Key events
24 min Another classic Goodison challenge:
22 min Southampton are not playing like a side that thinks they can get anything out of this; it’s classic end-of-season fare. I’m a little surprised Simon Rusk benched Ugochukwu, whose legs and feet are being missed.
20 min Everton should score again! Again, it’s Ndiaye driving forward and this time, he waits for Beto to run across him then tickles a pass into stride; Beto opens body, looking to feed into the far corner, but he’s wide and wins a corner … which comes to nowt.
18 min Ah, shame for Seamus, who can’t continue and is replaced by Young; the former will remain at the club next season, in what capacity we don’t yet know, while Young has been told he’s leaving. What a reception the skipper gets, though, an unarguable Everton legend.
16 min It’s gone a bit quiet but then Dibling breaks forward, but when he slides right, Branthwaite is over quickly to tidy up. His channel defending is excellent – you’d love to be the full-back on his side.
15 min Fernandes moves through midfield but Everton close the gaps well and force Southampton back. There’s not much intensity in their passing or movement.
13 min Ashley Young is warming up – I’m afraid Coleman has some kind of ankle situation that he’ll hopefully run off.
11 min Now live for you:
9 min Southampton have a bit of possession and, in comms, Ally notes that there’s a player in Sulemana, unable to quite recall when he was impressed by him earlier in the season. Here you go, old mate.
8 min Goodison is jumping.
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Southampton (Ndiaye 6)
Mayham at Goodison! Ndiaya bounces off Branthwaite’s pass first time then, when McNeil loses possession, quickly regains it, striding towards the box before passing a fine finish into the bottom left and heading off into the crowd, teammates in pursuit. Lovely goal, great start, and the party is under way.
4 min The cross is decent, headed out to Mykolenko on the left side of the box. He lashes across a decent volley and, in the middle, Beto controls with his thigh then looks to slam home, but Ramsdale is on top of him quickly, a strong hand palming to safety.
3 min Everton knock it about, nice feet from McNeil allowing him to feed Coleman, overlapping, but his cross is deflected behind.
2 min Doucoure pounces on a loose ball but is soon crowded out, then Garner looks to curl towards the far post, overhitting and then some.
1 min Aaaand, for the final time in men’s football at Goodison, off we go!
Goodison is such a beautiful ground, stands close to the pitch, upper tiers nice and low, wooden boards detailed with crosses – Archibald Leitch was a genius.
Heeeeeere’s Z-Cars! Our teams come out of the tunnel, the noise immense. There’s glee, but also a lot of pensive faces, the weight and lightness of the years written across faces.
Oh man, there’s a lad with eyeballs sweating already, and they’ve not even started Z-Cars yet. Currently, it’s the La’s with There She Goes, crowd singing away. It’s not unlike this:
As per the below, Southampton are in a liminal zone, waiting to go down and waiting for a new manager. I am, though, looking forward to seeing how Tyler Dibling gets on – we know how much potential he has, and I bet he fancies making an impact today. Saints, of course, have moved ground themselves though, if we’re honest, The Dell was not the greatest place to watch football ands St Mary’s came in that early tranche of new grounds – they’re much better at building good ones now.
“It’s quite telling isn’t it, that the last game at Goodison is held, not at 3pm on a Saturday, but at Noon on a Sunday to suit the TV schedulers,” says Richard Morris. “Somehow fitting. The timing itself explaining why Goodison is to be no more…”
Happily, Goodison goes on, though I understand the sentiment. The new gaff looks pretty smart, but.
The definitive Goodison night:
More Goodison fun…
Moyes tells TNT that the plan was always for Coleman to captain today, referencing Phil Neville to Phil Jagielka, conducting the interview, and citing all three as great captains. “The people inside it are the most important people,” he continues; it’s funny how everyone knows that’s true, yet those with power so frequently act like it isn’t.
Oh man, we’re watching vox pops of Everton fans explaining what Goodison means to them. I can’t deny I had a hectic one yesterday, but I’m in absolute bits. Football!
Those odd arched areas behind the goals…
Email! “Good morning from Buenos Aires on a wet, cold and very quaintly British day,” writes Tim Read. “Your point about our taste-founding years is very interesting … apparently 14 is the key age for this, we are all receptive to impressions and they stick with us … personally will never forget my Filbert Street days and the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, Lynyrd Skynyrd at the De Montfort Hall. If I leave here tomorrow…
There’s some lovely stuff in here:
Another Goodison belter:
OK, one more:
“The best place in the world with the best people in the world,” says Peter Reid. “I’m a bit emotional if I’m honest … I have had a shandy,” he continues, talking about the camaraderie and heart. He’s one of a phalanx of legends walking around the pitch, but he can’t leave the mic alone – what a lovely man he seems.
The streets around Goodison are rammed. I guess the docks will be nice too, but they’ll never be is heimish.
Also going on:
Which is the greatest Goodison goal? This has got to be up there.
Southampton news:
Please do send in your Goodison memories; I’ll start you with one of my dad’s. He went with a Man City-supporting mate to watch the 1969 FA Cup quarter-final, they went in the home end, he noted that Everton weren’t much use, and was threatened with knife was his trouble. He kept his opinions to himself thereafter.
Southampton, meanwhile, bring in Nathan Wood for Jan Bednarek, who’s not in the squad, while Joe Aribo replaces Lesley Ugochukwu.
It’s so fitting David Moyes is managing Everton today, and manages to get Seamus Coleman in for a first start since Boxing Day. He’ll captain the side – another lovely aspect of proceedings – and replaces Ashley Young. Otherwise, Dwight McNeil, Iliman Ndiaye and Jake O’Brien are in for Jack Harrison, Carlos Alcaraz and Michael Keane.
I’ll write these down, then we’ll chat about what they mean the great Goodison.
Let’s have some teams…
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, O’Brien, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; McNeill, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Beto. Subs: Virginia, Patterson, Keane, Calvert-Lewin, Harrison, Chermiti, Young, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam.
Southampton (3-4-2-1): Ramsdale; Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Stephens; Bree, Downes, Aribo, Welington; Fernandes, Dibling; Sulemana. Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Sugawara, Kayi Sanda, Ugochukwu, Smallbone, Robinson, Archer, Stewart.
Preamble
Oh man, what a day this is. Oh man.
It’s easy, especially as we get older, to idealise things which remind us of our youth; perhaps the world’s greatest coincidence is that the greatest music ever recorded came when each and every one of us was aged 12-21. And nothing does nostalgia like football does nostalgia, capturing our family, our friends, our heritage and our home, a sensory overload set to the inexorable march of life: it could not reminds us of ourselves more.
Goodison Park is, without any doubt whatsoever, one of the world’s great football grounds. Local, loud and a personality in its own right, it reminds all who visit that going the game is not about sightlines and sarnies, but proximity and intensity, the stands as much part of the action as the pitch.
Time and money, though, cannot be denied; it was inevitable that this day would come. And though the experience of it will be a lot – I can’t imagine how many will be feeling the presence of those close to them but no longer around, or reliving times at which Goodison was there to support them when they needed it the most – football is about feeling things, about experiencing and embracing a version of ourselves that is unique to it.
So this week’s news – that Goodison will no longer be knocked down, instead serving as the country’s largest women’s ground – is perfect, the past deployed as a key to the future. It’s going to be emotional.
Kick-off: 12pm BST
Leave a Reply