Goodison Park
Encyclopedia
Goodison Park is a football stadium
located in Walton
, Liverpool
, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C.
since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds
. The stadium is built in a residential area served by regular rail and bus services two miles (3 km) from Liverpool
city centre.
Goodison has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has an all-seated capacity of 40,157. Everton fans refer to the stadium as "The Grand Old Lady" and the abridged "Goodison".
It has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England. Goodison has hosted the maximum number of league games since the Premier League was formed in 1992, as Everton have remained in the top tier of English football since 1954. The club has only been outside the top division for four seasons, having only been relegated twice (in 1930 and 1951).
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 record for the highest attendance in women's football was set at Goodison Park in 1920. This game's high attendance resulted in women's football being banned by the Football Association for 50 years as they felt it threatened the men's game.
Goodison Park was conceived in unusual circumstances: two factions of politicians on the Everton board grappled to control the destiny of the club. A split emerged with the members with the majority leaving their home at Anfield
forming Goodison Park. Everton F.C.'s relocation to Goodison Park was one of the earliest cases of a team moving to a new stadium for monetary benefit.
, which 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 with the necessary facilities required for professional clubs. Cruit asked the club to leave his land after two years because the crowds became far too large and noisy.
Everton moved to nearby Anfield, where proper covered stands were built. Everton played at Anfield from 1884 until 1892. During this time the club turned professional and entered teams in the FA Cup
. They became founding members of the Football League and won their first championship at the ground in 1890–91. Anfield's capacity grew to over 20,000 and the club hosted an international match between England
and Ireland. During their time at Anfield, Everton became the first club to introduce goalnets to professional football.
In the 1890s, a dispute about how the club was to be owned and run emerged with John Houlding
, Anfield's majority owner and Everton's Chairman, at the forefront. Houlding and the club's committee initially disagreed about the full purchase of the land at Anfield from minor land owner Mr Orrell and escalated into a principled disagreement of how the club was run. Two such disagreements included Houlding wanting Everton to sell only his brewery produce during an event and for the Everton players to use his public house The Sandon as changing room facilities.
The most famous of the disagreements concerns the level of increased rent Everton were asked to pay. In 1884, Everton paid £100 to Houlding in rent and by the 1889–90 season he was charging Everton £250. Everton had to pay for all work and stands. The dispute escalated to a rent of £370 per year being demanded. In the complicated lead up to the split in the club, the rent dispute is too simplistic to be singled out as the prime cause. The dispute was compounded by many minor disputed points.
The flashpoint was a covenant in the contract of land purchase by Houlding from Orrell causing further and deep friction. A strip of land at the Anfield ground bordering the adjacent land owned by Mr Orrell, could be used to provide a right of way access road for Orrell's landlocked vacant site. In early 1891 the club erected a stand on this now proposed roadway, which was also overlapping Orrell's land, unbeknown to the Everton F.C. Committee. In August 1891 Orrell announced intentions of developing his land next to the football ground and building an access road on the land owned by Houlding and occupied by Everton F.C.
Everton F.C. stated they knew nothing of the covenant, Houlding stated they did. This situation created great distrust and friction between Houlding and the Everton F.C. Committee. The rift and distrust between the committee and Houlding was on three levels, Houlding's personal business intentions, politically and morally. Nevertheless, the club faced a dilemma of having to destroy the new revenue generating stand or compensate Orrell.
Houlding's way around the problem was to propose a limited company with floatation of the club enabling the club to purchase Houlding's and Orrell's land outright, hoping to raise £12,000. Previous attempts to raise money from the community had failed miserably. This would have meant the club would need to find £6,000 in cash with an additional £4,875 mortgage. The Everton Committee initially accepted Houlding's proposal in principle, however voting against at a meeting.
After much negotiating and brinkmanship on both sides Everton vacated Anfield with Houlding left with an empty stadium, who promptly formed Liverpool F.C.
.
The clubs themselves have differing versions of events of why it occurred.
(LLC) be formed and that the company should purchase his land and local brewer Joseph Orrel's land for a combined £9,237. A club run by an LLC was unusual for the time as football clubs were usually run as “sports clubs” with members paying an annual fee. The proposal was supported by William Barclay
, the club secretary and a close friend of Houlding.
Liberal Party
politician and Everton board member George Mahon
fought the proposal and put forward his own amendment which was carried by the Everton board. At the time Everton's board contained both Conservative
and Liberal Party councillors. Houlding and Mahon had previously clashed during local elections.
Both men agreed that Everton should operate as an LLC; however, they had different ideas about share
ownership. Houlding suggested that 12,000 shares be created with each Everton board member given one share and the other shares sold to the public or Everton board members. Mahon disagreed and proposed that 500 shares be created with no member carrying more than 10 shares and board members being given "7 or 8" shares. Mahon reasoned "we would rather have a large number of individual applications so that there will be more supporters of the club."
A special general meeting
was convened at the former Liverpool College building on Shaw Street on 25 January 1892. John Houlding's proposal was defeated once more and George Mahon suggested that Everton relocate to another site. A heckler
shouted, "You can't find one!" Mahon responded "I have one in my pocket" and he revealed an option to lease Mere Green field, in Walton, Lancashire
, the site of what is today known as Goodison Park.
The Liverpool press were partisan. The proposal was deemed to be a positive move for the club by the Liberal-leaning Liverpool Daily Post
which described Houlding's ousting as "having shaken off the incubus." The Tory-supporting Liverpool Courier and Liverpool Evening Express—owned by Conservative
MP
for Everton, John A. Willox, a Trustee
of the Licensed Victuallers’ and Brewers’ Association—took Houlding's side. The Courier published letters regularly criticising Mahon's supporters—many of which were anonymous. Philanthropist William Hartley
, a jam manufacturer and Robert William Hudson
, a prominent soap-manufacturer supported Mahon.
The stadium was named Goodison Park because the length of it was built against Goodison Road. The road was named after a civil engineer called George Goodison who provided a sewage report to the Walton Local Board in the mid-1800s and later became a local land owner.
The Mere Green field was owned by Christopher Leyland and Everton rented it until they were in a position to buy it outright. Initially, the field needed work as parts of the site had to be excavated, the field was levelled, a drainage system was installed and turf was laid. This work was considered to be a 'formidable initial expenditure' and a local contractor Mr Barton was contracted to work on the 29471 square yards (24,641.5 m²) site at 4½d per square yard—a total cost of £552. A J. Prescott was brought in as an architectural advisor and surveyor.
Walton
-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested. The combined cost of these stands was £1,640 and Everton inserted a penalty clause into the contract in case the work was not completed by its 31 July deadline. Everton officials were impressed with the builder's workmanship and agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost of £150 and 12 turnstile
s were installed at a cost of £7 each. In 1894, Benjamin Kelly of Kelly Brothers was appointed as a director of Everton.
Dr. James Baxter of the Everton committee donated a £1,000 interest
-free loan
to build Goodison Park. The stadium was England's first purpose-built football ground, with stands on three sides. Goodison Park was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short athletics event followed by music and a fireworks display. Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built football stadium in the world; Celtic's
Parkhead
ground in Scotland
was inaugurated on the same day as Goodison.
The first match at Goodison Park was on 2 September 1892 between Everton and . Everton wore its new club colours of salmon and dark blue stripes and won the exhibition 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 and the first Everton goal came 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
in front of an estimated 10,000 spectators.
It was announced at a general meeting on 22 March 1895 that the club could finally afford to buy Goodison Park. Mahon revealed that Everton were buying Goodison Park for £650 less than the price of Anfield three years earlier, and Goodison Park had more land and had 25% larger capacity. The motion to purchase Goodison Park was passed unanimously. Dr. Baxter also lent the club £5,000 to pay the mortgage
early at a rate of 3½%. By this time the redrawing of political boundaries meant that Walton, and hence Goodison Park, were within the City of Liverpool.
In 1999, The Independent
newspaper journalist David Conn
unexpectedly coined the nickname "The Grand Old Lady" for the stadium when he wrote "Another potential suitor has apparently thought better of Everton, walking away on Tuesday from the sagging Grand Old Lady of English football, leaving her still in desperate need of a makeover."
s meant that the goal line had to be moved seven metres north, towards Gwladys Street. In January 1908, he complained that his fees had not been paid and the bill for the stand was near £13,000. There were 2,657 seats on its upper tier with a terrace below.
Archibald Leitch
designed the Goodison Road Stand with construction in 1909. In September that year Ernest Edwards, the Liverpool Echo
journalist who christened the terrace at Anfield
the "Spion Kop", wrote of the newly built stand, "The building as one looks at it, suggests the side of Mauretania at once." The stand was occasionally referred to as the "Mauretania Stand", in reference to the Liverpool-registered , then the world's largest ship, which operated from the Port of Liverpool
.
The two-tier steel
frame and wooden floor Bullens Road Stand, designed by Archibald Leitch, was completed in 1926. The upper tier was seated, with terracing below, a part of the ground called The Paddock. The original Bullens Road Stand was replaced by a new one in 1895 with the open Goodison Road side covered, giving cover on all four sides of the ground. Few changes were made until 1963 when the rear of the Paddock was seated and an overhanging roof was added. The stand is known for Archibald Leitch's highly distinctive balcony truss
es which also act as handrails for the front row of seats in the Upper Bullens stand. Goodison Park is the only stadium with two complete trusses designed by Leitch. Of the 17 created, only Goodison Park, Ibrox
and Fratton Park
retain these trusses.
Everton constructed covered dugouts
in 1931. The idea was inspired by a visit to Pittodrie
to play a friendly against Aberdeen
, where such dugouts had been constructed at the behest of the Dons' trainer Donald Colman
. The Goodison Park dugouts were the first in England.
