The Mail Bag
Reserves at Goodison
Comments (10)
Why is it Everton never play any reserve games at Goodison?
Surely the games against Liverpool, Man Utd, and Arsenal would draw supporters to the ground and increase revenue for the club. It would give the supporters a chance to have a look at what we have in reserve. Then we MIGHT understand why centre halfs and fullbacks get put in midfield, centre forwards get put on the wing. We might... but I very much doubt it.
The state of the pitch cannot be the reason. If we were still in cup competitions, then maybe. I'm pretty sure the mini-derby would bring in more than under three thousand supporters if played at Goodison, which in turn would be a moral booster for the young fringe players like Gosling and Kissock.
Colin Malone, Posted 15/10/2008 at 19:36:51
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I know that it always was a big step up from the Reserves to the First Team, however I think it was a better preparation when the Reserves were in a League that played the same/similar number of games as the First Team.
I am not one of those people who say that everything in the past was better. But it is a fact that not all change is good and in the case of reserve team football I think the changes have been bad. Re the moving of games from the main stadium, for most clubs, when Reserve games where at Goodison it often gave a good opportunity for some of the youngest and oldest supporters who maybe couldn?t cope with big crowds to get to Goodison.
I believe that we still play in Widnes this season, and they have a suberb ground for crowds of the size you need for a mini-derby. It helps maintain Everton?s support in South Liverpool and Northern Cheshire.
Season ticket holders get into the ground for free. The club makes no money from the reserve games and it would be ridiculous to use Goodison when we would lose so much money getting the old lady up and working. Widnes is a much cheaper alternative.
It?s sad that the reserves have been culled so that its an under 21 side and they play so few games. There would surely be a big demand for a second string game between the big Premier League sides who number 40 players in their squads.
I'm not saying playing at Goodison for every reserve game, maybe when there's a free week when there's an international game on. I'm pretty sure there are fringe players who have been and gone and never played at Goodison.
Very true mate, the main stand was only open to spectators. I used to go to a lot of rezzie games too when I was a season ticket holder. However, all the floodlights need to be lit and I think this is the big cost drain which simply cannot be covered anymore.Shame, because it used to be good seeing the players who were recovering from injuries and those up an coming youngsters, in the majestic setting of Goodison.
Matches were arranged so that the Reserve games played at Goodison were on the Saturdays between the First team home games.
All matches were played on Saturday afternoons.
Kick offs varied with the time of the year, initially they were 3pm but as the nights would start to draw in, they were played say at 2-30 and eventually at 2-15. There were no floodlights then.
I remember well, at a time when the First team were having a calamitous time, I watched a reserve game and saw a young centre-forward who would run through a brick wall for his team. He had a great game, against Leeds Utd, I think it was. The next week, he?d been promoted to the first team. His name..... Dave Hickson.
Don?t know what happened to the old Central League but that was in a time well before The Premier League. For me, whilst there is no doubt the Premier League has made the game in the UK faster and more skilful, I preferred the old days when we just had the Football league, Divs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Everything was cheaper and easier.
So, I?m against progress? Probably, just enjoyed the game more in those days. Results were not so predictable.
Apart from the reserves we also had A,B,C and D teams, each of which played in a different league.
I distinctly remember playing for some amateur side on a mudbath of a pitch and hoofing the ball into the next pitch, where it hit Everton?s D goalie on the back of the head. Don?t know who he was but he wasn?t amused.
That was my one and only direct football connection to Everton. I never did get the call.
I am sure it costs one hell of a lot less to run the piddling floodlights at Widnes than it does to illuminate Goodison.
I stand to be corrected on that one.
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But, modern technology notwithstanding, and consistent as ever with Everton living in the past, that corny old sign still stands guard over the hallowed Goodison Turf:
Grass:
Grown by the Inch;
Damaged by the Foot
It's pathetic really, but all part of the Goodison mystique, no doubt.
Then there is my other favourite gripe: that the so-called "Reserves" have become a sad joke, and are merely an extension of the Academy. By no stretch of the imagination do they represent a group of second-tier players ready to step in when their peers are injured or indisposed. The reduction in their season ? down to a pathetic 18 games from a full season of close to 40 up until recently only compounds the problem. What, with our miniscule squad and with the need now for SEVEN subs, the manager can't risk giving any of his senior players a run-out if they are in contention for a place on the bench in the next 'real' game.
Just another sad relic of a bygone age, I'm afraid....