Cut from a different cloth

Thanks to ToffeeWeb, I have met the best of people and the finest of Evertonians on this site. Due to the kindness and generosity of two of them, Derek Knox and Tony Abrahams, I got the chance to visit Goodison Park for the only time this season.

For the first time ever, the low point of a visit to Liverpool to see Everton play was, well, the seeing Everton play bit. However, that only goes to show how wonderful the rest of the weekend was, because being at a game at Goodison Park is always a memory to cherish.

Derek picked me up at the airport on Friday and we had a walk round Chester and a few beers. Saturday morning and the arrival of the irrepressible Pete Moore from Worcester. Pete arrived with a few bottles of Yorkshire Stingos, a smooth and deceptively innocent 8.5% bottle of rocket fuel. They were necked before Neil Copeland picked us up (thanks, Neil!) and whizzed us into Liverpool.

We parked at Jim Lloyd's house and Jim joined us on the stroll to The Harlech Castle on County Road. Brian Murray and the much travelled and inspirational Danny O'Neill were already there. I met Brian Wilkinson for the first time and caught up with Bill once more.

The bar was jam packed and we moved outside. I assumed that I was the longest traveller but Dave Williams arrived all the way from Devon – further than me!  Stephen Vincent introduced us to Pete Day who had driven on his motorbike from Southampton to attend his first-ever game.

John McFarlane, Dave Abrahams and Pete Mills arrived. John Rafferty and his daughter, then Tony Abrahams and Sonny. What a time it was, what a time.

Here is where I hold my hands up. Tony Abrahams has a few pre-match rituals and superstitions. Why, oh why did I announce that Fulham's record at Goodison Park was awful and (it's the truth) that  I had never seen Everton lose?

Then, the walk to the ground and the game. There is nothing on earth like seeing the green pitch, hearing Z-Cars and the inexplicable buzz of emotion. It is special beyond words.

The match has been reported and discussed. For me, it was about small margins. We looked shapeless and wide open but, had we taken one of the good chances before half-time, we would have snatched an undeserved win.

The second half was the worst performance from an Everton side I have ever seen. No lack of effort, just a disturbing acceptance and a resignation that we were done. I would suggest that not a single person, on or off the pitch, thought that we would come back from 2-down. The 6 minutes added time was a punishment. Only one team was going to score, we were taken apart.

Doomed, miserable and doomed. Anyway, Neil dropped us in two runs to The Bramley Moore. The stadium look well underway, it was flat last time I was there. A few drinks and I could feel my spirits rising. Maybe we need a multi multi-billionaire to compete again, but who knows? No-one ever called a stadium, "The Stadium of Realism".

I believe that we will not be relegated. Why? Because we will never play as badly again and we still could have won. We will have players back, we will win when we shouldn't and the players will deliver. I am optimistic about our future. 

F Scott Fitzgerald wrote:

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past."

We have our history and we learn, move on, and keep faith. 

I would like thank everyone for days to remember. If I have forgotten anyone, it is the fault of Peter Moore's Stingos! I spoke to Pete Mills about the unbreakable bond between Evertonians. He said that his dad said, "Evertonians are cut from a different cloth".

I choose to believe that.

Up the Toffees!!!

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