As it is the close season and football is at a standstill, I thought I would reflect on the noise that the Everton fans have generated at home matches in the past.
I have it on good authority that the loudest noise made by Evertonians was in 1928 when Dixie Dean scored his 60th goal for the season. My father told me that the roar could be heard all over Liverpool and that nobody was in any doubt about what the noise was about.
The greatest single roar that I have experienced in Goodison was 50 years on from Dean’s feat when, in 1978, Bob Latchford netted that penalty to secure his 30th goal for the season. That was loud and I was hoarse!
These were two individual roars but there were occasions when the noise was continuous throughout the matches. The times that I recall the loudest continuous noises were all with crowds of over 70,000. Three against Liverpool and one versus Manchester United were boisterous in the extreme.
However, there was one other that was deafening from beginning to end. This was the memorable match against Preston North End in August 1954 which put the Blues top of the First Division. My ears rang during the match and for hours afterwards. I have never experienced anything quite like this occasion.
I am sure that ToffeeWeb correspondents will have had similar experiences. I would like to know what these were.