The ground become an entirely two-tiered affair in 1938 with another Archibald Leitch stand at the Gwladys Street end. The stand completed at a cost of £50,000, being delayed because an old man would not move from his to be demolished home. Architect Leitch and Everton Chairman Will Cuff became close friends with Cuff appointed as Leitch's accountant with Leitch moving to nearby Formby
.
In 1940, during the Second World War, the Gwladys Street Stand suffered bomb damage. The bomb had landed directly in Gwladys Street and caused serious injury to nearby residents. The bomb splinter damage to the bricks on the stand is still noticeable. The cost of repair was £5,000 and was paid for by the War Damage Commission
.
The Director's minutes read: "It was decided also that Messrs A. Leitch be instructed to value the cost of complete renewal of damaged properties and that a claim should be forwarded to the War Damage Claims department within the prescribed 30 days.
"The damage referred to included the demolition of a wide section of the new stand outer wall in Gwladys St, destruction of all glass in this stand, damage to every door, canteen, water and electricity pipe and all lead fittings: perforate roof in hundreds of places.
"On Bullens Road side, a bomb dropped in the school yard had badly damaged the exterior wall of this stand and the roof was badly perforated here also. A third bomb outside the practice ground had demolished the surrounding hoarding and had badly damaged glass in the Goodison Ave and Walton Lane property."
The first floodlit match at Goodison Park took place when Everton hosted Liverpool on 9 October 1957 in front of 58,771 spectators. Four pylons 185 feet (56.4 m) each with 36 lamps installed were installed behind each corner of the pitch, at the time they were tallest in the country. There was capacity for 18 more lamps per pylon if it was felt the brightness was insufficient for the game. Each bulb was a 1,500 watt tungsten bulb 15 inches in diameter and cost 25 shillings. It was recommended that the club made a habit of changing them after three to four seasons to save the club performing intermittent repairs. MANWEB
installed a transformer sub-station to cope with the 6,000 volt-load.
The first undersoil heating system in English football was installed at Goodison Park in 1958, with 20 miles (30 km) of electric wire laid beneath the playing surface at a cost of £16,000. The system was more effective than anticipated and the drainage system could not cope with the quantity of water produced from the melting of frost and snow. As a consequence the pitch had to be relaid in 1960 to allow a more suitable drainage system to be installed.
The Everton chairman Sir John Moores
who presided over the club between 1960 and 1973 provided finances for the club in the form of loans to become involved in large-scale redevelopment projects and compete with other clubs for the best players, for a period of time under his stewardship Everton were known as 'The Mersey Millionaires'.
Goodison Park featured in the filming of The Golden Vision, a BBC
film made for television. The matches featured in the film were Division One games against Manchester City
on 4 November 1967 (1–1 draw) and 18 November 1967 versus Sheffield United
(1–0 win)—the scorer of the winner that day was Alex Young, also known as The Golden Vision or Golden Ghost after whom the film was named.
Everton were the first club to have a scoreboard installed in England. On 20 November 1971 Everton beat Southampton
8–0 with Joe Royle
scoring four, David Johnson three and Alan Ball one. The scoreboard did not have enough room to display the goal scorer's names and simply read "7 9 7 9 8 9 9 7" as it displayed the goal scorers' shirt numbers instead.
The Goodison Road Stand was partially demolished and rebuilt during the 1969–70 season with striking images of both old and new stands side by side. The new stand opened 1971, at a cost of £1 million. The new stand housed the 500 and 300 members clubs and an escalator
to the tallest stand in the ground—the Top Balcony. However, not everyone thought that the upgrade was necessary at the time. Journalist Geoffrey Green
of The Times wrote "Goodison Park has always been a handsome fashionable stage for football, a living thing full of atmospherics-like a theatre. And now it has stepped into the demanding seventies with a facelift it scarcely seemed to need compared with some of us I know. New giant stands in place of the old; the latest in dazzling floodlight systems that cast not a shadow. A cathedral of a place indeed, fit for the gods of the game."
The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 saw the Bullens Road Stand extensively fireproofed with widened aisles, which entailed closure of parts of the stand. Because of the closure, Anfield was chosen over first choice Goodison Park for a Wales
vs. Scotland
World Cup
qualifying tie.
Following Moores' exit from Everton's hierarchy, minimum changes have been made to Goodison Park's structure due to costs, two British Government Acts; the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and Football Spectators Act 1989
have forced the club's hand into improving the facilities. Upon Moore's death the club was sold to Peter Johnson.
Everton legends William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean
and former manager Harry Catterick
both died at Goodison Park. Dean suffered from a heart attack aged 73 in 1980, whilst Catterick died five years later, also suffering a heart attack aged 65.
Everton F.C. celebrated the centenary of Goodison Park with a game against German club side Borussia Mönchengladbach
in August 1992. In addition, 200 limited edition medals were created and Liverpool based author and journalist Ken Rogers wrote a book One Hundred Years Of Goodison Glory to commemorate the occasion.
, in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster
, top-flight English football grounds had to become all-seated. At the time three of the four sides of the ground had standing areas. The Enclosure, fronting the main stand, had already been made all-seated in time for the 1987–88 season and was given the new name of Family Enclosure. The Paddock, the Park End terrace and the Gwladys Street terrace, known as 'the Ground', were standing and had to be replaced.
The fences around the perimiter of the ground fronting the terracing (which were to prevent fans, notably hooligans, running onto the pitch) were removed immediately post Hillsborough, in time for the rearranged league fixture with Liverpool. The Everton match versus Luton Town in May 1991 was the final time that Gwladys Street allowed standing spectators. Seats were installed in the Paddock, while the Lower Gwladys Street was later completely rebuilt to accommodate seating with new concrete steps.
Everton opted to demolish the entire Park End stand in 1994 and replace it with a single-tier cantilever
stand, with the assistance of a grant of £1.3 million from the Football Trust
.
Goodison Park has a total capacity of 40,157 all-seated and comprises four separate stands: the Goodison Road Stand, Gwladys Street Stand, Bullens Road Stand, and the Park End Stand.
The back wall of the stand cuts into the stand because of the non-square nature of the Goodison Park site. The Goodison Road 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.
design.
.
. The name of the stand was originally the Stanley Park End but it's commonly referred to as the Park End. The single tiered stand broke from the multi-tiered tradition of Goodison Park. The Park End has the smallest capacity at Goodison Park. The current layout of the stand was opened on 17 September 1994 with a capacity of 5,922. It was opened by David Hunt, a Member of Parliament. During the structure's development, fans were able to watch matches by climbing trees in neighbouring Stanley Park.
In the late 1970s and 1980s the stand accommodated the away fans. Previously it was open to home supporters. The lower tier of the old stand was terracing and this was closed off by the turn of the 1980s due to it being a fire hazard as the terracing steps were wooden. The front concrete terracing remained and was one of the last standing areas at a Premiership ground.
During the 1960s and 1970s, both ends of the ground featured a large arc behind the goals. This was created as a requirement for the 1966 World Cup because the crowd had to be a required distance from the goals.
The area around Goodison Park when built was a dense area full of terraced housing, and Goodison Avenue behind the Park End stand was no different. Oddly housing was built right in to the stand itself (as shown on old photographs of Goodison and in programmes). The club had previously owned many of the houses on the road and rented them to players. One of the players to live there, Dixie Dean
later had a statue erected in his honour near the Park End on Walton Lane.
By the 1990s the club had demolished virtually the whole street and this coincided with the redevelopment of the Park End stand. However at present the majority of the land is now an open car park for the club and its Marquee.
have had their funeral service held there.
The church can be seen from the Park End and Bullens Road and has featured prominently over the years as a backdrop during live televised matches. It is also the home to the Everton Former Players' Foundation
of which the Reverend is a trustee.
The church has over the years curtailed development of the ground. Everton did attempt to pay for its removal in order to gain extra space for a larger capacity. One of two jumbotron screens (both installed in 2000) has been installed between the Goodison Road stand and Gwladys Street stand partially obscuring the church from view. The other is situated between the Bullens Road and Park End.
Imaginative spectators would climb the church and watch a football game from the rooftop however they have now been deterred from doing so with the installation of security measures such as barbed wire
and anti-climb paint
. In addition, the introduction of the 'all-seater' ruling following the Taylor Report
has meant that spectators no longer resort to climbing nearby buildings for a glimpse of the event as a seat is guaranteed with a purchased ticket.
In January 2001, plans were drawn up to move to a 55,000-seat purpose-built arena on the site of the King's Dock in Liverpool. The proposed stadium would have had a retractable roof enabling it to be used for concerts and chairman Bill Kenwright
had hoped to have it ready for the 2005–06 season
.
However, the plans were abandoned in April 2003 due to the club not being able to raise adequate funds. Following this, plans were made to move to Kirkby
, just outside the city, in a joint venture with the supermarket chain Tesco
. The scheme was greatly divisive amongst supporters and local authorities, but was rejected in late November 2009 following a decision by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
.
The site of Goodison Park was earmarked in 1997 and 2003 for a food store by Tesco who offered £12 million which was valued at £4 million for the site but Liverpool City Council's advisor's advised against allowing planning permission. The club were advised that the planning permission
required would not necessarily be granted, and chose not to take the scheme further.
Supporters' groups have fought against the club moving to a new stadium twice. In 2007 a group was established called Keep Everton In Our City (KEIOC) whose aim is to keep Everton FC inside the city of Liverpool. The KEIOC attempted to prevent the club moving to a new stadium in Kirkby
, just outside the city limits. The supporters' groups have argued that it is possible to expand Goodison Park, despite the odd shaped landlocked site being surrounded by housing, local authority buildings, and have produced image renders, architectural drawings and costings for a redeveloped Goodison Park. The then Liverpool City Council
leader Warren Bradley stated in November 2009 that a redevelopment of Goodison Park was his favoured option, and that relocation of the homes, infrastructure and businesses in streets adjoining the ground is "not a major hurdle". The current Council leader Joe Anderson stated, "the setback for Everton was an opportunity for both clubs to go back to the drawing board".
