt like one big celebration.”
You can find out more about, and purchase, Commence Operation Goodison Farewell on Laura’s website. Laura’s first solo exhibition, Echoes of Goodison, will be held at the Denbigh Castle on Hackins Hey, Liverpool city centre, from 2pm on August 16.