There are very few players – perhaps the likes of Dixie Dean and Neville Southall – who can claim to have the same impact on Everton as Duncan Ferguson over the years. The Scot often led the way on the blue half of Merseyside, and he once named an ‘intimate’ British stadium with a raucous atmosphere.
Stirling-born, Ferguson was also known as being one of the most feared footballers in England during his career. His pressing from the front, combined with his knack for flying into challenges, makes him one of the hardest players in football history.
The seven-cap Scotland international also played for Newcastle United and Rangers throughout his playing days, and so it’s not unfair to say that he’s played in plenty of hostile atmospheres. There is one stadium, however, that stands taller than the rest.
Ferguson Named The Most Atmospheric British Stadium
‘It’s as good as anywhere in the country’
By virtue of his 272-outing stint with the Toffees and his short, two-season spell with the Magpies, the former centre-forward – once heralded as one of Scotland’s brightest prospects – played in the biggest, and best, stadiums in England, including the likes of Old Trafford, Anfield and Highbury.
None of those grand venues, however, were as atmospheric as Everton’s Goodison Park, according to the Scottish legend in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports.
Everton are among the six teams – alongside Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal – to have never been relegated from the Premier League, which has been England’s top division since its restructuring back in 1992.
They occupy a unique place in Premier League mythology – and that’s thanks to their home ground of Goodison Park, which opened in 1892 and has a capacity of just shy of 40,000.
“When Goodison is rocking at night, it’s as good as anywhere in the country, absolutely,” he told TNT Sports. “Night games, particularly, for some reason, the atmosphere is incredible. And I’ve had some massive nights there against the big clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United.”
“The fans are so close to you. They’re so close to the dugout, the dugouts are actually in the fans and the pitch, as well, is so close, so it gives you that relationship between you and the fans. It’s very close. It’s intimate, isn’t it?”
Goodison Park Factfile
Men's senior team games
Victories in all comps
Goals scored by Everton
Goals scored by opponents
Successive wins at Goodison Park
“It’s personable,” Ferguson, who is widely regarded as one of the best Everton players in Premier League history, said. “So, if you’re warming up, if you’re a sub, the fans are right there, and you’re talking to them.”
Goodison Park – a place Ferguson looks back fondly on – will no longer be the home of Everton from the 2024/25 season onwards as the Merseyside club venture into new beginnings. Instead, they will be playing their home games at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
On his favourite memory of the 39,572-seater stadium, Ferguson picked his last ‘big goal’ for the club. “I don’t think we had beat Manchester United for 10 years. I had scored the winner and took my shirt off and run across the pitch,” he told the BBC.
“Then, 10 years later at the same end, I got a header again and that was my last big goal for Everton. That put us in the Champions League then. That was an incredible atmosphere that night at Everton, I have not experienced an atmosphere like that – when that went in, the stadium was shaking.”
All statistics per Everton's official website – correct as of 07/08/2025