Everton's current position regarding the future of Goodison Park is that they are considering all options, including relocation, redevelopment of the current ground, or a groundshare
with Liverpool F.C., in a new, purpose-built stadium in Stanley Park, stressing that finance is the main factor affecting decision-making.
In 2010 Everton supporters approached University of Liverpool
and Liverpool City Council
to initiate a dedicated 'Football Quarter'/'Sports City' zone around Goodison Park, Stanley Park
and Anfield
. The University and City Council met with the North West Development Agency, Everton and Liverpool F.C.
representatives but no further action has been taken.
Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10.02.2011, proposes to open the eastern section of the Liverpool Outer Loop line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project". This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid-transit Merseyrail
line circling the city giving high throughput, fast transport access. This would entail Liverpool FC abandoning the relocation plans from their Anfield ground to the planned nearby Stanley Park Stadium
.
-based Formroom Architects. In September 2010 the club submitted a planning application to Liverpool City Council.
The proposed development is a four-storey building which include a retail store, ticket office, offices, conference and catering facilities and a museum
. The project has been delayed twice and is currently scheduled to be completed by July 2012.
is the nearest mainline station. The nearest station to the stadium is Kirkdale railway station
on the Merseyrail
Northern Line
which is located just over half a mile (800 m) away. On match days there is also a frequent shuttle bus service from Sandhills railway station
known as "SoccerBus". In 2007 Sandhills underwent a £6million renovation to help encourage people to use the rail service.
Walton and Anfield railway station located on Walton Lane
—the same road that the Park End backs onto—was the nearest station to Goodison Park until its closure in 1948. It is possible that the station could be re-opened should the freight only Canada Dock Branch
line once again run passenger trains. A new Stanley Park railway station
is proposed for nearby Liverpool FC, being near enough for use by both clubs.
There are on-site parking facilities for supporters (limited to 230 spaces) and the streets around the ground allow parking only for residents with permits. The Car Parking resident parking scheme is operated by Liverpool City Council
.
. Since Everton have played at Goodison Park for all but 4 of their 106 league seasons, this means that Goodison Park has hosted more top-flight games than any other in England. Goodison is the only English club ground to have hosted a FIFA World Cup
semi final. 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).
Everton won 15 home league games in a row between 4 October 1930 and 4 April 1931. In the 1931–32 season Goodison Park was the venue of the most goals scored at home in a league season, 84 by Everton. Between 23 April 1984 and 2 September 1986 Everton scored consecutively in 47 games., registering 36 wins and 7 draws and scoring 123 goals in the process while conceding 38. Scottish striker Graeme Sharp
scored 32 of these goals.
Jack Southworth
holds the record for most goals scored in one game at Goodison Park, scoring six versus West Bromwich Albion on 30 December 1893.
The most goals scored in a game at Goodison Park is 12, this has happened in two Everton games; versus Sheffield Wednesday (9–3) on 17 October 1931 and versus Plymouth Argyle (8–4) on 27 February 1954.
The highest average attendance in the club's history has been 51,603 (1962–63) and the lowest was 13,230 (1892–93) which was recorded in Goodison Park's first year.
The five highest attendances for Everton at Goodison Park are:
Source:
The five lowest attendances for Everton at Goodison Park are:
Source:
, 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 53,000 attended the match, at a time when the average gate at Goodison Park in 1919–20 was near 29,000. Dick, Kerr's Ladies won 4–0. More than £3,000 was raised for charity. Shortly after, the Football Association banned women's football. The reasons given by the F.A. were not substantial and it is perceived by some that the women's teams were a threat to the men's game. The ban was lifted in 1970.
During the second world war, Goodison Park was chosen as a host venue for the "Football League – Northern Section".
In 1949
, Goodison Park became 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
. In April 1895 Goodison Park hosted England versus Scotland and so Everton became the first club to host England internationals on two grounds (the other being Anfield in 1889 when England won 6–2 versus Ireland). The city of Liverpool also became the first English city to stage England games at three different venues, the other being Aigburth Cricket Club.
In 1973 Goodison hosted Northern Ireland
's home games against Wales and England.
.
Portugal's Eusébio
won the tournament's Golden Boot scoring nine goals, six of them at Goodison Park. Eusébio later stated that "Goodison Park is for me the best stadium in my life". In Garrincha
's 50 caps for Brazil, the only defeat he experienced was in the game versus Hungary at Goodison Park.
.
Goodison Park has played host to England on eight occasions during the Home Championships
. When player Alex Stevenson
scored for Ireland in the 1935 British Home Championship
versus England, he became the first player to score an international away goal on his club's home ground.
On 22 February 1973 the Irish Football Association
announced that Northern Ireland's
home matches in the 1973 British Home Championship
would be moved to Goodison Park due to the civil unrest
within Belfast
at that time.
Both Northern Ireland goalscorers Dave Clements
(vs. England) and Bryan Hamilton
(vs. Wales) went on to play for Goodison Park's club side Everton later on in their careers.
and Queen Mary
attended. The attending royals had opened Gladstone Dock
on the same day. A tablet was unveiled in the Main Stand to mark the occasion. During the First World War Goodison frequently hosted Territorial Army training drill sessions.
On 19 May 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.
In 1921, Goodison Park played host to Lancashire's rugby team when they took on Australia national rugby union team
and lost 29–6.
Goodison Park was chosen as one of two English venues for the Sox-Giants 1924 World Tour. On 23 October 1924, 2,000 spectators witnessed US baseball
teams Chicago White Sox
and New York Giants
participate in an exhibition match. One player managed to hit a ball clear over the large Goodison Road Stand. The other English venue selected was Stamford Bridge
.
In September 1939, Goodison Park was commandeered by military, the club's minutes read: "The Chairman reported that our ground has been commandeered as an anti-aircraft (Balloon Barrage section), post." During World War Two, an American forces baseball league was based at Goodison Park. In addition, a baseball game between two Army Air Force nines watched by over 8,000 spectators raised over $3,000 for British Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance fund.
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.
Goodison Park is used as a venue for weddings. More than 800 fans' ashes have been buried at Goodison Park and since 2004 the club have had to reject further requests because there is no room for any more. Tommy Lawton
wanted his ashes to be scattered at Goodison but his son chose to donate them to the national football museum because of Goodison's uncertain future.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
located in Walton
Walton, Merseyside
Walton, originally known as Walton-on-the-Hill, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, is an area situated to the north of Anfield and the east of Bootle and Orrell Park. It is largely residential, with a diverse population.-History:...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C.
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds
Soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Korea coined by Lamar Hunt, to refer to a sports stadium either purpose built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multipurpose...
. The stadium is built in a residential area served by regular rail and bus services two miles (3 km) from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
city centre.
Goodison has undergone many changes over the years and it presently has an all-seated capacity of 40,157. Everton fans refer to the stadium as "The Grand Old Lady" and the abridged "Goodison".
It has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England. Goodison has hosted the maximum number of league games since the Premier League was formed in 1992, as Everton have remained in the top tier of English football since 1954. The club has only been outside the top division for four seasons, having only been relegated twice (in 1930 and 1951).
As well as hosting Everton games, the stadium has been the venue for an FA Cup Final
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
and numerous international fixtures, including several in the 1966 FIFA World Cup
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
. The record for the highest attendance in women's football was set at Goodison Park in 1920. This game's high attendance resulted in women's football being banned by the Football Association for 50 years as they felt it threatened the men's game.
Goodison Park was conceived in unusual circumstances: two factions of politicians on the Everton board grappled to control the destiny of the club. A split emerged with the members with the majority leaving their home at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
forming Goodison Park. Everton F.C.'s relocation to Goodison Park was one of the earliest cases of a team moving to a new stadium for monetary benefit.
Before Goodison Park
Everton originally played on an open pitch in the south-east corner of the newly laid out Stanley ParkStanley Park, Liverpool
Stanley Park is a park in Liverpool, England, designed by Edward Kemp, which was opened on 14 May 1870 by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joseph Hubback. It is significant among Liverpool's parks on account of its layout and architecture. It has a grand terrace with expansive bedding schemes that were...
, which is the site for the proposed new Liverpool F.C. stadium
Stanley Park Stadium
Stanley Park is a proposed football stadium in Liverpool that if built, would become home to Liverpool Football Club. The stadium would have a capacity of 60,000 to 72,000 all-seated if built as originally planned...
. The first official match took place in 1879. In 1882, a Mr J. Cruit donated land at Priory Road with the necessary facilities required for professional clubs. Cruit asked the club to leave his land after two years because the crowds became far too large and noisy.
Everton moved to nearby Anfield, where proper covered stands were built. Everton played at Anfield from 1884 until 1892. During this time the club turned professional and entered teams in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. They became founding members of the Football League and won their first championship at the ground in 1890–91. Anfield's capacity grew to over 20,000 and the club hosted an international match between England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
and Ireland. During their time at Anfield, Everton became the first club to introduce goalnets to professional football.
In the 1890s, a dispute about how the club was to be owned and run emerged with John Houlding
John Houlding
John Houlding was an English businessman, most notable for being Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and the founder of Liverpool Football Club.-Biography:Houlding was self-made businessman in the city of Liverpool...
, Anfield's majority owner and Everton's Chairman, at the forefront. Houlding and the club's committee initially disagreed about the full purchase of the land at Anfield from minor land owner Mr Orrell and escalated into a principled disagreement of how the club was run. Two such disagreements included Houlding wanting Everton to sell only his brewery produce during an event and for the Everton players to use his public house The Sandon as changing room facilities.
