GOODBYE Goodison Park and with it farewell to the Premier League’s last bear pit.
The bluish fume bombs person cleared and the players person stopped punching each different successful the riotous finale to the last Merseyside derby earlier the aged miss gets bulldozed this summer. What a mode to go . . .
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Rex
APIn a fewer months, Everton are moving hardly a mates of miles from their ancestral location to a brand spanking new detached condo connected the Liverpool waterfront.
No much rickety woody stands leaning implicit the touchline, oregon Gwladys Street fans breathing down visiting players’ necks.
Instead, shiny steel, gleaming solid and factual aggregate overlooking a sprawling instrumentality plaza successful a fully-equipped stadium acceptable for 21st-Century football.
A satellite distant from Wednesday night. What a shame.
As shot ploughs on its way to full corporatization, caller grounds are being built with the purpose of accommodating high-end stakeholders successful spot of diehards.
Where tourists successful half-and-half scarves tin beryllium mute and cling connected to biodegradable insubstantial bags, chock afloat of overpriced merchandise, portion nibbling popcorn and not knowing what to sing, oregon when.
The architects down 52,000-capacity Bramley Moore Dock assertion it volition beryllium a location ‘befitting a club with affluent traditions, passionate fanbase and ambitious future’.
That is what they each say.
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Everton are not alone. The hothouses of The Dell, Upton Park and Filbert Street are present particulate or, adjacent worse, modern metropolitan flat blocks.
Gentle curves of cardinal quid multi-use arenas acceptable backmost a harmless region from the transportation person mostly replaced spit-and-sawdust terraces shoehorned successful betwixt low-grade housing.
Even those inactive occupying their archetypal foundations look purpose-built to diffuse atmosphere.
The climactic quality of Everton’s past location crippled with Liverpool up of their relocation to Bramley Moore Dock was a 95-minute fuse for the explosive scenes aft the last whistle.
But determination is nary uncertainty that the decrepit operation of Goodison Park — with conscionable implicit 39,000 seats crammed into its now-outdated signifier — played a immense relation successful adding nitro to the glycerine.
And it helped trigger the pantomime mayhem that brought the curtain down so fittingly connected an inner-city cauldron of tribal passion.
An old-fashioned tear-up between warring players, digit jabbing, fans successful adjacent uproar and euphoria from a extremity that meant a draw.
Four reddish cards and a study arsenic agelong arsenic your limb from Michael Oliver connected its mode to referees’ HQ successful London, with further repercussions bound to come.
And final, conclusive impervious that the guff we are fed astir the longest-running derby successful English shot being a friendly, neighbourly get-together is full cobblers. What fun.
Watching from the TV commentary box, erstwhile Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was contractually obliged to state ‘nobody likes to spot this’.
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PAMeanwhile, the remainder of america sat backmost and lapped it up arsenic James Tarkowski volleyed home an injury-time equaliser that adjacent got TV sets astatine location rocking . . . along with 9 tenths of Goodison Park.
When Abdoulaye Doucoure goaded the pouch of Liverpool fans successful the microscopic distant extremity aft Everton finished the night with their dignity intact, forget Ferdinand — it was precisely what everybody wanted to see.
As was the absorption of Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, a born-and-bred Scouser and Anfield disciple since the property of nine, rightly outraged and hell-bent connected landing a right-hander connected his cocky opponent.
Long whitethorn that and the ensuing pushing, shoving and verbals betwixt coaches, managers, unit and officials continue.
Former Chelsea skipper John Terry and ex-West Ham prima Frank Lampard suffered dog’s maltreatment each clip they played for the Blues astatine the present rubble-ised Upton Park.
And erstwhile each of them scored the inevitable goals that won them the match, they gave it close backmost to the baying mobs of E13.
Fists clenched, teeth gnashing. Revenge served and done truthful successful adjacent proximity.
And postage-stamp grounds like Southampton’s Dell were worthy other points per season.
Just arsenic well, due to the fact that determination seems to be a nonstop correlation betwixt teams successful smaller grounds and c**p players.
Saints fans of a definite property inactive lament the aged days astatine The Dell.
Everton’s adjacent location crippled against Liverpool volition beryllium played successful acold more comfortable surroundings connected the docks.
With a granite walkway starring up to a bigger home, with a cleanable concourse and uninterrupted views.
Capacity volition person accrued by 13,000 — but size isn’t everything.
It won’t beryllium casual to bring the Goodison ambiance to their caller stadiumPA
The Times
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