Managers Brian Sorensen and Martin Ho spoke after the first competive match for Everton Women at Goodison Park since it became their permanent home against Tottenham Hotspur
Martin Ho arrives at the stadium prior to the Women's Super League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on September 14, 2025
Martin Ho arrives at the stadium prior to the Women's Super League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on September 14, 2025
(Image: Charlotte Tattersall - WSL Football via Getty Images)
Everton Women manager Brian Sorensen hailed the fans who came out to watch his side play Tottenham Hotspur in their inaugural game at Goodison Park since it became their permanent home. But he wants his players to put on a better show for the spectators going forwards.
Less than a week before Everton defeated Southampton 2-0 in their final fixture at Goodison after 133 years at the first purpose-built football ground in England, it was announced that the venue that has staged the most top-flight matches would be spared the bulldozers with the Blues women’s side leaving their 2,200 capacity Walton Hall Park stadium to move in.
However, on what was an historic occasion as they turned out at ‘The Grand Old Lady’ in the Women’s Super League for the first time since the decision, Sorensen’s side failed to register a shot on target.
The Dane said: “I think the club has done a magnificent job. It looks like our home, and it looks good and I’m happy for women’s football in this part of England that we have our platform like this.
“We also saw all the fans that were here, it was really nice to see. Of course, we want to do better but I don’t know if it was the occasion, but I told the girls before: ‘Make sure we don’t think too much about it and the emotions in it,’ but it’s on me to make sure they were ready, and they weren’t.
“I really hope the fans come back. Then we’ll do everything we can to look better as a team, but the atmosphere was really great and good to see.”
Asked where he thought it went wrong, Sorensen, whose side had won 4-1 at Anfield against Liverpool just a week earlier, said: “I think it was about matching the other team’s energy level. We were not doing that like we did last week.
“We had the capacity to turn it around. I think the half-time talk was good and we looked at the problems we needed to fix but a very early goal disrupted our plans and maybe our belief in coming back.
“I felt we moved the ball way too slow today. There were too many touches and also, they took advantage of that with the goals they took.
“We simply did not pass and move quickly enough that we’ve actually been good at. I haven’t got the definitive answer of what went wrong from the performance side but I could see individually that we were not at our levels and collectively, we were a bit off it.”
He added: “It’s also a case of who is ready to start the game and play the full 90 minutes. We still have players who are not 100% there yet, so we’re working on that.
“It’s not a team that is clicking and connecting, which I didn’t expect to, but we need to be better individually. We can’t play as sluggish as we did today and there were times when we were taking three touches where we could have taken one, passed the ball and moved it on.
“I thought it got better in the second half as we tried to get into a better rhythm, but it was also hard because we were two nil down and Tottenham had that low block, they sat in there for a long time and worked extremely hard.”
In contrast, it was a day to remember for Spurs’ Liverpool-born manager Martin Ho, a former Everton academy player who also served as assistant to manager Andy Spence at Everton Women before spells coaching Liverpool Women Under-21s, a number two position at Manchester United Women and a stint in charge of Norwegian side, Brann Women.
The 35-year-old said: “I was here for a long time as a coach, I’ve had years here and some of the familiar faces are still here, so it’s nice. I said before the game, when I come back, you just want both teams to win.
“Coming back here was an unbelievable feeling. As soon as you come in here, you feel intimidated because the stadium is quite enclosed.
“That’s one thing I said to the players before the game, we have to expect it to be a bit hostile. I thought the fans were brilliant and they brought an atmosphere.
“The way it’s been revamped, it’s totally different now to what it was when I was here previously. But it’s a beautiful place, rich in history and there are so many memories for me here from when I was in WSL 2 with the women’s team and I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for this club.”
Ho added: “It’s massive for me. For it to be the first game when this is now their home ground, it was a really nice moment for me but it’s also probably a really nice moment for everyone who is around the club and all the staff.
“Some people have been here a long time so to have this as the women’s home team ground moving forward is a big occasion for the club, Brian and his team and the wider staff. It’s an amazing opportunity for our players to play here and they’ve embraced that.”