The most famous of the disagreements concerns the level of increased rent Everton were asked to pay. In 1884, Everton paid £100 to Houlding in rent and by the 1889–90 season he was charging Everton £250. Everton had to pay for all work and stands. The dispute escalated to a rent of £370 per year being demanded. In the complicated lead up to the split in the club, the rent dispute is too simplistic to be singled out as the prime cause. The dispute was compounded by many minor disputed points.
The flashpoint was a covenant in the contract of land purchase by Houlding from Orrell causing further and deep friction. A strip of land at the Anfield ground bordering the adjacent land owned by Mr Orrell, could be used to provide a right of way access road for Orrell's landlocked vacant site. In early 1891 the club erected a stand on this now proposed roadway, which was also overlapping Orrell's land, unbeknown to the Everton F.C. Committee. In August 1891 Orrell announced intentions of developing his land next to the football ground and building an access road on the land owned by Houlding and occupied by Everton F.C.
Everton F.C. stated they knew nothing of the covenant, Houlding stated they did. This situation created great distrust and friction between Houlding and the Everton F.C. Committee. The rift and distrust between the committee and Houlding was on three levels, Houlding's personal business intentions, politically and morally. Nevertheless, the club faced a dilemma of having to destroy the new revenue generating stand or compensate Orrell.
Houlding's way around the problem was to propose a limited company with floatation of the club enabling the club to purchase Houlding's and Orrell's land outright, hoping to raise £12,000. Previous attempts to raise money from the community had failed miserably. This would have meant the club would need to find £6,000 in cash with an additional £4,875 mortgage. The Everton Committee initially accepted Houlding's proposal in principle, however voting against at a meeting.
After much negotiating and brinkmanship on both sides Everton vacated Anfield with Houlding left with an empty stadium, who promptly formed Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
.
The clubs themselves have differing versions of events of why it occurred.
Birth of Goodison Park
On 15 September 1891, a general meeting took place at Royal Street Hall, near Everton Valley. John Houlding proposed that a limited liability companyLimited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
(LLC) be formed and that the company should purchase his land and local brewer Joseph Orrel's land for a combined £9,237. A club run by an LLC was unusual for the time as football clubs were usually run as “sports clubs” with members paying an annual fee. The proposal was supported by William Barclay
W. E. Barclay
William E. Barclay was the first manager of Everton and also the first manager of Liverpool, working with club secretary John McKenna.His time at Everton was short managing them for their first 22 games...
, the club secretary and a close friend of Houlding.
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician and Everton board member George Mahon
George Mahon (accountant)
George Mahon was a former chairman and founding member of Everton Football Club.As a child his family moved to Ireland, where he was educated...
fought the proposal and put forward his own amendment which was carried by the Everton board. At the time Everton's board contained both Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Liberal Party councillors. Houlding and Mahon had previously clashed during local elections.
Both men agreed that Everton should operate as an LLC; however, they had different ideas about share
Share (finance)
A joint stock company divides its capital into units of equal denomination. Each unit is called a share. These units are offered for sale to raise capital. This is termed as issuing shares. A person who buys share/shares of the company is called a shareholder, and by acquiring share or shares in...
ownership. Houlding suggested that 12,000 shares be created with each Everton board member given one share and the other shares sold to the public or Everton board members. Mahon disagreed and proposed that 500 shares be created with no member carrying more than 10 shares and board members being given "7 or 8" shares. Mahon reasoned "we would rather have a large number of individual applications so that there will be more supporters of the club."
A special general meeting
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting , but...
was convened at the former Liverpool College building on Shaw Street on 25 January 1892. John Houlding's proposal was defeated once more and George Mahon suggested that Everton relocate to another site. A heckler
Heckler
A heckler is a person who harass and try to disconcert others with questions, challenges, or gibes.Hecklers are often known to shout disparaging comments at a performance or event, or interrupts set-piece speeches, for example at a political meeting, with intent to disturb its performers or...
shouted, "You can't find one!" Mahon responded "I have one in my pocket" and he revealed an option to lease Mere Green field, in Walton, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the site of what is today known as Goodison Park.
The Liverpool press were partisan. The proposal was deemed to be a positive move for the club by the Liberal-leaning Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Daily Post
The Liverpool Daily Post is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Friday and is published in Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales editions, and is a morning paper...
which described Houlding's ousting as "having shaken off the incubus." The Tory-supporting Liverpool Courier and Liverpool Evening Express—owned by Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Everton, John A. Willox, a Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
of the Licensed Victuallers’ and Brewers’ Association—took Houlding's side. The Courier published letters regularly criticising Mahon's supporters—many of which were anonymous. Philanthropist William Hartley
Sir William Pickles Hartley
Sir William Pickles Hartley , jam manufacturer and philanthropist, founded the Hartley's jam company. He was born in Colne, Lancashire and attended a local British and Foreign School Society school.-Biography:...
, a jam manufacturer and Robert William Hudson
Robert William Hudson
Robert William Hudson was born in West Bromwich, the eldest son of Robert Spear Hudson who had founded a soap-flake manufacturing business. Hudson managed his father's company until it was taken over by Lever Brothers Ltd in 1908....
, a prominent soap-manufacturer supported Mahon.
The stadium was named Goodison Park because the length of it was built against Goodison Road. The road was named after a civil engineer called George Goodison who provided a sewage report to the Walton Local Board in the mid-1800s and later became a local land owner.
The Mere Green field was owned by Christopher Leyland and Everton rented it until they were in a position to buy it outright. Initially, the field needed work as parts of the site had to be excavated, the field was levelled, a drainage system was installed and turf was laid. This work was considered to be a 'formidable initial expenditure' and a local contractor Mr Barton was contracted to work on the 29471 square yards (24,641.5 m²) site at 4½d per square yard—a total cost of £552. A J. Prescott was brought in as an architectural advisor and surveyor.
Walton
Walton, Merseyside
Walton, originally known as Walton-on-the-Hill, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, is an area situated to the north of Anfield and the east of Bootle and Orrell Park. It is largely residential, with a diverse population.-History:...
-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested. The combined cost of these stands was £1,640 and Everton inserted a penalty clause into the contract in case the work was not completed by its 31 July deadline. Everton officials were impressed with the builder's workmanship and agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost of £150 and 12 turnstile
Turnstile
A turnstile, also called a baffle gate, is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be made so as to enforce one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar...
s were installed at a cost of £7 each. In 1894, Benjamin Kelly of Kelly Brothers was appointed as a director of Everton.
Dr. James Baxter of the Everton committee donated a £1,000 interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
-free loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
to build Goodison Park. The stadium was England's first purpose-built football ground, with stands on three sides. Goodison Park was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short athletics event followed by music and a fireworks display. Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built football stadium in the world; Celtic's
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
Parkhead
Parkhead
Parkhead is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road and Westmuir Street. Duke Street and Springfield Road also meet there, to form a turreted Edwardian five-way junction at Parkhead Cross...
ground in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was inaugurated on the same day as Goodison.
The first match at Goodison Park was on 2 September 1892 between Everton and . Everton wore its new club colours of salmon and dark blue stripes and won the exhibition game 4–2. The first league game at Goodison Park took place on 3 September 1892 against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
; the game ended in a 2–2 draw. The stadium's first competitive goal was scored by Forest’s Horace Pike and the first Everton goal came from Fred Geary
Fred Geary
Fred Geary was an English professional footballer who played at centre forward for Everton in the 1890s, and made two appearances for England, scoring a hat-trick on his debut....
. Everton's first league victory at their new ground came in the next home game with a 6–0 defeat of Newton Heath
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in front of an estimated 10,000 spectators.
It was announced at a general meeting on 22 March 1895 that the club could finally afford to buy Goodison Park. Mahon revealed that Everton were buying Goodison Park for £650 less than the price of Anfield three years earlier, and Goodison Park had more land and had 25% larger capacity. The motion to purchase Goodison Park was passed unanimously. Dr. Baxter also lent the club £5,000 to pay the mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
early at a rate of 3½%. By this time the redrawing of political boundaries meant that Walton, and hence Goodison Park, were within the City of Liverpool.
In 1999, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper journalist David Conn
David Conn
David Conn is a sports journalist and writer who focuses predominantly on football. He writes for The Guardian.He has written two books, The Football Business: Fair Game in the '90s? and The Beautiful Game?: Searching the Soul of Football...
unexpectedly coined the nickname "The Grand Old Lady" for the stadium when he wrote "Another potential suitor has apparently thought better of Everton, walking away on Tuesday from the sagging Grand Old Lady of English football, leaving her still in desperate need of a makeover."
Structural developments
The Goodison Park structure was built in stages. In 1906, the doubled-decker Goodison Avenue Stand was built behind the goal at the south end of the ground. The stand was designed by Liverpool architect Henry Hartley who went on to chair the Liverpool Architectural Society a year later. The club minutes from the time show that Hartley was unhappy with certain aspects of the stand and the poor sightlineSightline
A sightline, or sight line, is a normally unobstructed line-of-sight between an intended observer and a stage, arena, or monument, for example. Sightlines are a particularly important consideration in theatre and stadium design, road junction layout and urban planning...
s meant that the goal line had to be moved seven metres north, towards Gwladys Street. In January 1908, he complained that his fees had not been paid and the bill for the stand was near £13,000. There were 2,657 seats on its upper tier with a terrace below.
