It was a few weeks ago when I started recounting my journey to the United Kingdom. Now I am back with Part II!
In the last edition, I mentioned how I support Everton Football Club. It is, and I know this, an odd choice. Most people in the US who support a Premier League team tend to gravitate towards the bigger clubs. I am talking about the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City, and shudders Liverpool.
Why Everton? I jokingly say that it’s because I like pain. The real answer is that Everton has been good to American-born players. They’ve featured Joe-Max Moore, Brian McBride (yes, it was just on loan for eight games, but it counts!), Landon Donovan (another guy on loan, but he made an impact!), and Tim Howard. Tim was the man between the posts and a mainstay for a decade, almost up until their current number one, Jordan Pickford, came into his own.
The other thing that comes up when I say I’m an Everton supporter is, “Why not Liverpool?” They are, historically, the better team in the same city. They have won more league titles, numerous Champions League titles, and a host of others that I don’t care to delve into, because they are so prolific, and it’s, as the kids say, sending me!
I always viewed choosing one of the bigger, more successful clubs as an easy choice. It’s one thing when you’re born into supporting a successful team, the Dodgers or the Galaxy, for me. It’s another thing to choose a team. Success can be a determining factor. This is probably why there are so many fans of the Bulls, Cowboys, or Yankees worldwide. They saw those teams win and were drawn to that. Which makes it even more of an odd choice for me to pick Everton, because they haven’t won anything meaningful since I started supporting them.
And yet, I persist. UTFT! Which stands for Up The [Expletive Deleted] Toffees. The Toffees is the club’s nickname.
I had always watched matches on television at bars or from the comfort of my own home. I had, obviously, never been to Goodison Park before. This trip happened to coincide with the club’s final season at Goodison. They will move into a brand-new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on the banks of the River Mersey next season.
Attending a sporting event in England is unlike anything I have experienced before. For starters, butts are in seats at the kick off. There weren’t streams of people trickling into the stadium like you see at American sporting events. From the outside, the place looked closed. But inside, it was equal parts raucous and tense.
I’ve made numerous posts about baseball stadiums recently, discussing sightlines and how great the experience is. That is not the case here. Goodison is old and has real character. By character, I mean it has posts blocking views because the upper deck seats need support. Or the overhang from the upper deck makes it so that you and everyone else in your section have to stand up as the action moves out of view from your seated position.
And yet, it was a great experience! Everton did not lose! They drew with Chelsea nil-nil, but they did not lose! At that point in the season, a shared point from a draw was crucial to staving off relegation.
I have always heard things about the English soccer/football fans. Mostly, they can be very verbal. The singing and chanting are top-notch stuff. The best part of all this was that during the match, we heard a slightly high-pitched voice yelling at the referees. When we spotted the culprit, we saw it was a little, cherub-faced boy wearing glasses and an Everton-themed Santa hat. The adults next to him paid him no mind. It was just another match day. But boy, he was swearing up a storm! The other adults around him, including those next to us, could not contain their laughter whenever he swore. It was equal parts cute, hilarious, and shocking. Highly entertaining!
The game was a very tense affair as I mentioned above. There were chances by both teams that were either barely missed or saved by the keeper. In a way, it was the classic Everton experience. They hang around, create chances, but never finish. The only difference here was that they didn’t lose! I literally watched them hang around Man City this morning, 4/19, only to concede not one, but two goals late and lose the match. But on this December day against Chelsea, the final was 0-0.
Post-match, the stewards come out on the edge of the pitch and guard the interior of the field. That was when we got a real sense of the place. It has the feel of stepping into Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, except that Goodison has those two beat by 20 years. I could feel the history as I walked through the halls. Mainly, because the hallways were so narrow and they felt thicker than a seawall.
Leaving the stadium, I nearly forgot that the place is smack dab in the middle of a neighbourhood. We stepped off the grounds, and boom, there was someone’s house! The team is truly a part of the community. It’s a community divided, red (Liverpool) vs. blue (Everton), but they are an integral part of the city and its people. I can’t wait to watch a match at their new stadium. UTFT!
John Kidde Writes 