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Goodison Park

The Grand Old Lady
Location	Goodison Road, Liverpool, England
Coordinates	53°26′20″N 2°57′59″W / 53.43889°N 2.96639°W / 53.43889; -2.96639Coordinates: 53°26′20″N 2°57′59″W / 53.43889°N 2.96639°W / 53.43889; -2.96639
Opened	24 August, 1892
Owner	Everton F.C.
Operator	Everton F.C.
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	£3000 [1]
Architect	Kelly Brothers initially, with Archibald Leitch later
Capacity	40,158
Field dimensions	101 x 68 metres
Tenants
Everton F.C. (1892-present)

Goodison Park is a football stadium in Liverpool, England and home ground of Everton F.C. The ground was built in 1892, though it has been greatly developed since, having an all-seated capacity of 40,158.

Goodison Park is the world's first purpose-built football stadium and has recorded several firsts in stadium development in England. As well as hosting Everton games, the stadium has been the venue for an FA Cup Final and numerous international fixtures, including several in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The stadium's future is currently undecided, as the club have been pursuing the construction of a new stadium in the Kirkby area (known as the Everton Kirkby Project) on the outskirts of Liverpool.

[edit] History

[edit] Before Goodison Park

Everton originally played on an open pitch in the southeast corner of the newly laid out Stanley Park. This is the site for the proposed new Liverpool F.C. stadium. The first official match took place in 1879. In 1882, a Mr J. Cruit donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home for two years, with the necessary facilities required for professional clubs. Mr Cruit asked the club to leave his land as the crowds became far too large and noisy.^[2]

Everton moved to nearby Anfield, where proper covered stands were built. Everton played at Anfield from 1884 until 1892.^[3] During this time the club turned professional, entering teams in the FA Cup and became founder members of the Football League,^[4] winning their first championship at the ground in 1890–91.^[5] The ground's capacity reached over 20,000 and the club hosted an England vs. Ireland international match. Everton were the first team to introduce the goalnet to professional football, at Anfield.^[6]

At this time, a dispute of how the club was to be owned and run emerged with Anfield's majority owner and Everton's chairman, John Houlding.^[7] A dispute between Houlding and the club's committee, initially over the full purchase of the land at Anfield from minor land owner Mr Orrell, snowballed to a principled disagreement of how the club was run. This caused Everton to leave Anfield, Houlding forming Liverpool F.C. to play at the now vacant ground.^[8][9] Ever since those events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football.

[edit] Goodison Park

Dr. James Baxter of the Everton committee donated a £1,000 interest-free loan for the building of Goodison Park. The stadium was the world's first purpose-built football ground, with stands on three sides. Goodison Park was officially opened on the 24th August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the FA. No football was played. Instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short athletics meeting followed by music and a fireworks display.

The first match at Goodison Park was on 2 September 1892 between Everton and Bolton Wanderers, Everton wearing new club colours of salmon and dark blue stripes. Everton won the game 4–2. The first league game at Goodison Park took place on 3 September, 1892 against Nottingham Forest. The game ended in a 2–2 draw, the stadium's first competitive goal was scored by Forest’s Horace Pike, with the first Everton goal coming from Fred Geary. Everton's first league victory at their new ground came in the next home game with a 6–0 defeat of Newton Heath, the current Manchester United

An improved Bullens Road Stand was built in 1895 with the open Goodison Road side covered, giving cover on all four sides of the ground. Over the following 35 years Everton built in each decade a double decker-stand culminating in the 1930s with four double-decker stands. The first covered dugouts in England were constructed at Goodison Park, in 1931, following Everton's visit to Pittodrie to play a friendly against Aberdeen, where such dugouts had been constructed at the behest of the Dons' trainer Donald Coleman. On 11 July 1913 it became the first English football ground to be visited by a reigning monarch when King George V and Queen Mary attended.

Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English football ground to install undersoil heating.^[10]

In the 1931-32 season Goodison Park was the venue of the most goals scored at home in a league season, 84 by Everton.

Goodison Park has recently gained the nickname the The Grand Old Lady. It was the first British sports ground ever to have double-decker stands on all 4 sides and the first to have a 3 tier stand. It was also the first English league ground to install undersoil heating.

The greatest match the stadium has ever held, according to voters at Everton's official website, was a European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich in 1985. Bayern, leading at half time, were defeated by three second half Everton goals from Andy Gray, Graeme Sharp and Trevor Steven.

The ground is situated in a tightly-packed residential district, which has made modern expansion of the ground extremely difficult, if not impossible. One corner of the ground has a church, St Luke the Evangelist, protruding into the site. The tightness of the site entailed that Everton built upwards in double-decked stands. The site has come to a point where any modernisation would require a landtake.