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Leitch
Archibald "Offside Archie" Leitch was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadia throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-Early work:...
designed the Goodison Road Stand with construction in 1909. In September that year Ernest Edwards, the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
journalist who christened the terrace at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
the "Spion Kop", wrote of the newly built stand, "The building as one looks at it, suggests the side of Mauretania at once." The stand was occasionally referred to as the "Mauretania Stand", in reference to the Liverpool-registered , then the world's largest ship, which operated from the Port of Liverpool
Port of Liverpool
The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed 7.5 mile dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the river...
.
The two-tier steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
frame and wooden floor Bullens Road Stand, designed by Archibald Leitch, was completed in 1926. The upper tier was seated, with terracing below, a part of the ground called The Paddock. The original Bullens Road Stand was replaced by a new one in 1895 with the open Goodison Road side covered, giving cover on all four sides of the ground. Few changes were made until 1963 when the rear of the Paddock was seated and an overhanging roof was added. The stand is known for Archibald Leitch's highly distinctive balcony truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es which also act as handrails for the front row of seats in the Upper Bullens stand. Goodison Park is the only stadium with two complete trusses designed by Leitch. Of the 17 created, only Goodison Park, Ibrox
Ibrox Stadium
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium located on the south side of the River Clyde, on Edmiston Drive in the Ibrox district of Glasgow. It is the home ground of Scottish Premier League club Rangers and has an all-seated capacity of 51,082...
and Fratton Park
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F.C. since its construction in 1898.-Description:...
retain these trusses.
Everton constructed covered dugouts
Technical area
A technical area in association football, is where a manager, other coaching personnel and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a match.The area, where people may stand or sit, includes the dugout, bench and a marked zone adjacent to the pitch....
in 1931. The idea was inspired by a visit to Pittodrie
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium is an all-seated football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and from 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen Football Club...
to play a friendly against Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
, where such dugouts had been constructed at the behest of the Dons' trainer Donald Colman
Donald Colman
Donald Cameron Cunningham, known as Donald Colman was a football player and coach in the early years of the 20th century, playing and coaching most notably for Aberdeen...
. The Goodison Park dugouts were the first in England.
The ground become an entirely two-tiered affair in 1938 with another Archibald Leitch stand at the Gwladys Street end. The stand completed at a cost of £50,000, being delayed because an old man would not move from his to be demolished home. Architect Leitch and Everton Chairman Will Cuff became close friends with Cuff appointed as Leitch's accountant with Leitch moving to nearby Formby
Formby
Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It has a population of approximately 25,000....
.
In 1940, during the Second World War, the Gwladys Street Stand suffered bomb damage. The bomb had landed directly in Gwladys Street and caused serious injury to nearby residents. The bomb splinter damage to the bricks on the stand is still noticeable. The cost of repair was £5,000 and was paid for by the War Damage Commission
War Damage Commission
The War Damage Commission was a body set up by the British Government under the War Damage Act 1941 to pay compensation for war damage to land and buildings throughout the United Kingdom...
.
The Director's minutes read: "It was decided also that Messrs A. Leitch be instructed to value the cost of complete renewal of damaged properties and that a claim should be forwarded to the War Damage Claims department within the prescribed 30 days.
"The damage referred to included the demolition of a wide section of the new stand outer wall in Gwladys St, destruction of all glass in this stand, damage to every door, canteen, water and electricity pipe and all lead fittings: perforate roof in hundreds of places.
"On Bullens Road side, a bomb dropped in the school yard had badly damaged the exterior wall of this stand and the roof was badly perforated here also. A third bomb outside the practice ground had demolished the surrounding hoarding and had badly damaged glass in the Goodison Ave and Walton Lane property."
The first floodlit match at Goodison Park took place when Everton hosted Liverpool on 9 October 1957 in front of 58,771 spectators. Four pylons 185 feet (56.4 m) each with 36 lamps installed were installed behind each corner of the pitch, at the time they were tallest in the country. There was capacity for 18 more lamps per pylon if it was felt the brightness was insufficient for the game. Each bulb was a 1,500 watt tungsten bulb 15 inches in diameter and cost 25 shillings. It was recommended that the club made a habit of changing them after three to four seasons to save the club performing intermittent repairs. MANWEB
MANWEB
MANWEB was the regional electricity supplier and distributor for Merseyside, North Wales and parts of Cheshire...
installed a transformer sub-station to cope with the 6,000 volt-load.
The first undersoil heating system in English football was installed at Goodison Park in 1958, with 20 miles (30 km) of electric wire laid beneath the playing surface at a cost of £16,000. The system was more effective than anticipated and the drainage system could not cope with the quantity of water produced from the melting of frost and snow. As a consequence the pitch had to be relaid in 1960 to allow a more suitable drainage system to be installed.
The Everton chairman Sir John Moores
John Moores (merchant)
Sir John Moores CBE was a British businessman and philanthropist most famous for the founding of the now defunct Littlewoods retail company that was located in Liverpool, England.-Early years:...
who presided over the club between 1960 and 1973 provided finances for the club in the form of loans to become involved in large-scale redevelopment projects and compete with other clubs for the best players, for a period of time under his stewardship Everton were known as 'The Mersey Millionaires'.
Goodison Park featured in the filming of The Golden Vision, a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
film made for television. The matches featured in the film were Division One games against Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
on 4 November 1967 (1–1 draw) and 18 November 1967 versus Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
(1–0 win)—the scorer of the winner that day was Alex Young, also known as The Golden Vision or Golden Ghost after whom the film was named.
Everton were the first club to have a scoreboard installed in England. On 20 November 1971 Everton beat Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
8–0 with Joe Royle
Joe Royle
Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...
scoring four, David Johnson three and Alan Ball one. The scoreboard did not have enough room to display the goal scorer's names and simply read "7 9 7 9 8 9 9 7" as it displayed the goal scorers' shirt numbers instead.
The Goodison Road Stand was partially demolished and rebuilt during the 1969–70 season with striking images of both old and new stands side by side. The new stand opened 1971, at a cost of £1 million. The new stand housed the 500 and 300 members clubs and an escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
to the tallest stand in the ground—the Top Balcony. However, not everyone thought that the upgrade was necessary at the time. Journalist Geoffrey Green
Geoffrey Green
Geoffrey Green was a distinguished English football writer.Geoffrey Green was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he played football to a high standard. He started writing for The Times in the 1930s when football was not afforded much respectability among the paper's traditional readership...
of The Times wrote "Goodison Park has always been a handsome fashionable stage for football, a living thing full of atmospherics-like a theatre. And now it has stepped into the demanding seventies with a facelift it scarcely seemed to need compared with some of us I know. New giant stands in place of the old; the latest in dazzling floodlight systems that cast not a shadow. A cathedral of a place indeed, fit for the gods of the game."
The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 saw the Bullens Road Stand extensively fireproofed with widened aisles, which entailed closure of parts of the stand. Because of the closure, Anfield was chosen over first choice Goodison Park for a Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
vs. Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
qualifying tie.
Following Moores' exit from Everton's hierarchy, minimum changes have been made to Goodison Park's structure due to costs, two British Government Acts; the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and Football Spectators Act 1989
Football Spectators Act 1989
The Football Spectators Act 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Its provisions apply primarily to football matches played in England and Wales...
have forced the club's hand into improving the facilities. Upon Moore's death the club was sold to Peter Johnson.
Everton legends William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean
Dixie Dean
William Ralph Dean , better known as Dixie Dean, was an English football player. Dean originally started his career with Birkenhead based Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child, where he became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football...
and former manager Harry Catterick
Harry Catterick
Harry Catterick was an English football player and manager. As a player Catterick played for Everton and Crewe Alexandra, in a career that was interrupted by World War II, but he is most notable as a manager...
both died at Goodison Park. Dean suffered from a heart attack aged 73 in 1980, whilst Catterick died five years later, also suffering a heart attack aged 65.
Everton F.C. celebrated the centenary of Goodison Park with a game against German club side Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
in August 1992. In addition, 200 limited edition medals were created and Liverpool based author and journalist Ken Rogers wrote a book One Hundred Years Of Goodison Glory to commemorate the occasion.
Post-Taylor Report
Following the publication of the 1990 Taylor ReportTaylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
, top-flight English football grounds had to become all-seated. At the time three of the four sides of the ground had standing areas. The Enclosure, fronting the main stand, had already been made all-seated in time for the 1987–88 season and was given the new name of Family Enclosure. The Paddock, the Park End terrace and the Gwladys Street terrace, known as 'the Ground', were standing and had to be replaced.
The fences around the perimiter of the ground fronting the terracing (which were to prevent fans, notably hooligans, running onto the pitch) were removed immediately post Hillsborough, in time for the rearranged league fixture with Liverpool. The Everton match versus Luton Town in May 1991 was the final time that Gwladys Street allowed standing spectators. Seats were installed in the Paddock, while the Lower Gwladys Street was later completely rebuilt to accommodate seating with new concrete steps.
Everton opted to demolish the entire Park End stand in 1994 and replace it with a single-tier cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
stand, with the assistance of a grant of £1.3 million from the Football Trust
Football Trust
The Football Trust was a Government funded body to improve the safety of sports stadiums in the United Kingdom.It was set up by the Labour Government in 1975, with the assistance of the pools companies and the Football League...
.
Current structure
Goodison Road Stand
Build in sections from 1969 to 1971, replacing the large double-decker 1909 Archibald Leitch designed stand. The Goodison Road Stand is a double-decker stand with the lower deck being two-tier. Each level is given a separate name. The middle-deck level is known as the Main Stand and 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 stand became all seated in 1987 and now has a capacity of 12,664.The back wall of the stand cuts into the stand because of the non-square nature of the Goodison Park site. The Goodison Road 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.
Bullens Road
On the east side of the ground, the Bullens Road stand is divided into the Upper Bullens, Lower Bullens and The Paddock. The rear of the south end of the 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. The stand takes its name from the adjacent Bullens Road. The Upper Bullens is decorated with Archibald Leitch's distinctive trussTruss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
design.
