Our next episode in the Residence Series sees us visit one of the true great traditional English football grounds, arguably the greatest. Penned in by terraced housing and packed with as much character and personality as the scousers that fill the seats on Saturday afternoons, Goodison Park is gloriously antiquated.
Having hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England, Goodison Park has old-school blood flowing through its concourses and history & tradition bursting through every turnstile. The home of Everton FC since 1892 and unique in every sense of the word, nowadays you couldn't build a stadium like Goodison if you tried, it's timeless, matured. There's a saying in the blue half of Merseyside that ‘Evertonians are born, not manufactured’ and Goodison Park captures that perfectly; leave your suits and prawn sandwiches at home, this is real football.
Goodison Park is special. From the wooden seats in the Bullen Road Stand that contribute quite literally to the atmosphere rocking on match day to Archibald Leitch's distinctive truss design that sits between the two tiers, Everton play in a footballing theatre with scattered seats twisted and turned to fill any would be empty space. Each seat in each stand offers a unique view on the game and a unique point of view in the pub.
Seas of blue crowds flood the narrow surrounding streets channelled by brick terraced houses on one side and the stadium on the other. Every inch of Goodison Park is real, a genuine sense of passionate football that is the envy of other clubs and fans. Every fortnight just under 40,000 people are treated to one of football's most accommodating homes and there's no hiding for the players, they're boxed in, Goodison is intimidatingly compact. The stands are tight to the pitch, the tunnel is narrow and if you're having a stinker it'll be the longest 90 minutes of the season.
Goodison Park has grown old, but not tired, it doesn't look run down, all Goodison's perfect imperfections add to it's all round allure. The three-tiered main stand (at the top of which, whisper it quietly offers a view of Anfield) is a thing of raw beauty although we're sure all that nostalgia goes out the window if you're perched behind one of the many pillars come kick off.
The only English ground to host a World Cup semi final, the first club to issue programmes, the first club to play 100 seasons in the top-flight, the first club to install dug outs, the first club to host an FA Cup Final, the first club to use undersoil heating. Everton FC are innovators and Goodison Park has helped shape British football.
Been to Goodison Park? Share your thoughts below.
