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1.
Why you were looking forward to going to
the ground (or not as the case may be):
This was my first trip to Goodison Park
and a rare neutral game for me as a
Blackpool season ticket holder this match
was a Christmas present from my partner.
This was also my last Merseryside ground
and no.45 in the '92 list.
2. How easy was your journey/finding the
ground/car parking?
Goodison Park is well served by local
transport. The nearest train station is
Kirkdale which you can reach via Liverpool
Lime Street (the main city centre train
station). There is also a bus service
which can be accessed across the road from
Lime Street. You can also walk to the
ground but it's at least a 30minute walk
and you do pass through a large
residential area which could be quite
hostile for an away fan. Alternatively, as
we did, you can catch a taxi which will
cost around £5.
3. What you did before the game
pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?
Before the game we stopped in the
Wetherspoons which is accessed by leaving
the Lime Street Station main entrance and
walk over to the shopping arcade. Take the
first left and the Wetherspoons is nestled
under the arcade to the left.
4. What you thought on seeing the ground,
first impressions of away end then other
sides of the ground?
Goodison park is one of the oldest grounds
in the Premier League and looks it. It is
very antiquated but this adds to it's all
round allure. The stadium is in the middle
of a residential area and quite imposing
as you walk past someone's front door and
find a huge stadium on the other side.
There is also no direct way around the
stadium as on one side you even get
directed around a Church! We were sat in
the Gladys Street End so our view was
perfect but there are many parts of
the stadium which do have a restricted
view due to the infrastructure holding the
stadium up. There is something about this
ground that few others have and if they
could bottle it's recipe then all future
stadiums should be modelled in this way.
5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere,
stewards, pies, toilets etc..
The game was very dull and devoid of skill
for large parts of the game. The main
flashpoints were the three goals. We
witnessed Everton keeper Tim Howard score
from his own box as the gusty winds took
hold of a long punt forward which took one
bounce and flew over the Bolton's keepers
head into the goal. An undeserved lead for
Everton but one the fans took delight in
that rarest of goal keeper goals. A note
here on the atmosphere which was very
subdued for the majority of the game and
not like the reputation that proceeds 'the
blue army'.
There was two more twists to this game
with Bolton providing the rare bits of
fast passing football leading to an
equaliser and finally a winner with a few
minutes to go. Queue pandemonium in the
Bolton end who brought what seemed only a
couple of hundred fans. Aside from the
game I would recommend making your way
down to the concourse before half time if
you want to get served for beer or food
during the interval. The tea maker broke
during the break leaving large queues of
people forming around the concourse
despite many not requiring a hot drink.
Rather than serve those customers who were
not waiting for a tea and thus reduce the
queue the staff chose to stare blankly at
the tea machine as it took 5minutes to
make each beverage! In the end we ordered
a bottle of water, a pie and a chocolate
bar which came to £6. As for the
toilets in the stadium they are tightly
packed in and have clearly been painted
over many times which indicated the same
facilities have been in place since the
stadium opened. Finally, the stewards were
very non-interventional. We had no trouble
whatsoever and this seems to reduce the
potential intimidating atmosphere you get
at grounds when stewards decide to wield
their very little amount of power. All
credit to Everton for training their
stewards properly to deal with football
fans.
6. Comment on getting away from the ground
after the game:
Getting away from the ground was fairly
standard for a Premier League ground. As
usual there are large swathes of people
all trying to reach different directions
and so you need to be on your toes and
certain where you’re going as to not get
stood on., Once your within 5 minutes of
the crowd the roads become open and it
easy to get away.
7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day
out:
A great evening out and a ground I will be
returning to. I would like to see Goodison
on a sunny day and a match where the homes
fans are in full swing!
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