Gwladys Street Stand
Behind the goal at the north end of Goodison Park, the Gwladys Street Stand is divided into Upper Gwladys and Lower Gwladys. This stand is the "Popular End", holding the most boisterous and vociferous home supporters. It is known colloquially 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. One of the traditions of the stand is also to applaud the visiting goalkeeper as he runs out to the goal of the stand. The stand has a capacity of 10,788 and gives its name to Gwladys Street’s Hall of FameGwladys Street’s Hall of Fame
The Gwladys Street’s Hall of Fame celebrates the men who have contributed to the history of English football club Everton.-Formation:The Hall of Fame was conceived by David France and inaugurated in 1996...
.
The Park End
At the south end of the ground, behind one goal, the Park End Stand backs onto Walton Lane which borders Stanley ParkStanley Park, Liverpool
Stanley Park is a park in Liverpool, England, designed by Edward Kemp, which was opened on 14 May 1870 by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joseph Hubback. It is significant among Liverpool's parks on account of its layout and architecture. It has a grand terrace with expansive bedding schemes that were...
. The name of the stand was originally the Stanley Park End but it's commonly referred to as the Park End. The single tiered stand broke from the multi-tiered tradition of Goodison Park. The Park End has the smallest capacity at Goodison Park. The current layout of the stand was opened on 17 September 1994 with a capacity of 5,922. It was opened by David Hunt, a Member of Parliament. During the structure's development, fans were able to watch matches by climbing trees in neighbouring Stanley Park.
In the late 1970s and 1980s the stand accommodated the away fans. Previously it was open to home supporters. The lower tier of the old stand was terracing and this was closed off by the turn of the 1980s due to it being a fire hazard as the terracing steps were wooden. The front concrete terracing remained and was one of the last standing areas at a Premiership ground.
During the 1960s and 1970s, both ends of the ground featured a large arc behind the goals. This was created as a requirement for the 1966 World Cup because the crowd had to be a required distance from the goals.
The area around Goodison Park when built was a dense area full of terraced housing, and Goodison Avenue behind the Park End stand was no different. Oddly housing was built right in to the stand itself (as shown on old photographs of Goodison and in programmes). The club had previously owned many of the houses on the road and rented them to players. One of the players to live there, Dixie Dean
Dixie Dean
William Ralph Dean , better known as Dixie Dean, was an English football player. Dean originally started his career with Birkenhead based Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child, where he became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football...
later had a statue erected in his honour near the Park End on Walton Lane.
By the 1990s the club had demolished virtually the whole street and this coincided with the redevelopment of the Park End stand. However at present the majority of the land is now an open car park for the club and its Marquee.
St Luke's Church
Goodison Park is unique in the sense that a church, St Luke's, protrudes into the site between the Goodison Road Stand and the Gwladys Street Stand only yards from the corner flag. Everton do not play early kick-offs on Sundays in order to permit Sunday services at the church. The church is synonymous with the football club and a wooden church structure was in place when Goodison Park was originally built. Former Everton players such as Brian HarrisBrian Harris (footballer)
Brian Lake , born Brian Harris, is an Australian rules footballer, currently playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League ....
have had their funeral service held there.
The church can be seen from the Park End and Bullens Road and has featured prominently over the years as a backdrop during live televised matches. It is also the home to the Everton Former Players' Foundation
Everton Former Players' Foundation
The Everton Former Players' Foundation is a registered charity based in Liverpool, England. The Foundation raises money for the physical and pastoral care of former football players who have previously been contracted to Everton....
of which the Reverend is a trustee.
The church has over the years curtailed development of the ground. Everton did attempt to pay for its removal in order to gain extra space for a larger capacity. One of two jumbotron screens (both installed in 2000) has been installed between the Goodison Road stand and Gwladys Street stand partially obscuring the church from view. The other is situated between the Bullens Road and Park End.
Imaginative spectators would climb the church and watch a football game from the rooftop however they have now been deterred from doing so with the installation of security measures such as barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
and anti-climb paint
Anti-climb paint
Anti-climb paint is a class of paint consisting of a thick oily coating that is applied with a stiff brush, trowel or by hand using a protective glove...
. In addition, the introduction of the 'all-seater' ruling following the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
has meant that spectators no longer resort to climbing nearby buildings for a glimpse of the event as a seat is guaranteed with a purchased ticket.
The future
Since the late 1990s the board of Everton have been seeking a new, alternative stadium to replace Goodison Park. Plans for a possible relocation were first mentioned in 1996, when then chairman Peter Johnson announced his intention to build a new 60,000-seat stadium for the club. At the time, no English league club had a stadium with such a high capacity.In January 2001, plans were drawn up to move to a 55,000-seat purpose-built arena on the site of the King's Dock in Liverpool. The proposed stadium would have had a retractable roof enabling it to be used for concerts and chairman Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
had hoped to have it ready for the 2005–06 season
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...
.
However, the plans were abandoned in April 2003 due to the club not being able to raise adequate funds. Following this, plans were made to move to Kirkby
Kirkby
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in the metropolitan county of Merseyside in England. The town was developed from the 1950s through 1970s as a means to house the overspill of Liverpool. It is situated roughly north of Huyton, the administrative HQ of the borough and about...
, just outside the city, in a joint venture with the supermarket chain Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
. The scheme was greatly divisive amongst supporters and local authorities, but was rejected in late November 2009 following a decision by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, is a Cabinet position heading the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government....
.
The site of Goodison Park was earmarked in 1997 and 2003 for a food store by Tesco who offered £12 million which was valued at £4 million for the site but Liverpool City Council's advisor's advised against allowing planning permission. The club were advised that the planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
required would not necessarily be granted, and chose not to take the scheme further.
Supporters' groups have fought against the club moving to a new stadium twice. In 2007 a group was established called Keep Everton In Our City (KEIOC) whose aim is to keep Everton FC inside the city of Liverpool. The KEIOC attempted to prevent the club moving to a new stadium in Kirkby
Kirkby
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in the metropolitan county of Merseyside in England. The town was developed from the 1950s through 1970s as a means to house the overspill of Liverpool. It is situated roughly north of Huyton, the administrative HQ of the borough and about...
, just outside the city limits. The supporters' groups have argued that it is possible to expand Goodison Park, despite the odd shaped landlocked site being surrounded by housing, local authority buildings, and have produced image renders, architectural drawings and costings for a redeveloped Goodison Park. The then Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
leader Warren Bradley stated in November 2009 that a redevelopment of Goodison Park was his favoured option, and that relocation of the homes, infrastructure and businesses in streets adjoining the ground is "not a major hurdle". The current Council leader Joe Anderson stated, "the setback for Everton was an opportunity for both clubs to go back to the drawing board".
Everton's current position regarding the future of Goodison Park is that they are considering all options, including relocation, redevelopment of the current ground, or a groundshare
Groundshare
Groundshare is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sport teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and related maintenance. -Intersport Groundshares:...
with Liverpool F.C., in a new, purpose-built stadium in Stanley Park, stressing that finance is the main factor affecting decision-making.
In 2010 Everton supporters approached University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
and Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
to initiate a dedicated 'Football Quarter'/'Sports City' zone around Goodison Park, Stanley Park
Stanley Park, Liverpool
Stanley Park is a park in Liverpool, England, designed by Edward Kemp, which was opened on 14 May 1870 by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joseph Hubback. It is significant among Liverpool's parks on account of its layout and architecture. It has a grand terrace with expansive bedding schemes that were...
and Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
. The University and City Council met with the North West Development Agency, Everton and Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
representatives but no further action has been taken.
Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10.02.2011, proposes to open the eastern section of the Liverpool Outer Loop line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project". This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid-transit Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
line circling the city giving high throughput, fast transport access. This would entail Liverpool FC abandoning the relocation plans from their Anfield ground to the planned nearby Stanley Park Stadium
Stanley Park Stadium
Stanley Park is a proposed football stadium in Liverpool that if built, would become home to Liverpool Football Club. The stadium would have a capacity of 60,000 to 72,000 all-seated if built as originally planned...
.
Walton Lane development
In August 2010, Everton announced plans to build a new development situated between the Park End stand and Walton Lane, the site is currently used for a hospitality marquee. The £9m scheme was designed by ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-based Formroom Architects. In September 2010 the club submitted a planning application to Liverpool City Council.
The proposed development is a four-storey building which include a retail store, ticket office, offices, conference and catering facilities and a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. The project has been delayed twice and is currently scheduled to be completed by July 2012.
Transportation
Goodison Park is located two miles (3 km) north of Liverpool City Centre. Liverpool Lime Street railway stationLiverpool Lime Street railway station
Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Liverpool, England. The station lies on a branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston, and on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network...
is the nearest mainline station. The nearest station to the stadium is Kirkdale railway station
Kirkdale railway station
Kirkdale railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network...
on the Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
Northern Line
Northern Line (Merseyrail)
The Northern Line is one of the two commuter rail lines operated by Merseyrail in Merseyside, England. The other line is the Wirral Line. A third line of the Merseyrail Network, the City Line, is not owned or operated by Merseyrail, although funded by Merseytravel.The Northern Line passes...
which is located just over half a mile (800 m) away. On match days there is also a frequent shuttle bus service from Sandhills railway station
Sandhills railway station
Sandhills railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.It was built by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway Company and now stands at the junction between the branch to Southport...
known as "SoccerBus". In 2007 Sandhills underwent a £6million renovation to help encourage people to use the rail service.
Walton and Anfield railway station located on Walton Lane
A580 road
The A580 is a primary A road in England that connects Walton, near Liverpool and Salford, near Manchester and known officially as Liverpool-East Lancashire Road. Locally, the road is shortened to the "East Lancs". The road was designed and built to provide better access to the Port of Liverpool for...
