New Everton Stadium Discussion

Took my 6 year old yesterday as he prob wont get the chance to visit again. My 11 year old has gone every week since he was 4 and it absolutly kills me that I wont be taking them each week to Goodison after next year. Its a huge part of my life going to the game, having a pint after it on county road, getting my Mrs to pick the lad up after an hour so I can stay out. Walking down to meet my Dad in the winslow after a few hours. All that routine and familiarity will end this year and it will never be the same again.
I know the club needs it but I dont think it will ever be the same again for me personally going the game once we move. Also the new ground is a pain to get to from West Derby 🤣
 
Tom Hughes said:
For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.
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Brilliant that Tom 👏
 
fitzyefc said:
Took my 6 year old yesterday as he prob wont get the chance to visit again. My 11 year old has gone every week since he was 4 and it absolutly kills me that I wont be taking them each week to Goodison after next year. Its a huge part of my life going to the game, having a pint after it on county road, getting my Mrs to pick the lad up after an hour so I can stay out. Walking down to meet my Dad in the winslow after a few hours. All that routine and familiarity will end this year and it will never be the same again.
I know the club needs it but I dont think it will ever be the same again for me personally going the game once we move. Also the new ground is a pain to get to from West Derby 🤣
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It’s about a mile away, and closer to the city centre. You can still go county road after the match if you’re that bothered about the Tommy frost or the brick.
 

BullensRoad said:
It’s about a mile away, and closer to the city centre. You can still go county road after the match if you’re that bothered about the Tommy frost or the brick.
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I dont drink in either of them and I dont want to drink in the City Centre im not 20 anymore. I work on Old Hall Street and its a 20 minute walk from there so its not exactly close to the city centre its still a half hour walk before I could even get a bus that would take me anywere close to West Derby. It might be better for you but for me and lots of others its not. No harm in me saying that.
 
Tom Hughes said:
For me, it's more a reminder of 30+years of managed decline, the criminal negligence, poor decision-making of the Kenwright years and the total lack of investment. As such, it's a bit of an unfair criticism to compare with many new stadia (and BMD). It's easy to forget what ALL of those other stadia were like pre-taylor report and their modernisation (they were almost all proper dumps). It's perhaps also easy to forget that Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the UK for the vast majority of its history. So much so, that it walked the choice for World cup semi-final venue in 1966, and then required easily the least investment to be fully compliant with the Taylor report and still yield approx 40k capacity in the 90s. The problem was, the club did the bare minimum!

I'm a bit of a stadium anorak (if you hadn't guessed) and more than get the keen excitement and anticipation for BMD with all its obvious benefits and attractions and am down there regularly to see the progress..... but I really don't feel the need to be overly critical or scathing of a grand old lady that was left to fall behind. Warts and all, it still wipes the floor with them all in terms of character and history.... and the fact that it has witnessed easily the most top flight games in the country (2nd only to Celtic Park in the world) bares testament to its legendary talismanic status and quality. GP is far more than just any old tired neglected stadium. The site of the world's first purpose-built football stadium is the spiritual home of true footballing giants, and a reminder of when we truly were great, and proved it by building the finest stadium in the land.

That's before you take away all the sentiment of course. This year, my daughters want to sit in all parts of the ground that they've never had the chance to before. So I got us tickets for the upper Gwladys St yesterday. I didn't really think about it beforehand, but 40yrs ago I had a season tkt with my brother up there for a few seasons. The seats yesterday were very close to the ones where we roared ourselves hoarse every other week, watching the great 80s team sweep all aside. My brother is no longer with us, but when I sat down and saw the unerringly familiar view from that vantage point, for a moment it really felt like I had him next to me, one last time. I've had similar experiences many times when walking up various streets on the way to the ground, when a poignant memory is jogged by a familiar glimpse from the past, and that feeling of walking in the footsteps of my dad, grandad and great grandad is never lost on me. Those feelings may never appear on any cost/benefit analysis spread sheet, but somethings you cannot buy nor ever replicate! So, can we desist with some of the needless Goodison-bashing, at least while some of us have still got a few important old friends/relations that we might want to sit next to, one last time.
Click to expand...
Perfectly put !
Had similar experience in the UB on Saturday. I even went the Mons pre match ,(with my son), where me Dad used to take me to meet his mates in the 70s ... but it was shut down!
I'll be so sorry to see GP go , but it had to be done.
 

fitzyefc said:
Took my 6 year old yesterday as he prob wont get the chance to visit again. My 11 year old has gone every week since he was 4 and it absolutly kills me that I wont be taking them each week to Goodison after next year. Its a huge part of my life going to the game, having a pint after it on county road, getting my Mrs to pick the lad up after an hour so I can stay out. Walking down to meet my Dad in the winslow after a few hours. All that routine and familiarity will end this year and it will never be the same again.
I know the club needs it but I dont think it will ever be the same again for me personally going the game once we move. Also the new ground is a pain to get to from West Derby 🤣
Click to expand...

There's no getting away from it, the new place will be far more difficult to get to than GP for lots of fans (probably most) IF provision is not made for Soccerbuses from various points. No use JUST saying it is handy for Sandhills. It is, but there will be capacity issues and, let's me honest lots of areas locally are nowhere near a train station. Hopefully, we should hear something specific about public transport to the new place during the coming season. Let's hope the plans are sufficiently thought through and ambitious.
 
d34noj said:
Jesus christ you need to big spoon me, it'd be the best sleep I've ever had.
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IMG_0196.jpeg
 
Gwladys St. Glory said:
It's like old cars from your teens - great to look at but nightmares to drive. Nostalgia distorts a lot of things. Onwards.
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Nostalgia....? Isn't what it used to be.

Tbh, nostalgia can't really distort much while you're still there. Conversely, you could also say that not all things new prove to be progress. Destination Kirkby for instance.

Hopefully, this will be progress, but I think it's fair to say that so far it has been far from the panacea promised. It has come pretty close to sinking us before it's even finished, and that wouldn't represent progress in any shape or form. We're by no means out of the woods regards those finances yet. So, it would seem false prophets predicting false profits can also distort a lot of things too. This only works financially if our owner walks away making a massive loss and/or any incoming new owner has sufficient wealth to absorb any ensuing debt, at least in the short term (while it gets completed and establishes itself). So far the process has bankrupted one prospective bidder and turned another one into yet another loan merchant.
 

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