Michael Kenrick 15/05/2025 10comments  |  Jump to last

And now, the end is near, and so we face, the final curtain.

The last ever Premier League game at Goodison Park. 

So much has been written, spoken, and captured on video about this momentous and consequential event that it's hard not to repeat a lot of the amazing statistics, the irreplaceable memories, the precious personal recollections, that will reach a climax after 12 noon on Sunday, when this final first-team game kicks off in earnest as we hope for a fitting send off.

The latests annoncement is that Gethin Jones and Tony Bellow will host the post-match spectale, with even better news that fans will be able to take alcoholic drinks to their seats for the first (and last!) time since 1985 — another horrible lasting 40-year stain of the shame brought on football and unjustly devastating our club history by the dispicable acts of fans from our close (soon to be less close) neighbours.  

Even though there is a game to be played still, the focus will not be particularly on the football itself, but on everything about this ancient and dated cathedral of football. 

But we will look to the pitch for the final time as David Moyes promises the “Biggest game of the season” —  because they have to put a show on and play well. The 1878s supporters’ group, working in collaboration with Everton officials and local authorities, are planning a coach welcome as a fitting send-off for this momentous final home game.

The team have laid good ground work for it with a fine win at Fulham last week, where key goals from Michael Keane and Beto sealed the 3 points after Mykolenko's deflected equalizer. Will Moyes adopt the same approach of keeping his powder dry until he is comfortable replacing his poorer quality players with those who have the skill but not necessarily the fitness to change the game late on?

In that case, McNeil and even Ndiaye could be held in reserve, while Beto is probaly best left on the field for the entire 90+ minutes just in case one of those rare moments occurs when his natural reaction produces a goal out of almost nothing. 

The defence had been pretty solid until the loss to injury of James Tarkowski and more recently James O'Brien, but still there are limited opportunities being given to Nathan Patterson, whom many claim is simply not good enough at this level. Although Ashley Young seems to be a prefered choice, that may provide for more than just a late cameo from club captain and living legend, Seamus Coleman, to whom David Moyes must surely give a decent chunk of playing time in what could be a fitting end to his exceptional Everton career.

In midfield, Gana and Garner seem to be first choice players on Moyes's teamsheet, while Charly Alcaraz and Iliman Ndiaye were actually on the field together for a brief 23-minute spell at Craven Cottage — during which the two winning goals were scored.  

 

Reader Comments (10)

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John Pendleton
1 Posted 15/05/2025 at 18:18:00
A must win for so many reasons - if the players freeze under the pressure of the occasion the charged-up fans inside and outside the ground will drag us over the line one last time.

Who wants the historic last Everton goal at Goodison Park most?

UTFT!

John Chambers
2 Posted 15/05/2025 at 18:38:29
Could be an important game for our financial outcome this season. Realistically we can still finish between 13th and 17th. The difference is worth about £12m so 3 points on Sunday could mean the difference between the need for a sale or not before the end of June.
Dennis Stevens
3 Posted 15/05/2025 at 18:45:00
Be nice to see history repeat itself with a lovely 8-0 drubbing of Saints.
Jack Convery
4 Posted 15/05/2025 at 18:48:35
In our Blue City home,

In our Blue City home, in our Blue City home

We speak with an accent exceedingly rare

Meet under a statue exceedingly bare

And if you want a STADIUM, we've got one to spare

In our Blue City home.

A repeat of the 8 nil game wouldn't go amiss !

To everyone who gets in please give it the Farewell it deserves. I'll be watching, all choked up, tissues at the ready. God Bless You Goodison Park.

PS: An anecdote. We were playing Swindon in night game. A slide takle by an Everton player, tore up a large piece of turf. A Swindon player pisked it up put it back in place and started stamping it down, when a wag in the Paddock shouted, "Eh Percy Thrower get on with the effin game". Priceless.

