Goodison Park
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The Grand Old Lady | |
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| Former names | none |
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| Location | Goodison Road, Liverpool  |
| Coordinates | 53°26′19.81″N 2°57′58.71″W / 53.4388361°N 2.9663083°W |
| Owner | Everton F.C. |
| Operator | Everton F.C. |
| Capacity | 40,158 |
| Surface | Grass (101 x 68 metres) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 24 August 1892 |
| Construction cost | £3000[1] |
| Architect | Kelly Brothers initially, with Leitch later. |
| Tenants | |
| Everton F.C. (1892-present) | |
Goodison Park is a football stadium in Liverpool, England and home ground of Everton F.C.. The ground was built in 1892, though it has been greatly developed since, having an all-seated capacity of 40,158.
Goodison Park is the world's first purpose built football stadium and has recorded several firsts in stadium development in England. As well as hosting Everton games the stadium has been the venue for an FA Cup Final and numerous international fixtures, including several in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The stadium's future is currently undecided as the club have been pursuing the construction of a new stadium in Kirkby on the border of the city of Liverpool.
History
Beginnings
Everton originally played on an open pitch in the southeast corner of the newly laid out Stanley Park. This is the site for the proposed new Liverpool F.C. stadium. The first official match took place in 1879. John Houlding's house backed onto the park and was attracted to the club that attracted large crowds. [2] Houlding became involved in the club.
Professional clubs required proper enclosed facilities. In 1882, a Mr J. Cruit donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home for two years, with proper hoarding and turnstiles. Mr Cruit asked the club to leave his land as the crowds became far too large and noisy.[3]
Anfield, 1884 - 1892
The pioneering work that made Everton into one of England's largest and most successful club's was all done at Anfield. Everton:
- Founded Anfield.
- Became a professional club while at Anfield.
- First played in the FA Cup while at Anfield.
- Were founder members of the Football League while at Anfield.
- Hosted their first international while at Anfield - England v Ireland.
- Won their first championship at Anfield.
- Made Anfield a top club ground in England of over 20,000 capacity, before leaving for purpose built superior Goodison Park.
Everton moved to nearby Anfield prompted by chairman John Houlding who owned most of the land. Proper covered stands were built. Everton played at Anfield from 1884 until 1892.[4] During this time the club turned professional, entering teams in the FA Cup and became founder members of the Football League,[5] winning their first championship at the ground in 1890–91.[6] The ground's capacity reached over 20,000 and the club hosted an England vs. Ireland international match. Everton were the first team to introduce the goalnet to professional football, at Anfield.[7]
At this time, a dispute of how the club was to be owned and run emerged with Anfield's majority owner and Everton's chairman, John Houlding. A dispute between Houlding and the club's committee, initially over the full purchase of the land at Anfield from minor land owner Mr Orrell, snowballed to a principled disagreement of how the club was run.
Houlding attempted to gain full control of the club and steal its identity.[8] On 26 January 1892 Houlding registered the company, Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd. He doubled the rent on Anfield and on 12 March 1892 the Everton committee responded by deciding that the club should leave the ground.[9][10] Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Council on 4 February 1892, ruling against membership of a new club with the same name as an existing member. Houlding had a registered company name, however it would not be accepted by the Football Council. [11]
After Everton had moved from Anfield, Houlding on 3 June 1892 changed the name of his company to Liverpool F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd. His new club, Liverpool F.C., initially played in the blue of Everton.[12]
Ever since those events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football.
Goodison Park, 1892 to present
A Mr Baxter of the Everton committee donated a £1,000 interest free loan for the building of Goodison Park. The stadium was the world's first purpose-built football ground, with stands on three sides. Goodison Park was officially opened on the 24th August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the FA. No football was played. Instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short athletics meeting followed by music and a fireworks display.
The first match at Goodison Park was on 2 September 1892 between Everton and Bolton Wanderers, Everton wearing new club colours of salmon and dark blue stripes. Everton won the game 4–2. The first league game at Goodison Park took place on 3 September, 1892 against Nottingham Forest. The game ended in a 2&ndash2 draw, the stadium's first competitive goal was scored by Forest’s Horace Pike, with the first Everton goal coming from Fred Geary. Everton's first league victory at their new ground came in the next home game with a 6–0 defeat of Newton Heath.
Behold Goodison Park! no single picture could take in the entire scene the ground presents, it is so magnificently large, for it rivals the greater American baseball pitches. On three sides of the field of play there are tall covered stands, and on the fourth side the ground has been so well banked up with thousands of loads of cinders that a complete view of the game can be had from any portion.
