The "big old lady" of British football is about to say goodbye to the men's game.
Goodison Park, the long-time home of Everton in the Premier League, competed in top matches at any other stadium in England. In the only time, Pele was kicked on the court and then lost his World Cup game with Brazil. That was where eight British League titles were won, and the nerves stood out in the Premier League after being relegated several times.
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Everton will leave Goodison at the end of the season and move to the 53,000-seat stadium near the nearby Bramley-Moore Marina. Sunday’s visit to Southampton marks the team’s final game in 133, a match that will be marked by Everton’s “end of the era” ceremony.
The stadium will continue to be the new home for Everton women in the women’s game.
So far, here is Goodison's story:
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Goodison isn't always Everton's home
Goodison Park is home to eight of Everton’s nine championship campaigns. The first one is here, you may not have expected it.
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Everton played his first football league game in Anfield (now the residence of his neighbor Liverpool’s home) since 1884-92. The club's first league champion won the championship in 1891, and Everton's game was watched by a crowd of up to 20,000.
But a dispute with Everton, who owned the land, pushed club officials to buy fields on Stanley Park and set up a new stadium - Goodison Park.
It opened in 1892, played in the FA Cup final two years later, and held an exhibition baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants in 1924.
architect
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Goodison Park is a famous role model for Archibald Leitch, the greatest architect of football’s early years.
Scottish architects designed dozens of soccer and rugby venues in the early 20th century and began working at the Goodison Road booth in Everton in 1909. Massive buildings are usually compared to the ocean liner in Mauretania.
Now 99 years old, the Bullens Road Stand still has the iconic Leitch feature, with truss crossings on the balcony above.
What Leitch didn't build is another unique feature of Goodison Park, the St. Luke's Church located in a corner next to Gwladys Street End, the home of Everton's noisiest fans.
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Pele's World Cup Trouble at Goodison
Pere played 14 games in four different World Cups from 1958 to 1970, losing only one: at Goodison.
Brazil competed in a team competition at Goodison in 1966, and the goal of the two-time champion superstar was to be rough. Pere scored in a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria but was injured so much that it won 3-1 against Hungary.
Pelé is back, having a decisive match against Eusebio's Portugal and is fouled again. Portugal won 3-1 and Brazil withdrew from the tragic sight of Pelle around the Goodison Stadium.
Goodison hosted the epic quarterfinals – North Korea scored four points at Eusebio, Portugal won a three-goal lead 5-3, and then a controversial semifinal, which didn't involve England. Under British President Stanley Rous, FIFA moved England-Price to Wembley and Goodison, instead hosting West Germany's defeat of the Soviet Union. Liverpool fans were not impressed and called it "England Restoration".
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Eusebio said in his return visit that Goodison was "the best stadium in my game life."
Goodison's greatest game
For many Everton fans, nothing goes beyond the atmosphere of the stadium (often known as the "big old lady") when their team beat Bayern Munich and Beern Munich and Lothar Matthäus 3-1 in the second leg of the European Cup semi-finals.
When Everton beat two goals from two to beat Wimbledon 3-2 on the final day of the 1993-94 season, the old stadium was filled with relief and stayed in the Premier League in the Premier League, four years later, after a final 1-1 draw with Coventry, he was behind again.
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A 16-year-old Wayne Rooney announced his entry into the world as he finished Arsenal’s unbeaten league match with a last-minute distance curler next to the bar at the last minute of Arsenal’s unbeaten league match.
In February, there was the last man, Merseyside Derby, in Goodison. James Tarkowski hit the Nets' roof in the eighth minute downtime to secure Everton with Liverpool 2-2.
What's next?
Everton is moving to Bramley-Moore Pier in Liverpool's Waterfront for the next season to begin. The new stadium has already staged a test event, with a high-profile rugby league match between England and Australia on November 1 and hosting the 2028 men's European Championship.
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The plan is to remove Goodison Park, but Everton's new owner - the Friedkin family of Texas - announced this week that the women's group played in the top Premier League will move there from next season from home near Walton Hall Park. Goodison's current capacity is nearly 40,000 down.
What classic stadiums are left in the British men's competition?
There are not many around and for economic reasons most clubs often move to a larger, more modern stage with heavy hearts.
Goodison's demise will soon be followed by Manchester United's construction of a new 100,000-seat stadium next to its Old Trafford House. Over the past three decades, Manchester City (2003), Arsenal (2006), West Ham (2016) and Tottenham Hotspur (2019) have entered a new reason (2019), while British football home Wembley has rebuilt and reopened in 2007.
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Among the classic stadiums hanging there are Anfield, Aston Villa Park (Aston Villa) (home since 1897), St. James'S'Park (Newcastle, 1892), City Ground (Nottingham Forest, 1898), Craven Cottage (Fulham, 1896, 1896), Hillsborough (Wednesday, 1899, Wednesday) (Wednesday, 1899), and Molineux and Molineux (Wolves, 1889).
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