The pitch is one of the largest in the Premiership, or the old Football League, most pitches tending towards a de facto standard of 110 x 70 yards. Goodison Park is considerably wider and slightly longer.

[edit] Structure

Goodison Park has a total capacity of 40,158 all-seated and comprises four separate stands: the Main Stand, Gwladys Street Stand, Bullens Road, and the Stanley Park End.

[edit] Main Stand

The stand previous to the Main Stand was the large 1909 double-decker, called the Mauretania Stand, after the ship of the same name which was designed by Archibald Leitch. The "Athletic News'" published a piece in the summer of 1909:

"Visitors to Goodison Park will be astonished at the immensity of the new double-decker stand".^{[citation needed]}

The current Main Stand was completed in 1971, at a cost of £1 million. Facilities over any other stand in the country at the time included, the 500 and 300 members clubs and an escalator to the top balcony.^[2] A small number of corporate boxes were added in 1980. The stand became all seated in 1994 and now has a capacity of 12,664.

The stand is a double-decker stand with the Main Stand section below and the Top Balcony above. The Main Stand section is fronted by another seated section known as the Family Enclosure. The Enclosure was originally terracing prior to the advent of all-seater stadia. The Top Balcony is the highest part of the stadium.

The main stand is also home to the conference and hospitality facilities. On non-match days Goodison Park holds conferences, weddings, meetings and parties on a daily basis.

[edit] Bullens Road

Bullens Road is a two-tier steel frame and wooden floor stand also designed by Archibald Leitch and completed in 1926. On the east side of the ground the stand is divided into the Upper Bullens, Lower Bullens and the Paddock. Originally, the stand was upper seating with the lower named The Paddock being terracing. The rear of the Paddock was seated in 1963. Both lower tiers are now seated. An overhanging roof was also added in 1963.

The stand was extensively fireproofed with widened aisles in 1977, which entailed closure of parts of the stand. Because of the closure, Anfield was chosen over first choice Goodison Park for the Wales vs. Scotland world cup qualifying tie.

The rear of the south end of the Bullens Road stand houses away supporters. The north corner of the stand is connected to the Gwladys Street Stand. The current capacity of the stand is 10,784.

[edit] Gwladys Street Stand

Constructed in 1938, the stand's completion was delayed as an old man refused to move from his home, which obstructed the site.^{[citation needed]} Gwladys Street, like Bullens Road is a two-tier Archibald Leitch stand and is divided into Upper Gwladys and Lower Gwladys. Behind the goal at the north end of Goodison Park, the Gwladys Street Stand is the "Popular End", holding the most boisterous and vociferous home supporters. It is known as "the street end". If Everton win the toss before kick-off the captain traditionally elects to play towards the Gwladys Street End in the second half. An overhanging roof was added in 1987, meshing into the Bullens Road stand roof. The Lower Gwladys, formerly known as the Gwladys Street Terrace and The Ground, was converted to an all-seater stand in 1992 and now has a capacity of 10,788.

[edit] The Park End

At the south end of the ground, behind one goal, the Park Stand backs onto Walton Lane which borders Stanley Park. The single tiered stand was contentious,^{[citation needed]} as it broke from the multi-tiered tradition of Goodison Park.

The predecessor, formally known as the Goodison Avenue Stand and later the Park End Stand, was built in 1906. This historical stand was the country's first double-decker. In the 1970s and 1980s this stand accommodated the away fans. In the 1960s the stand was the most vocal of the two goal stands with Everton fans occupying both ends. The lower tier of the old stand was never seated with the rear terracing closed off as the terracing steeps were wood. The front concrete terracing was one of the last standing areas at a Premiership ground.

During the 1960s and 1970s, both ends of the ground featured a large semicircle behind the goals. (Which dates back to the 1966 World Cup).

The Taylor report prompted the Football Trust to allocate grants to improve stadia. Everton applied for a grant, opting for a cheap single-tier, cantilever stand. The stand design and constriction process was in motion when eventual owner Peter Johnson was bidding for the club. He attempted to stop the construction viewing the stand too small and not taking full advantage of ground behind.^{[citation needed]} The Park End has the smallest capacity at Goodison Park. The current layout of the stand was completed in 1994 with a capacity of 5,922.

[edit] The future

It is possible to expand landlocked Goodison Park further but officials at the club currently believe that it would not be financially viable to do so as a large landtake would be needed.

The officials at Everton wish to move to a new stadium in neighbouring borough Knowsley as part of a project called 'Destination Kirkby' which would include the United Kingdom's 6th largest Tesco supermarket. The plans were 'called in' for a public inquiry and the outcome will be known by late November 2009 following a decision by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

[edit] Other uses

Goodison Park became the first Football League ground to hold an FA Cup Final, in 1894. Notts County beat Bolton Wanderers, watched by crowd of 37,000. An FA Cup final replay was staged in 1910 with Newcastle United beating Barnsley 2–0.

