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Everton FC
Goodison
Park
The
Ground
Looking from the
outside,
Goodison, with its tall stands seems
huge. The crowds filling the narrow streets
around the ground on matchday, make you feel
that you are going back in time, to when the outside of every
football ground appeared like this. However,
that's Goodison's problem. Apart from the newish Park Stand (which has an electric
scoreboard on its roof), the rest of the ground
looks tired. Yes the ground is still large, but it needs
modernising. For example there are lots of supporting pillars (at
least the club don't sell tickets directly behind them) and the
ground just looks as if it has seen better days. Nevertheless unlike
some new grounds, Goodison oozes character and the three tiered Main
Stand is still an impressive sight. There are two large video
screens at opposite corners of the ground. If you
are a home/neutral fan who is not scared of heights then try and get
a ticket for the top balcony of the Main Stand. Not only do you get
a 'birds eye' view of the game, but also views across Stanley Park,
with Anfield in the distance. Now thinking about it if you were an
Everton fan you probably wouldn't want to see Anfield during the
game, so this advice is for neutrals!
A unique feature
of the stadium is a church called St Lukes
which sits just beyond one corner of the ground (selling teas & snacks at reasonable prices, plus
upstairs it normally hosts a small programme fair on matchdays).
If you have time before the game look out for the
statue behind the Park Stand; a tribute to the legend that was Dixie
Dean. After all these years, the Everton team still come out
to the theme tune of the old police series, Z-cars.
Future
Developments
The Club
were hoping to move to a new 55,000 all seated stadium at
Kirkby. However, planning permission for this has been refused,
following a public enquiry. It remains to be seen whether the Club
will appeal against the decision. However, some fans will be
pleased with news, as some had objected to the proposed
move as the stadium would be located outside
Liverpool. Kirkby lies beyond the city
boundary.
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