Jordan Pickford of Everton FC celebrates towards the Everton fans at the full-time whistle during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Everton at St. James's Park in Newcastle, United Kingdom, on May 25, 2025. (Photo by Scott Llewellyn | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jordan Pickford gestures to the travelling Everton supporters after the win at Newcastle United
Everton brought the curtain down on their campaign with a 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon. Charly Alcaraz’s second-half header was enough to secure David Moyes’ side all three points.
Off the pitch, a summer rebuild is already underway, with the club confirming on Monday that Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrom, Orel Mangala and Armando Broja will return to their parent clubs when their loan deals expire at the end of next month. However, there has been a positive update around the future of Alcaraz.
And with Sunday’s win over Eddie Howe’s side, the upcoming summer transfer window and the season in mind, our Everton jury have returned to have their say.
Paul McParlan - Signing off in style
It was undoubtedly one of our best performances of the season at Newcastle United on Sunday.
To go into the seething cauldron of St James’ Park and face a team urged on by a passionate crowd, fuelled by pints of free beer (Dan Friedkin, please take note), to earn qualification to the Champions League was a stern challenge for Everton.
Most so-called expert pundits had predicted a win for the Geordies, but they reckoned without the resilience and determination that David Moyes has instilled into his charges and his insistence that the Blues end the season on a high.
Everton took the game to their opponents and created several chances to score. At the other end, Jordan Pickford produced a sequence of superb saves to show everyone why he is the England number one.
Jake O’Brien and Micheal Keane slotted seamlessly into their centre-back roles so effectively that the absence of Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski was barely noticed.
Credit also to Ashley Young, who, despite knowing that he would be leaving, still produced a thoroughly professional display. The stunning header from new fan favourite Charly Alcaraz earned the Blues a well-deserved victory and sent the away fans home jubilant.
And didn’t that Newcastle supporter leaving the stadium in a dinosaur outfit look stupid, with Jordan keeping another clean sheet!
With nothing to play for, Everton could have let the season fizzle out, but David Moyes is not the type of manager to allow that. If Newcastle United are good enough to reach the Champions League, how far off that level are Everton?
Judging by Sunday’s display, not too far. We have the basis of a decent team with a rock-solid defence and skilful match-winning players such as Iliman Ndiaye, Dwight McNeil and Charly Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz heads in the winner for Everton against Newcastle United at St James' Park. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Upfront, we still need to bring in some quality, and if Liam Delap is looking to develop his game and play regular first-team football, then it has to be destination Bramley Moore.
It has been a strange season in many ways. Throughout the campaign the realisation that we would be leaving Goodison Park was always in the background, edging ever closer game by game.
After ending the 2023/24 campaign on a high, most Blues expected the team to kick on.
Except we didn’t, and it became clear that Sean Dyche had run out of ideas as fans had to watch some dire, dreary displays of soul-destroying football.
Matters were not helped by the club seemingly being ready to be sold to 777.
Fortunately, The Friedkin Group took over, Sean Dyche left, David Moyes was appointed, and Goodison was given the fitting final finale it deserved.
There is a new mood of optimism at Everton, and we have the right manager in charge, new owners who have a coherent strategy for the club and a new stadium that is one of the best in Europe.
The future is the brightest it has been for a long time! See you all next season!
Alex McMonnies - The stats don't lie
The curtain closes on another campaign for Everton Football Club, and it's fair to say spirits are a lot higher than they were at the close of the previous one.
The minimum long-term target of getting the club into the new stadium with its Premier League status still intact, which was informally set a long time ago, has been achieved, and now, under the guidance of committed new ownership, attention can turn to much more ambitious objectives.
There seems to be a much greater sense of unity within the fanbase than there was this time last year too. Goodison Park was given the perfect send-off as it waves goodbye to 133 years of hosting men's football, and now excitement is beginning to build for a new chapter in a state-of-the-art stadium which I'm sure will soon feel like home, regardless of its name!
The general mood has also been helped by the fact that we now have a manager who seems to understand what Everton fans want more than pretty much anyone else out there.
The stats don't lie; the turnaround in form that David Moyes has overseen since returning to the club has been very impressive, and the Toffees have every right to be looking up the table rather than down it going into next season.
Admittedly, there are still several issues to be resolved with the futures of Idrissa Gueye, Seamus Coleman, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Michael Keane still up in the air, as well as no definitive answer yet on whether loanee Carlos Alcaraz will be signed on a permanent basis.
Even if all five of these players end up staying for next season, there is still an awful lot of business that will need to be done this summer if the Blues are to progress.
However, I can't be alone in having every faith in Moyes to meet this mammoth task head-on, just as he did in both his first spell at Everton and with West Ham. For my money, we could not be in safer hands.
Goodbye Goodison Park - Souvenir edition
Everton are soon set to say goodbye to Goodison Park as the Toffees play out their final few matches in their iconic home before moving to their incredible new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
And to celebrate this historic and poignant event, the ECHO has produced this stunning special souvenir edition that no fan can afford to be without as they bid farewell to their iconic and beloved home.
We have delved into the ECHO archives to unearth fascinating stories from the famous ground's past, including how it came to be built in 1892 and where its world-famous name came from.
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Buy now and have it delivered directly to your door. Alternatively you can purchase in most supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents on Merseyside from April 2, 2025.
You can also purchase Goodison's Greatest, our celebration of an era when Everton ruled English football.
And that's not all, also available is ParkLife, a a high quality, 312 page publication showcasing 133-years of Goodison history in pictures. Then there's Farewell to Goodison, celebrating 100 of the best moments at the Grand Old Lady, available to