—the same road that the Park End backs onto—was the nearest station to Goodison Park until its closure in 1948. It is possible that the station could be re-opened should the freight only Canada Dock Branch
Canada Dock Branch
The Canada Dock Branch is a 4 mile 59 chain long railway line in Liverpool, England. The line runs from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock to the north. The line was originally built by the London and North Western Railway terminating at Canada Dock, with...
line once again run passenger trains. A new Stanley Park railway station
Stanley Park railway station
Anfield is a proposed new railway station in Anfield, Merseyside, England.It was to be built as part of Liverpool F.C.'s Stanley Park Stadium proposal.-References:...
is proposed for nearby Liverpool FC, being near enough for use by both clubs.
There are on-site parking facilities for supporters (limited to 230 spaces) and the streets around the ground allow parking only for residents with permits. The Car Parking resident parking scheme is operated by Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
.
Records
Everton has staged more top-flight football games than any other club in England, eight more than second placed Aston VillaAston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
. Since Everton have played at Goodison Park for all but 4 of their 106 league seasons, this means that Goodison Park has hosted more top-flight games than any other in England. Goodison is the only English club ground to have hosted a FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
semi final. Until the expansion of Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
in 1996 Goodison Park held the record Sunday attendance on a Football League ground (53,509 v West Bromwich Albion, FA Cup, 1974).
Everton won 15 home league games in a row between 4 October 1930 and 4 April 1931. In the 1931–32 season Goodison Park was the venue of the most goals scored at home in a league season, 84 by Everton. Between 23 April 1984 and 2 September 1986 Everton scored consecutively in 47 games., registering 36 wins and 7 draws and scoring 123 goals in the process while conceding 38. Scottish striker Graeme Sharp
Graeme Sharp
Graeme Marshall Sharp is a former footballer. He started his playing career at Dumbarton before signing for Everton for £120,000 in 1980....
scored 32 of these goals.
Jack Southworth
Jack Southworth
John Southworth , was a footballer who played in the early days of professional football for Blackburn Rovers and Everton as well as being capped three times for England...
holds the record for most goals scored in one game at Goodison Park, scoring six versus West Bromwich Albion on 30 December 1893.
The most goals scored in a game at Goodison Park is 12, this has happened in two Everton games; versus Sheffield Wednesday (9–3) on 17 October 1931 and versus Plymouth Argyle (8–4) on 27 February 1954.
Attendances
Whilst at Goodison Park the club has had one of the highest average attendances in the country. The stadium has only had six seasons where Everton FC has not been amongst the top ten highest attendances in the country.The highest average attendance in the club's history has been 51,603 (1962–63) and the lowest was 13,230 (1892–93) which was recorded in Goodison Park's first year.
The five highest attendances for Everton at Goodison Park are:
| Date | Competition | Opposition | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 1948 | Division One | Liverpool | 78,299 |
| 14 February 1953 | FA Cup | Manchester United | 77,920 |
| 28 August 1954 | Division One | Preston North End | 76,839 |
| 29 January 1958 | FA Cup | Blackburn Rovers | 75,818 |
| 27 December 1954 | Division One | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 75,322 |
Source:
The five lowest attendances for Everton at Goodison Park are:
| Date | Competition | Opposition | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 December 1988 | Simod Cup | Millwall | 3,703 |
| 1 October 1991 | Zenith Data Systems Cup | Oldham | 4,588 |
| 22 January 1991 | Zenith Data Systems Cup | Sunderland | 4,609 |
| 16 February 1988 | Simod Cup | Luton | 5,204 |
| 28 February 1989 | Simod Cup | Q.P.R. | 7,072 |
Source:
Other uses
Despite being purposefully built for Everton F.C. to play football, Goodison Park has hosted many other types of events.Goodison Park as host stadium for football
Goodison Park became the first Football League ground to hold an FA Cup FinalFA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
, in 1894
1894 FA Cup Final
The 1894 FA Cup Final was contested by Notts County and Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Notts County won 4–1, with goals by James Logan and Arthur Watson. Jim Cassidy scored for Bolton...
. Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
beat Bolton Wanderers, watched by crowd of 37,000. An FA Cup final replay was staged in 1910
1910 FA Cup Final
The 1910 FA Cup Final was the 39th FA Cup final. It was contested by Barnsley and Newcastle United. It took two matches to determine a winner. The first took place at Crystal Palace in south London on 23 April 1910 and the second on 28 April at Goodison Park in Liverpool.-Barnsley:Home teams listed...
with Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
beating Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
2–0.
On 26 December 1920, Goodison Park hosted a match between; Dick, Kerr's Ladies
Dick, Kerr's Ladies
Dick, Kerr's Ladies F.C. were one of the most famous early women's association football teams. The team was founded in Preston, Lancashire, England as a works' team for a company, Dick, Kerr & Co., owned by two Scots: W.B. Dick and John Kerr...
& St Helens Ladies. An estimated 53,000 attended the match, at a time when the average gate at Goodison Park in 1919–20 was near 29,000. Dick, Kerr's Ladies won 4–0. More than £3,000 was raised for charity. Shortly after, the Football Association banned women's football. The reasons given by the F.A. were not substantial and it is perceived by some that the women's teams were a threat to the men's game. The ban was lifted in 1970.
During the second world war, Goodison Park was chosen as a host venue for the "Football League – Northern Section".
In 1949
England v Ireland (1949)
England v Ireland. On 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park, Liverpool, the home of Everton, England were defeated 2-0 by Ireland in a friendly international...
, Goodison Park became the site of England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
's first ever defeat on English soil by a non-Home Nations country, namely the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. The ground hosted five matches including a semi-final for the 1966 FIFA World Cup
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
. In April 1895 Goodison Park hosted England versus Scotland and so Everton became the first club to host England internationals on two grounds (the other being Anfield in 1889 when England won 6–2 versus Ireland). The city of Liverpool also became the first English city to stage England games at three different venues, the other being Aigburth Cricket Club.
In 1973 Goodison hosted Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
's home games against Wales and England.
1966 FIFA World Cup
Goodison Park hosted five games during the 1966 FIFA World Cup. 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 StadiumWembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
.
Group Stage
Quarter Final
Semi Finals
Portugal's Eusébio
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...
won the tournament's Golden Boot scoring nine goals, six of them at Goodison Park. Eusébio later stated that "Goodison Park is for me the best stadium in my life". In Garrincha
Garrincha
Manuel Francisco dos Santos , known by the nickname "Garrincha" , was an association football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for Brazilian club Botafogo.The word garrincha itself...
's 50 caps for Brazil, the only defeat he experienced was in the game versus Hungary at Goodison Park.
FA Cup Final
Two years after construction, Goodison Park was chosen by the Football Association to host the final of the FA CupFA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
.
| Year | Attendance | Winner | Runner-up | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 1894 1894 FA Cup Final The 1894 FA Cup Final was contested by Notts County and Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Notts County won 4–1, with goals by James Logan and Arthur Watson. Jim Cassidy scored for Bolton... |
37,000 | Notts County Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system... |
4 | Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001.... |
1 | |
England
Goodison Park has played host to England on eight occasions during the Home Championships
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84...
. When player Alex Stevenson
Alex Stevenson
Alexander Ernest Stevenson was an Irish footballer who played for Rangers and Everton, amongst other teams. As an international, Stevenson also played for both Ireland teams - the FAI XI and the IFA XI...
scored for Ireland in the 1935 British Home Championship
1935 British Home Championship
The 1935 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1934–35 season. Scotland and England shared the trophy after a dramatic final match in which the Scots beat England to claim a share of the cup after having seemingly come adrift...
versus England, he became the first player to score an international away goal on his club's home ground.
| Date | "Home" Team | "Away" Team | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 April 1895 1895 British Home Championship The 1895 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. The competition was won by England, who like second placed Wales, did not loose a game. Wales however failed to win one either, scoring three draws and so finishing behind England.... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
3 | Scotland Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872... |
0 | |
| 16 February 1907 1907 British Home Championship The 1907 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. For the first time ever it was won undisputed by the Welsh team, who secured two victories and a draw to take them to the top of the table. They were followed by England and Scotland, who... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
1 | Ireland Ireland national football team (IFA) The Ireland national football team represented Ireland at association football, it was organised by the Irish FA , and is the fourth oldest international team in the world. It mainly played in the British Home Championship against England, Scotland and Wales... |
0 | |
| 1 April 1911 1911 British Home Championship The 1911 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. After a close competition between England, Scotland and Wales, England won by a single point... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
1 | Scotland Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872... |
1 | |
| 22 October 1924 1925 British Home Championship The 1925 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1924/25 season. It was one of six tournaments in seven years won by the strong Scottish team of the early 1920s, and was achieved with a whitewash of all three rivals, including England... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
3 | Ireland Ireland national football team (IFA) The Ireland national football team represented Ireland at association football, it was organised by the Irish FA , and is the fourth oldest international team in the world. It mainly played in the British Home Championship against England, Scotland and Wales... |
0 | |
| 22 October 1928 1929 British Home Championship The 1929 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1928–29 season. The competition was won by Scotland, who won all three matches with strong attacking football epitomised by Hughie Gallacher, who scored seven of his team's 12 goals... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
2 | Ireland Ireland national football team (IFA) The Ireland national football team represented Ireland at association football, it was organised by the Irish FA , and is the fourth oldest international team in the world. It mainly played in the British Home Championship against England, Scotland and Wales... |
1 | |
| 6 February 1935 1935 British Home Championship The 1935 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1934–35 season. Scotland and England shared the trophy after a dramatic final match in which the Scots beat England to claim a share of the cup after having seemingly come adrift... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
2 | Ireland Ireland national football team (IFA) The Ireland national football team represented Ireland at association football, it was organised by the Irish FA , and is the fourth oldest international team in the world. It mainly played in the British Home Championship against England, Scotland and Wales... |
1 | |
| 5 November 1947 1948 British Home Championship 1948 British Home Championship was the second edition of this annual football tournament to be played in the post-war period. It was conducted during the 1947–48 football season between the four Home Nations of the British Isles and resulted in a victory for England for the second year in a... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
2 | Ireland Ireland national football team (IFA) The Ireland national football team represented Ireland at association football, it was organised by the Irish FA , and is the fourth oldest international team in the world. It mainly played in the British Home Championship against England, Scotland and Wales... |
2 | |
| 11 November 1953 1954 British Home Championship The 1954 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1953–54 season which also provided the home nations qualifying tournament for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Both England and Scotland qualified as first and second placed... |
England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
3 | Northern Ireland Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association... |
1 | |
Northern Ireland
On 22 February 1973 the Irish Football Association
Irish Football Association
The Irish Football Association is the organising body for association football in Northern Ireland, and was historically the governing body for Ireland...