The spectators are divided from the playing piece by a neat, low hoarding, and the touch line is far enough from it to prevent those accidents which were predicted at Anfield Road, but never happened... Taking it all together, it appears to be one of the finest and most complete grounds in the kingdom, and it is hoped that the public will liberally support the promoters.
Goodison Park became the first Football League ground to hold an FA Cup Final, in 1894. Notts County beat Bolton Wanderers, watched by crowd of 37,000. An FA Cup final replay was staged in 1910 with Newcastle United beating Barnsley 2-0.
An improved Bullens Road Stand was built in 1895 with the open Goodison Road side covered, giving cover on all four sides of the ground. Over the following 35 years Everton built in each decade a double decker-stand culminating in the 1930s with four double-decker stands. The first covered dugouts in England were constructed at Goodison Park, in 1931, following Everton's visit to Pittodrie to play a friendly against Aberdeen, where such dugouts had been constructed at the behest of the Dons' trainer Donald Coleman.
Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English football ground to install undersoil heating.[13]
In the 1931-32 season Goodison Park was the venue of the most goals scored at home in a league season, 84 by Everton.
Goodison Park has recently gained the nickname the The Grand Old Lady. It was the first British sports ground ever to have double-decker stands on all 4 sides and the first to have a 3 tier stand. It was also the first English league ground to install undersoil heating. In 1913 it became the first English football ground to be visited by a reigning monarch, King George V.
The ground hosted five matches including a semi-final for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and 1895 Goodison Park hosted England v Scotland and so Everton became the first club to host England internationals on two grounds. The city of Liverpool also became the first English city to stage England games at three different venues, the other being Aigburth Cricket Club.
Goodison Park was in 1949, the site of England's first ever home defeat by a non-Home Nations country, namely the Republic of Ireland.
The last Everton player to play in an international at Goodison Park was Ray Wilson for England v Poland 5 January, 1966. The game ended 1-1 and England's goal was scored by Bobby Moore. This was his first international goal and the only one on English soil. In 1973 Goodison hosted Northern Ireland's home games against Wales & England.
The biggest match in importance staged at Goodison Park was clearly the 1966 World Cup semi-final, West Germany vs. USSR. The greatest match the stadium has ever held, according to voters at Everton's official website, was a European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich in 1985. Munich, leading at half time, were defeated by three second half Everton goals from Andy Gray, Graeme Sharp and Trevor Steven.
On 26 December, 1920, Goodison Park hosted a match between; Dick, Kerr's Ladies & St Helens Ladies. An estimated 67,000 attended the match, with 14,000 being locked out, at a time when the average gate at Goodison Park in 1919/1920 was 29,050. Dick, Kerr's Ladies won 4-0 & over £3,000 was raised for charity.
The landlocked ground is situated in a tightly-packed residential district, which has made modern expansion of the ground extremely difficult, if not impossible. One corner of the ground has a church, St Luke the Evangelist, protruding into the site. The tightness of the site entailed that Everton built upwards in double-decked stands. The site has come to a point where any modernisation would require a landtake.
The pitch is one of the largest in the Premiership, or the old Football League, most pitches tending towards a de facto standard of 110 x 70 yards. Goodison Park is considerably wider and slightly longer.
Stands
Goodison Park has a total capacity of 40,158 all-seated.
Main Stand
Capacity: 12,664
Constructed: 1971
The stand previous to the Main Stand was the large 1909 double-decker, called the Mauritania Stand, after the ship of the same name which was designed by Archibald Leitch. The "Athletic News'" published a piece in the summer of 1909:
- "Visitors to Goodison Park will be astonished at the immensity of the new double-decker stand".
After the First World War the US baseball teams Chicago White Sox and New York Giants played an exhibition match at Goodison Park. One player managed to hit a ball clear over the large Goodison Road Stand.
The current Main Stand was completed in 1971, at a cost of £1m. The stand is a two stepped-tier lower section, with the lower tier being terracing, and balcony above. Facilities over any other stand in the country at the time included, the 500 and 300 members clubs and an escalator to the top balcony.[14] A small number of corporate boxes were added in 1980. The stand became all seated in 1994.
The main stand is also home to the conference and hospitality facilities. On non-match days Goodison Park holds conferences, weddings, meetings and parties on a daily basis.
