I love my Matchday

I fully agree with you mate. My and all my mates matchday is similar to yours but a different pub. I will obviously keep supporting Everton wherever we go but I’ll be voting against Kirkby. Firstly because it doesn’t feel, secondly because I don’t trust Wyness and Kenwright and my 3rd reason is because of the reasons stated in your article.

Ste, you asked a question in your second paragraph:

"What I?d like to know is how many of these out-of-towners have a matchday of the following: Get in the car, sit in traffic, park the car, watch match, get in car, sit in traffic, get home and moan at the Mrs as Beattie played a stinker again?"

I don?t speak for all out-of-towners but I bet the answer to your question is none. The match day buzz is the match day buzz whether you wake up in London, Maghull, or in Gwladys St itself. Be it on train spotting fellow Bluenoses, in a car with scarf out the window, arriving in time for pre-match beers then after the game either a drive home with Radio Merseyside breaking into 606 when finally out of reach or stay in Liverpool for a night with the relatives or on the beers dissecting the game.

To believe that us out-of-towners do not savour the Goodison experience does us a great disservice, it made not be the same as those that live ?locally, and believe me when I traipsed to Goodison from Dublin, Durham London and Brussels for more games a season than I could afford, I really envied local Evertonians.

Your question (upon which your argument is based) makes it sound like out-of-towners equate a trip to the footie with an afternoon at Homebase and the idea that the yes/no split is demarked by where you visit Goodison from is simply wrong.

So you are basically against moving everton anywhere away from your matchday boozer. Wow that really is the kind of forward thinking that is going to take this club of ours forward.

Sorry to be pedantic but your article only allows for the convenience of those people who currently live within walking distance or a hop on the train away from GP.

Many fans from the City (not just out of towners) especially South Liverpool have to drive to GP and sit in traffic and thank God they do.

Maybe after a long time of it being convenient for you to stroll to the match you can now make the effort like the majority of us who have to travel. There are pubs in Kirkby too you know.

Hey Ste,

Maybe if the club moves to the new site you can combine the 2 differing match day experiences you mention.
Fistly, you’ll be in the car to get to the ground, with ample spacing in a car park so large in can accommodate not only 55,000 Blue Noses but also Saturday shoppers at Tescos.
Secondly you can meet your mates in your new local. I’ve never been to the Black Horse but you won’t mind swapping it for a Hog’s Head will you? Or a Weatherspoons, O’Niell’s, maybe even a TGI Fridays?
Then after the match against AC Milan or Barcelona, back to TGI’s or a Nando’s for a bite to eat to disect the match.
I know it’s not quite the same, but apparently it’s the way forward and will save us from relegation as the post above stated.
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry...

I’m another out of towner, and I’m going to upset you now. The number of supporters who live within walking distance of the ground is a minute proportion of the Everton fanbase. If moving away from Goodison makes it easier for the majority of supporters to reach the ground, that is a good thing. That is what will increase our fanbase. Question: would manure get as many supporters if they had to travel into that hellhole that is the centre of Manchester, struggle to find a parking space and end up walking miles to the ground.
Answer: No
Question: Would we get more support if the ground was easier to get to and easier to park?
Answer: Yes
Question: Does Kirkby give us that?
Answer: Actually, probable not, unless they improve road and rail access.

We need to move. We need to move to somewhere with good rail and road links, and we need to move soon.

This whole access to the ground business being difficult at present is a bit of a myth. I nearly always drive up from the South and I’ve never had any trouble parking in Stanley Park. Then it’s just a pleasant stroll down to the stadium. Although this will soon change with LFC’s plans, the Council will be duty bound to provide another car park so I’m not too concerned. Goodison was always easy to get to by bus from Lime Street too when I let the train take the strain.

If it’s such a bad area to get to why are LFC staying and in the process they are looking at opening up an old rail line, unused by passengers since the 70’s. How is Kirkby really any better? The m57 is no Californian 8 lane super highway... there’ll be jams getting on and off it, just like Queens Drive now and we’ll supposedly have another 15,000 attending making it worse.

Why is it that the hour and more I have to spend in my car just getting to Liverpool is discounted by fans that don?t have to make that journey? The only difference between them and me is that before I get close enough to the Auld Lady to decide where I am going to have a bevvy or bag a tray of pie ’n chips, I first have to drive 100 miles to arrive at that point? So why then am I not valued by ’local blues’? Is not my effort to get to games at least as much as theirs?

At the moment I have a heck of a drive from Wakefield and then a 20 minute walk from the Stanley Park all weather pitches to get to the ground, and then I decide where to go prior to the match. I can?t see that the Redshitestadium is going to make this easier for me, so can I and those like me get a bit of sympathy from those ?living on the doorstep? please?!