On 26 December, 1920, Goodison Park hosted a match between; Dick, Kerr's Ladies & St Helens Ladies. An estimated 67,000 attended the match, with 14,000 being locked out, at a time when the average gate at Goodison Park in 1919–20 was 29,050. Dick, Kerr's Ladies won 4-0 & over £3,000 was raised for charity. A year later, Goodison Park played host to Lancashire when they took on the Australia's Northern Union team and lost 29 points to 6.

On May 19 1938 George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended Goodison Park to present new colours to the 5th Battalion the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) and the Liverpool Scottish (Queens Own Cameron Highlanders) in front of 80,000 spectators.

After the First World War the US baseball teams Chicago White Sox and New York Giants played an exhibition match at Goodison Park. One player managed to hit a ball clear over the large Goodison Road Stand. The Liverpool Trojans and Formby Cardinals were the last two teams to play baseball at Goodison Park. This was in the Lancashire Cup Final in 1948.^[11]

Goodison Park was in 1949, the site of England's first ever defeat on English soil by a non-Home Nations country, namely the Republic of Ireland.

The ground hosted five matches including a semi-final for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and 1895 Goodison Park hosted England vs Scotland and so Everton became the first club to host England internationals on two grounds. The city of Liverpool also became the first English city to stage England games at three different venues, the other being Aigburth Cricket Club.

The last Everton player to play in an international at Goodison Park was Ray Wilson for England versus Poland 5 January, 1966. The game ended 1-1 and England's goal was scored by Bobby Moore. This was his first international goal and the only one on English soil. In 1973 Goodison hosted Northern Ireland's home games against Wales and England.

Over 800 fans' ashes have been buried at Goodison Park. ^[12]

[edit] Details

[edit] Records

Record Attendance: 78,299 v Liverpool, 18 September, 1948 (old First Division)

[edit] Average attendances

[edit] Neutral matches played at Goodison Park

Results of FA Cup Finals at Goodison Park

Other Neutral Matches at Goodison Park

¹ Northern Ireland's goal was scored by Everton player Alex Stevenson, which meant that he became the first player to score an international away goal on his club's home ground.

² This was one of two matches which trialled having two referees in a single match. The other trial was on 8 May 1935 when the Football League team beat West Bromwich Albion 9-6 at The Hawthorns.

³ Due to war damage, Old Trafford was closed at the time, and Manchester United were playing their home matches at Maine Road. However, on the same day, Manchester City were at home to Chelsea in another FA Cup tie and as a result this tie was switched to Goodison Park.

⁴ This was the first time that England had been beaten at home by a team from outside the Home Nations.

⁵ The original schedule of the 1966 World Cup meant that if England won their group and then reached the Semi final, the match would be held at Goodison Park. However, the organising committee were allowed to swap the venues, with England playing Portugal at Wembley Stadium.

⁶ On 22 February 1973 the Irish FA announced that Northern Ireland's home matches in the Home International Championship would be moved to Goodison Park due to the civil unrest within Belfast at that time. These are the only home matches that Northern Ireland have played outside of Northern Ireland itself.

⁸ Due to a pitch invasion at the original match (which Newcastle United won 4-3), the F.A. ordered the tie to be replayed at a neutral venue.

[edit] Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (April 2009)

• Portuguese international Eusebio won the golden boot in 1966 for scoring 9 goals in the World Cup competition, 6 of them were scored at Goodison Park.

• Brazilian international Garrincha played 49 times for Brazil, the only game he lost with Brazil national team was at Goodison Park against Portugal.

• Both William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean and former manager Harry Catterick died at Goodison Park.

• Goodison Park is unique in the sense that a church, St Luke's, protrudes into the site between the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street Stand. Everton do not play early kick-offs on Sundays in order to permit Sunday services at the church.

• The scoreboard was first introduced on 20 November, 1971. Everton beat Southampton in a snowstorm 8-0 with Joe Royle scoring 4, David Johnson 3 and Alan Ball one.

• The houses in the streets to the west of the Main Stand were built by Owen's - a Welsh building firm. The full name of the company can be found by taking the first letters of these street names!!

• The record score by Everton in a competitive game at Goodison Park is 12-1 for a Youth Cup tie between Everton and Wigan Athletic on 14 January 1964.

• Everton have entertained non-English opposition on 75 occasions in the post-war period at Goodison Park (up to end 2008-9 season). Shamrock Rovers, Kilmarnock, Glasgow Rangers, Dundee United, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Feyenoord, Bayern Munich, Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven have all appeared more than once.

• Between 23 April, 1984 and 2 September, 1986 Everton scored in 47 consecutive games at Goodison Park registering 36 wins and 7 draws, scoring 123 goals in the process whilst conceding 38. Graeme Sharp scored 32 of these goals.

