1. Why you were looking
forward to going to the ground (or not as the
case may be):
I was looking forward to visiting a number of
grounds during Hull City's inaugural season in
the Premier League and Everton was on that
list. It’s a ground steeped in history and has
relatively little development during the
Premier League era maintaining character.
2. How easy was your journey/finding the
ground/car parking?
The journey to Goodison
Park was easy, straight down the M62 and we
parked in Stanley Park at the designated Park
and Walk site, be prepared to fork out
£8 though!
3. What you did before the game pub/chippy....
home fans friendly?
We arrived about 2.15,
the local fans seemed friendly enough although
we headed straight for the ground to get some
refreshments.
4. What you thought on seeing the ground,
first impressions of away end then other sides
of the ground?
The ground is quite
imposing as you walk down through the Park,
with all of the original structure clad in
grey and blue. Upon arrival the away stand
looked okay, however once negotiating the
automatic turnstiles and the spacious stairs
to the concourse it went downhill fast.
The concourse is not up
to the standards of many other Premier League
grounds, it’s narrow and even tighter around
the food and drink outlet. There is about 2.5m
between the counter and the opposite wall
which makes queuing and getting round the
queue very difficult and claustrophobic.
The stand is a wooden
stand which really shows its age, although the
character and atmosphere is one of the reasons
why I wanted to visit the ground. It was great
however for helping to create an atmosphere
and I was lucky as I was on the end of a row
and had plenty of leg room.
5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere,
stewards, pies, toilets etc.
For Hull City it was a poor match, we could
not decide whether to defend our attack,
leading to us being on the back foot for much
of the 1st half and ultimately
conceding 2 goals. The atmosphere is good at
Goodison, the home fans get behind the team
and put pressure on the referee, and for away
fans the old stand meant good acoustics so we
could make plenty of noise.
The pies were barely
warm but I was took my chances rather than
rejoining the queue again. Pints of Chang
lager are available for £3.80 as are
pints of Marston’s beer. There is also a
choice of hot dogs, sausage rolls tea, coffee
etc.
6. Comment on getting away from the ground
after the game:
Getting away from the
ground was not too difficult, although the
hardest part was leaving the car park which
took about 45mins.
7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Despite the result it was
good day out, the ground has a fantastic
atmosphere which has a lot to do with the
character of the place. I would recommend a
trip to Goodison Park before they moved to a
sanitised new stadium! Like the nearby
Anfield the writing is on the wall for these
old grounds, see them while you can!