My Goodison No.50: Maz Pacheco's Earliest Memory Of Football Stadia
Being from Skelmersdale, most Scousers would say I’m a wool! Growing up, it was always you were Everton or Liverpool, so coming in I knew what it meant to play for this club.
I was aware Everton was a very historic club, but didn’t know just how massive this club is until I joined. Everton were the first team in Liverpool, the first at Anfield, then they built Goodison Park.
That makes it even more special to walk out with the badge on your chest. It is ‘The People’s Club’. Looking at the present day, it is crazy to think I am an Everton player and will be making history when me and the girls walk out at our new home, the Grand Old Lady.
It was actually the first stadium I visited, which is special to me because imagine if you told that little football-mad Maz that when she is grown up, she would be playing at that very stadium.
The visit was with my grassroots club, we had to wear blue wigs! To go and watch a Premier League game and see soo many fans there was amazing. Everton fans are all about passion and pride – that is what this club is built upon.
I remember sitting in the top tier – it was a lot of stairs to climb! I remember looking down in awe at the pitch. It was perfectly cut and so green! I took it all in and imagined myself playing on it in front of all those fans.
Coming back after a decade away has been a full-circle moment for sure. I remember how excited I was to complete my signing media here after joining from Aston Villa. Walking through the players' entrance and in to the changing rooms, that made me smile because all the hard work I had put in had paid off.
As a kid, you dream of playing for a big club with history. This was even more special because I was home. Not just back where I grew up, but home.
Being a part of the Club and knowing that Goodison is ours is amazing. We are all so proud to be playing there. We know the history there, and are looking forward to the future.
This place deserves a set of players that will give their everything and leave it all out there on the pitch. When you play at Goodison, you have to bring your A-game, regardless of who you are playing.
Now, It is time to write our names in the history books and start as we mean to continue at this grand old venue.