Bullens Road
Capacity: 10,784
Constructed: 1926
Bullens Road is a two-tier steel frame and wooden floor stand also designed by Archibald Leitch and completed in 1926. On the east side of the ground the stand is divided into the Upper Bullens, Lower Bullens and the Paddock. Originally, the stand was upper seating with the lower named The Paddock being terracing. The rear of the Paddock was seated in 1963. Both tiers are now seated. An overhanging roof was also added in 1963.
The stand was extensively fireproofed with widened aisles in 1977, which entailed closure of parts of the stand. Because of the closure, Anfield was chosen over first choice Goodison Park for the Wales vs. Scotland world cup qualifying tie.
The rear of the south end of the Bullens Road stand houses away supporters. The north corner of the stand is connected to the Gwladys Street Stand.
Gwladys Street Stand
Capacity: 10,788
Constructed: 1938
This stand was late in completion as an old man refused to move from his home to make way for the stand.[citation needed] Gwladys Street, like Bullens Road is a two-tier Archibald Leitch stand and is divided into Upper Gwladys and Lower Gwladys. Behind the goal at the north end of Goodison Park, the Gwladys Street Stand is the "Popular End", holding the most boisterous and vociferous home supporters. If Everton win the toss before kick-off the captain always elects to play towards the Gwladys Street End in the second half. An overhanging roof was added in 1988, meshing into the Bullens Road stand roof. The Lower Gwladys, formerly known as the Gwladys Street Terrace and The Ground) was converted to seats in 1992.
The Park End
Capacity: 5,922
Constructed: 1994
At the south end of the ground, behind one goal, the Park Stand backs onto Walton Lane which borders Stanley Park. The stand was contentious[citation needed] being single tiered breaking from the multi-tiered tradition of Goodison Park.
During the 1960s and 1970s, both ends featured a large semi-circle behind the goals. The predecessor, formally known as the Goodison Avenue Stand and later the Park End Stand, was built in 1906. This historical stand was the country's first double-decker. In the 1970s and 1980s this stand accommodated the away fans. In the 1960s the stand was the most vocal of the two goal stands with Everton fans occupying both ends. The lower tier of the old stand was never seated with the rear terracing closed off as the terracing steeps were wood. The front concrete terracing was one of the last standing areas at a Premiership ground.
The Taylor report prompted the Football Trust to allocate grants to improve stadia. Everton applied for a grant, opting for a cheap single-tier, cantilever stand.
The stand design and constriction process was in motion when eventual owner Peter Johnson was bidding for the club. He attempted to stop the construction viewing the stand too small and not taking full advantage of ground behind.[citation needed] The Park End has the smallest capacity at Goodison Park.
The future
It is possible to expand landlocked Goodison Park further but officials at the club currently believe that it would not be financially viable to do so as a large landtake would be needed. The transport infrastructure is lacking in the predominatley residential district.
The officials at Everton wish to move to a new stadium in neighbouring borough Knowsley as part of a project called 'Destination Kirkby' which would include the United Kingdom's 6th largest Tesco supermarket. The plans were 'called in' for a public inquiry and the outcome will be known in the summer months of 2009 following a decision by Secretary of State Hazel Blears.
Details
Records
Record Attendance: 78,299 v Liverpool, 18 September, 1948 (old First Division)
Average attendances
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(Placing in attendance table in brackets) Important matches played at Goodison ParkResults of FA Cup Finals at Goodison Park
Results of Other Important Matches at Goodison Park
1 Northern Ireland's goal was scored by Everton player Alex Stevenson, which meant that he became the first player to score an international away goal on his club's home ground.
2 This was one of two matches which trialled having two referees in a single match. The other trial was on 8 May 1935 when the Football League team beat West Bromwich Albion 9-6 at The Hawthorns.
3 Due to war damage, Old Trafford was closed at the time, and Manchester United were playing their home matches at Maine Road. However, on the same day, Manchester City were at home to Chelsea in another FA Cup tie and as a result this tie was switched to Goodison Park.
4 This was the first time that England had been beaten at home by a team from outside the Home Nations.
5 The original schedule of the 1966 World Cup meant that if England won their group and then reached the Semi final, the match would be held at Goodison Park. However, the organising committee were allowed to swap the venues, with England playing Portugal at Wembley Stadium.
6 On 22 February 1973 the Irish FA announced that Northern Ireland's home matches in the Home International Championship would be moved to Goodison Park due to the civil unrest within Belfast at that time. These are the only home matches that Northern Ireland have played outside of Northern Ireland itself.
8 Due to a pitch invasion at the original match (which Newcastle United won 4-3), the F.A. ordered the tie to be replayed at a neutral venue.
Trivia
Famous quotes
Footnotes
External links
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