• Between 16 September, 1961 and 23 August, 1963 Everton remained unbeaten at Goodison Park - a run of 43 games - winning 34 and drawing 9 - scoring 121 goals and conceding just 31.

• Everton regularly entertained Army sides at Goodison Park in the 1950s.

• Until the expansion of Old Trafford in 1996 Goodison Park held the record Sunday attendance on a Football League ground (53,509 v West Bromwich Albion, FA Cup, 1974)

• Goodison Park featured in the filming of The Golden Vision, a film made for television. The matches featured in the film were League Division 1 games v Manchester City on 4 November, 1967 (1-1 draw) and 18 November, 1967 v Sheffield United (1-0 win) - the scorer of the winner that day was Alex Young, aka The Golden Vision or Golden Ghost.

[edit] Famous quotes

• "I am the sort of person who can walk into a room and immediately sense vibes about a place - and when I first walked into Goodison Park in November 1960 I could feel something spiritual"- Alex 'Golden Vision' Young

• "Goodison Park is for me the best stadium in my life" - Eusébio

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ The original cost of the ground. Further costly developments have occurred since
2. ^ ^{a b} The Football Grounds of Britain by Simon Inglis
3. ^ "I: THE EARLY DAYS (1878-88)". Toffeeweb. http://www.toffeeweb.com/history/concise/1878-1888.asp. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
4. ^ "HISTORY OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE". The Football League. 2008-08-03. http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/History/HistoryDetail/0,,10794~1357277,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
5. ^ "The Everton Story 1878-1930". Everton F.C.. http://www.evertonfc.com/history/everton-the-begining.html?page=3. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
6. ^ "General Trivia". Toffeeweb. http://toffeeweb.com/history/trivia/efc-trivia.asp. Retrieved 2009--04-17. 
7. ^ Inglis, Simon (1996). The Football Grounds of Britain. CollinsWillow. ISBN 0002184265. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fTqpAAAACAAJ&dq=The+Football+Grounds+of+Britain. Retrieved 2009-04-18. 
8. ^ LFC Story. Liverpool F.C. website. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
9. ^ "History II: BEFORE WORLD WAR I (1888-1915)". Toffeeweb. http://toffeeweb.com/history/concise/1888-1915.asp. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
10. ^ "Everton firsts". Everton F.C.. http://www.evertonfc.com/history/everton-firsts.html. Retrieved 2006-08-22. 
11. ^ http://www.liverpooltrojansbaseball.co.uk/History_Main.htm
12. ^ Ward, David (16 June 2004). "Goodison Park to end fan burials". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/jun/16/football.davidward. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 

[edit] External links

• Toffeeweb History of Goodison Park

v • d • e Everton Football Club
The club	History · Players · Managers · Staff · Records and statistics · Seasons · All articles
Home Stadium	Anfield (1884–1892) · Goodison Park (1892–Present Day) · Kirkby
Training Ground	Bellefield (1946–2007) · Finch Farm (2007–Present Day)
Miscellaneous	Merseyside derby · The Everton Collection · Supporters · St Luke's Church · EvertonTV · Former Players' Foundation · Prince Rupert's Tower
Affiliates	Everton Ladies · Everton Tigers

v • d • e Premier League venues
Current	Anfield · Boleyn Ground · Britannia Stadium · City of Manchester Stadium · Craven Cottage · DW Stadium · Emirates Stadium · Ewood Park · Fratton Park · Goodison Park · KC Stadium · Molineux Stadium · Old Trafford · Reebok Stadium · St Andrew's · Stadium of Light · Stamford Bridge · Turf Moor · Villa Park · White Hart Lane
Former	Boundary Park · Bramall Lane · Carrow Road · City Ground · County Ground · Elland Road · Hillsborough Stadium · Loftus Road · Madejski Stadium · Oakwell · Portman Road · Pride Park Stadium · Riverside Stadium · St Mary's Stadium · St James' Park · Selhurst Park · The Hawthorns · The Valley · Valley Parade · Vicarage Road · Walkers Stadium
Demolished	Arsenal Stadium (Highbury) · Ayresome Park · Baseball Ground · Burnden Park · The Dell · Filbert Street · Highfield Road · Maine Road · Roker Park

v • d • e 1966 FIFA World Cup Stadiums Ayresome Park (Middlesbrough)  · Goodison Park (Liverpool)  · Hillsborough Stadium (Sheffield)  · Old Trafford (Manchester)  · Roker Park (Sunderland)  · Villa Park (Birmingham)  · Wembley (London)  · White City Stadium (London)

Preceded by Fallowfield Stadium Manchester

FA Cup Final Venue 1894

Succeeded by Crystal Palace London