announced that Northern Ireland's
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
home matches in the 1973 British Home Championship
1973 British Home Championship
The 1973 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was, like its predecessor in 1972, a victim of The Troubles in Northern Ireland which had erupted following Bloody Sunday the previous year...
would be moved to Goodison Park due to the civil unrest
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
within Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
at that time.
| Date | "Home" Team | "Away" Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May 1973 | Northern Ireland Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association... |
1 | England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
2 |
| 19 May 1973 | Northern Ireland Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association... |
1 | Wales Wales national football team The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international... |
0 |
Both Northern Ireland goalscorers Dave Clements
Dave Clements
Dave Clements in Larne in County Antrim, was a football player and manager from Northern Ireland. He started his career as a left winger but also played as a defensive midfielder and left full back throughout a career which lasted from 1964 to 1976 in which time he played for Coventry City,...
(vs. England) and Bryan Hamilton
Bryan Hamilton
Bryan Hamilton is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He is currently Technical Director at Antigua Barracuda F.C.-Playing career:Born in Belfast,...
(vs. Wales) went on to play for Goodison Park's club side Everton later on in their careers.
Other neutral matches at Goodison Park
| Date | Competition | "Home" Team | "Away" Team | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 April 1894 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 1 | Scottish League XI | 1 | |
| 21 March 1896 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final |
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001.... |
1 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | |
| 11 April 1896 | Inter League Match | Football League XI | 5 | Scottish League XI | 1 | |
| 21 March 1903 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final |
Bury Bury F.C. Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the... |
3 | 0 | ||
| 13 March 1904 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final |
3 | 0 | |||
| 28 April 1910 | FA Cup Final (Replay) 1910 FA Cup Final The 1910 FA Cup Final was the 39th FA Cup final. It was contested by Barnsley and Newcastle United. It took two matches to determine a winner. The first took place at Crystal Palace in south London on 23 April 1910 and the second on 28 April at Goodison Park in Liverpool.-Barnsley:Home teams listed... |
2 | 0 | |||
| 1 April 1914 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final Replay |
1 | 0 | |||
| 14 March 1925 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 4 | Scottish League XI | 3 | |
| 26 March 1928 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final Replay |
0 | 0 | |||
| 25 September 1929 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 7 | Irish league XI | 2 | |
| 3 December 1934 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 1st round, 2nd replay |
2 | 1 | |||
| 11 May 1935This 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 The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England, with a capacity of 26,484. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The ground was the last Football League ground to be built in the... . |
Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 10 | Welsh Football League/Irish league XI | 2 | |
| 21 October 1936 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 2 | Scottish League XI | 0 | |
| 4 November 1939The game took place to aid the Red Cross British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work... fund. |
Representative Match | Football League XI | 3 | All British XI | 3 | |
| 19 February 1947 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 4 | Irish League XI | 2 | |
| 24 January 1948Due to war damage, Old Trafford Old Trafford Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:... was closed at the time, and Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958... were playing their home matches at Maine Road Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003... . However, on the same day, Manchester City were at home to Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... in another FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... tie and as a result this tie was switched to Goodison Park. |
FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 4th round |
(home team) | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2 April 1949 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final Replay |
1 | 0 | |||
| 21 September 1949 England v Ireland (1949) England v Ireland. On 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park, Liverpool, the home of Everton, England were defeated 2-0 by Ireland in a friendly international... This was the first time that England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... had been beaten at home by a team from outside the Home Nations Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom... . |
Friendly International | England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
0 | Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010.... |
2 | |
| 14 March 1951 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final Replay |
2 | 1 | |||
| 19 May 1951 | Friendly International | England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
5 | Portugal Portugal national football team The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento... |
2 | |
| 10 October 1951 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 9 | League of Ireland XI | 1 | |
| 7 December 1955 | Inter-League Match | Football League XI | 5 | League of Ireland XI | 1 | |
| 15 January 1958 | U23 International | England u23 | 3 | Scotland u23 | 1 | |
| 23 September 1959 | U23 International | England u23 | 0 | Hungary u23 | 1 | |
| 8 February 1961 | U23 International | England u23 | 2 | Wales u23 | 0 | |
| 17 August 1963 | FA Charity Shield | Everton | 4 | Manchester United | 0 | |
| 5 January 1966England's goal was scored by Bobby Moore Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup... . This was his first international goal and the only one on English soil. Ray Wilson was chosen to play in this game, he is therefore the last Everton player to play for England at Goodison Park. |
Friendly International | England England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first... |
1 | Poland Poland national football team The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland... |
1 | |
| 13 August 1966 | FA Charity Shield | Everton | 0 | Liverpool | 1 | |
| 1 May 1968 | U23 International | England u23 | 4 | Hungary u23 | 0 | |
| 30 November 1970 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 1st round, 2nd replay |
0 | 1 | |||
| 19 April 1972 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final Replay |
2 | 1 | |||
| 18 March 1974Due 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. | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 6th round replay |
0 | 0 | |||
| 21 March 1974 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 6th round, 2nd replay |
0 | 1 | |||
| 4 April 1979 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final replay |
1 | 0 | |||
| 17 May 1983 | UEFA U18 Championship Finals Group A UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The European Under 19 Football Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955... |
West Germany u18 | 3 | Bulgaria u18 | 1 | |
| 13 April 1985 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... Semi final |
2 | 2 | |||
| 6 April 1989 | U18 International | England u18 | 0 | Switzerland u18 | 0 | |
| 17 Jan 1991 | FA Cup 3rd Round | (home team) | 0 | Everton | 1 | |
| 13 November 1993 | FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's... 1st round |
1 | 4 | |||
| 6 June 1995 | Umbro Cup Umbro Cup The Umbro Cup was a minor international football competition, which took place in the summer of 1995 in England. The trophy was sponsored by the sports brand Umbro, and two of the participating teams had their kits manufactured by them.... |
Brazil Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the... |
3 | Japan Japan national football team The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan... |
0 | |
| 9 September 2003 | UEFA U21 Championship Qualifying | England u21 England national under-21 football team England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U21, is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.... |
1 | Portugal u21 Portugal national under-21 football team The Portugal national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Portugal and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation . They are nicknamed "Esperanças." Esperança means hope, thus they are Portugal's hopes for the future... |
1 | |
Non-football usage
On 11 July 1913 Goodison Park became the first English football ground to be visited by a reigning monarch when King George VGeorge V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
attended. The attending royals had opened Gladstone Dock
Gladstone Dock
Gladstone Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Bootle. The dock is connected to the Royal Seaforth Dock to the north and what remains of Hornby Dock to the south...
on the same day. A tablet was unveiled in the Main Stand to mark the occasion. During the First World War Goodison frequently hosted Territorial Army training drill sessions.
On 19 May 1938 George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
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.
In 1921, Goodison Park played host to Lancashire's rugby team when they took on Australia national rugby union team
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
and lost 29–6.
Goodison Park was chosen as one of two English venues for the Sox-Giants 1924 World Tour. On 23 October 1924, 2,000 spectators witnessed US baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
teams Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
and New York Giants
History of the New York Giants (NL)
The history of the New York Giants, before the franchise moved to San Francisco, lasted from 1883 to 1957. It featured five of the franchise's six World Series wins and 17 of its 21 National League pennants...
participate in an exhibition match. One player managed to hit a ball clear over the large Goodison Road Stand. The other English venue selected was Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
.
In September 1939, Goodison Park was commandeered by military, the club's minutes read: "The Chairman reported that our ground has been commandeered as an anti-aircraft (Balloon Barrage section), post." During World War Two, an American forces baseball league was based at Goodison Park. In addition, a baseball game between two Army Air Force nines watched by over 8,000 spectators raised over $3,000 for British Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance fund.
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.
Goodison Park is used as a venue for weddings. More than 800 fans' ashes have been buried at Goodison Park and since 2004 the club have had to reject further requests because there is no room for any more. Tommy Lawton
Tommy Lawton
Thomas "Tommy" Lawton was an English association footballer who rose to fame a short time before the outbreak of the Second World War and enjoyed a successful career which lasted until well into the 1950s....
wanted his ashes to be scattered at Goodison but his son chose to donate them to the national football museum because of Goodison's uncertain future.
External links
- Goodison Park at The Everton CollectionThe Everton CollectionThe David France Collection is a collection of football memorabilia, consisting of more than 10,000 items related to the birth and development of Everton Football Club in Liverpool, England.- Overview :...
- Goodison Park at TripAdvisorTripAdvisorTripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. It is part of the TripAdvisor Media Group, operated by Expedia, Inc. TripAdvisor is a pioneer of...