On an emotional day at Goodison Park, Everton showed where the real power of football lies as fans gathered to watch a Premier League game in the famous old stadium for the final time
Everton fans said a tearful goodbye to men's football at Goodison
Everton fans said a tearful goodbye to men's football at Goodison (
Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Andy Dunn
Expected goals, corporate hospitality, set-piece coaches, projects, technical directors, podcasts, low blocks, mid blocks.
Subscription television, padded seats, transitions, choreographed celebrations, tunnel clubs, double pivots, false nines.
And every other item of modern football paraphernalia you can think of. You can have them all. Enjoy them. But under a royal blue sky on Merseyside, the real power of football - not the commercial power, not the political power, not the macho power - was laid bare.
The tears of the men, women and children inside Goodison Park were not for the cameras, they were for a way of life. They were for fathers, for mothers, for grandfathers, for grandmothers, for ancestors, for friends never forgotten, for bonds never broken.
And they were for history, as in real history, not Premier League history. And if you know your history, it’s enough to make your heart go … etc, etc. You know the tune.
When the players from eras dating back to the Sixties were called onto the pitch at the start of the farewell ceremony - bookended by the likes of Joe Royle and Wayne Rooney, Roger Kenyon and Tim Cahill - it was a truly special reminder that the Grand Old Lady is the home of a grand, old club.
The different generations of supporters gave special cheers for their own favourites - for Royle, for Peter Reid, for Duncan Ferguson, for the incomparable Neville Southall, for Cahill.
Fans came together to say goodbye to Goodison Park (
Image:
Getty Images)
And through the tears and cheers, there was, inevitably, humour. Big Dunc brought the house down when he addressed the Gwladys Street end but when, perhaps ill-advisedly, Rooney took to the microphone, the mass response was immediate.
“Oh Manchester is full of s***,” they sang. Forgiven but not forgotten. “We’ve had our ups and downs,” smiled Rooney.
In the case of the mens team, the ups and downs of Goodison Park will now be only memories and their fortunes will unfold at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Wayne Rooney addressed the Everton fans at Goodison Park (
Image:
Getty Images)
And after a 2-0 win over Southampton made sure of the perfect Goodison finale, David Moyes struck the perfect note to link the past with the future.
He said: “We might be a club that is coming back together. Before, there was a real break-up of a love affair between the players, the supporters, the owners. We are all trying to get back in bed together, if you know what I mean.
“If we can take what we had today to the new stadium, it really will be something. The scenes outside the stadium were incredible. It felt like a club which needs some big days in the future, so let’s hope this is the start of it.”
David Moyes will take Everton into their new stadium (
Image:
Getty Images)
And under Moyes and the ownership of The Friedkin Group, inside a state-of-the-art venue, there could well be some big days ahead. But then again, this is a community of fans that have experienced many false hopes and this day was overwhelmingly about knowing your history.
And with the afternoon’s third rendition of Z-Cars, the closing ceremony drew to an end. It was almost fitting that the blue fireworks barely raised a sparkle and the sound system struggled to make itself heard. Goodison Park has never been about the gimmicks. You can have them. Enjoy them.
“We are leaving Goodison Park,” said Andy Gray. “But Goodison Park will never leave us.” And THAT is what Goodison Park is about. In an often-phoney world, a truly special day.
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