John Chambers
5 Posted 15/05/2025 at 18:59:03
Dennis, don't think we'll get any snow this time
Danny O'Neill
6 Posted 15/05/2025 at 19:06:08
Lovely Jack. We've actually got 3 stadiums.

Well, it's happening. Regardless of our views, Sunday is about Goodison.

She's been a part of my life since the first time I went in 1976. When I first went in the Top Balcony as a young kid. Terrified looking down the steep sloping stand, thinking I might fall into the Main Stand below.

The days stood on the Gwladys Street with my mates.

We will all enjoy the moment, with a more than a touch of sentiment and sadness. But we will remember her for what she has given us.

Like a Scouse mother looking down on you, she will beam with pride.

Don't let us down Everton. The supporters won't. Go and win the most historic fixture the Grand Old Lady has had, and there have been a few.

Christine Foster
7 Posted 15/05/2025 at 19:07:12
In honesty I have been trying to ignore this moment for so long, it's both a celebratory occasion, proudly praising Goodison, yet incredibly sad because we lose the intangible, emotional link with momentous games, history and the emotional attachment of our very own families who graced the terraces with love and passion. One wonders if on some foggy, cold midweek night, if one turns on the floodlights to light up that velvet green, that the spirits and cheers will eerily still be heard. The ghosts won't lie still. Nor should they, for they made Goodison Park theirs, a continuous link from the past to this very day.
Memories were made there, but it wasn't about just specific memories we all share, it was the awe, the love, the attachment to something that has been intertwined with every supporter who ever attended games there. It became part of who they are, their very being. Many adopted the ethos and motto of the club as a defacto personal statement for their own lives and who they were. The pride, the humility, the pleasure and the pain, fashioned who we are individually and collectively. Be you a king, a world champion or a docker, a millionaire or a pauper, this place was and still is, special.
Tribal, a statement of who you are and for so many, where you came from. So many will never know the sheer, breathtaking moment of Goodison under lights when you emerge and look down on the green. It was and still is a wonderful, breathtaking thrill that has never been equaled.
I spent more than half my life there as a season ticket holder, many of my family attended probably right back to its first days, many of my own can only ask me what it was like. A smile and a tear... if only they knew.
Thank you Goodison, for every moment of my life I stood and cheered, my personal experiences and mad, stupid times I fell in love with you. You were my home, always will be.
Bill Gall
8 Posted 15/05/2025 at 20:06:49
Memories will linger on even after it is no longer home of Everton F.C. funny thing is they call it the home ground as to many it is like a second home to them, I know it was to me from when I played on the hollowed ground as a school boy in 1952 and even used the home team dressing room to get changed, until I emigrated to Canada in 1976. I have been back on numerous occasions over the years with the last one in April 2024 and thanks to my relatives had tickets for that week we played Nottingham,Liverpool and Brentford, was called a lucky charm that week and jokingly was threatened to hide my passport.
I will be 85 soon and sometimes cant remember what I had for breakfast but the one thing I will never forget and that is the good and bad times I had at Goodison Park mostly in the Gladys Street end.
Paul Kossoff
9 Posted 15/05/2025 at 20:32:38
The FA Cup fifth-round on February 20, 1991. Everton 4 Liverpool 4. Me and my dear Dad in the Bullens rd, possibly the game that made me swear to never again watch a match playing the red shite. I wanted to leave at 3 4 but my Dad said no, we will get another goal. Next thing Cottee, in extra time I think equalises. Dad said, told you. My legs were like jelly. Went the replay and Dave Watson won it. Dog leash went missing after the first game and then quit. Double win win. My most memorable match at Goodison park, but Iwatched many great games at the old lady.
John Chambers
10 Posted 15/05/2025 at 21:00:04
Best check your pockets on Sunday! From The Athletic
“ A supporter has been banned from attending Everton’s final Premier League match at Goodison Park after allegedly smuggling tools into the stadium and attempting to remove their seat.”

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