I have a 60+ mile round trip on match days, not that far compared to some hardy souls who venture from as far afield as the south west of England (hats off to you guys and gals) but the match day experience is just as important for me, different, yes but still a part of the ritual that is, going to the footy. My day doesnt involve the pub sadly but the walk through the park, round the stadium down to the GS end, is just as important, filled with anticipation and will be missed when we move. I envy people who can walk or catch a local bus to the ground mainly because the footy takes a big chunk out of the day and not because I want to go for a pint or two. I can see what you mean about the atmosphere and being local etc but don’t forget that those of us who travel to the match also have our own rituals that form part of a ’footy day’. Kirkby won’t be easier to get to for me coming from north wales as it will probably mean M56, Runcorn Bridge, M57, so longer distance and probably much congestion at Runcorn. I might be able to park when I get there but the journey there may well be more problematic. I havent decided which way to vote, the reason being that I don’t trust the board. If I trusted them to make the right decision for EVERTON FC then I would follow their lead but no, I just have no faith in them. would I buy a used car off Wyness? No chance.

and by the way Ste, I AM the Mrs and I go home and kick the Mr! There are lots of us Blues with bumps in the front that go to the footy without the old man in tow. God forbid he’d ever want to come to the match with me, that would really spoil my day not being able to look at all those nice thighs and tight bums......ah, dream on...even old women have eyes ...and very good memories!

It sounds like a good ritual to me mate, but theres no reason why your new matchday experience could’t be just as good, different no doubt, but a short hop on a bus, train, tram? 4 miles, wouldn’t ruin it that much surely.

I lived in liverpool for 20 odd years and now live 40 miles away .My matchday consists of a gang of us getting the train into the city meeting freinds and family plenty of beer , taxi at 2.30 straight to the ground then straight back after the game more beer and last train home.Don’t asume all outta towners drive to the game thousands dont. the loop would do for me save a few bob on taxi’s !

Ste, I can’t agree with you. I live about 400 yards from our home and it is great to be able to wander up to meet my mate , who comes down from Kendal and another mate who comes down from Kirkby and have a couple of pints before the match. The atmosphere in the old supporters club is great and loads in there come from many miles away. We should salute them, who come from distance, and we should certainly listen to their views because, just like us, they are BLUES.Their views are as valid as yours or mine , or any other blue. We are all after what we think is the best for our club.
I think the real question is whether the move to Kirkby is going to be good for the club, or not. I think we also need much more information from the board about why, they say there are no alternatives.
As for going to Kirkby, I get a terrible feeling that we will surrender the city to the other lot. I know In can not back this up with facts but what I can say is, there appears to be more and more kids running about in the uniform of the servants of satan. If we leave, what have the kids in this city got to look up to. Some fans believe that it doesn’t matter where we go to, we will still go. I don’t disagree, as we will travel to watch our team but I don’t believe that is the problem. The problem as I see it is, over time, our support within the city will dwindle away.It may take a while but I think it will happen.
Some Evertonians believe it will not affect us by leaving the city and suggest that Kirkby is part of Liverpool anyway. Well, it isn’t. The problem is, we won’t know if we make the right or wrong choice unless we go. If we make the wrong decision, we will not get a chance to reverse it, we will will have no way back. I think the only reason that we are getting a vote, is because Bill Kenwright knows it is a deeply contentious issue and he doesn’t want to be the one who moves Everton out of Liverpool.
I don’t know if any of the sites that the council have offered, will suit our purpose but who can we thank for that.
Our Board, that’s who. For close on nine months Everton have developed plans, with Tesco and Knowsley Borough Council, to the exclusion of any other alternative that might be available within the city. I cannot trust Bill Kenwright to do what is best for Everto, I believe he will do what he thinks is best for his version of Everton, that is, with him remaining as chair no matter what. Well, after the Kings Dock disaster, and it was a disaster, after the Fortress Sports fairytale, some people might have called it a lie, and after Kenwright accusing Gregg of frightening American investors away, I just don’t trust Mr Kenwright with our club. I cannot believe that we are almost the only club not to have any serious bids for control/investment. All we seem to have got is Planet Hollywood and Rocky coming to town...once!
I’ll be voting no to Kirkby as I believe it will seriously damage our club.
The alternative..well that’s a whole topic on it’s own. We need investment but Celtic did it with a share issue among the fans, why have we never even investigated this? If we have over 600,000 blues world wide, is there not a chance that funding could be found among our own, to regenerate Goodison, or to find a site within Liverpool?