Fans of Everton Football Club celebrated their team’s escape from relegation at Goodison Park over the May bank holiday weekend. Everton beat Bournemouth 1-0 at Goodison Park to avoid relegation from the Premier League. The team can now bow out of their last season at the Goodison Park stadium in style.
At the start of the 2024/25 season, Everton are set to move to a brand new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock on the banks of the River Mersey. The scheme is part of the wider redevelopment of the docklands area of the city, which will also see new shops, residential areas, and cultural and social venues built.
Everton FC have played at Goodison Park since 1892, and although it has been upgraded over the years, it is no longer fit for modern sporting purposes. The new £30m stadium will have a capacity of almost 53,000, and is expected to bring in new investment and business into a run-down area of the city.
Local business owner Mark Johson told the Echo that he was pleased Everton had escaped relegation, despite being a Liverpool fan. He said: “I wanted Everton to stay up.” He noted how the club’s presence helps keep some businesses in the area afloat and added: “People say they would like to see them go down but it wouldn’t be the same without the Derbies.”
Despite the general reaction of relief, some fans are calling for a change of manager after the narrow escape. First-team defender Conor Coady told the Daily Mail it had been the ‘most difficult season’ of his career.
He added: “It’s becoming a bit of a thing now. We don’t want to make it a bit of a thing. It was last season and now this season. This is where we need to improve and reset. I’ll be honest, it’s been the hardest season of my life, the hardest season of my career.”
“Finally we’re there now and it’s a lot of relief. We had a plan and we focused on ourselves. We’ve worked ever so hard the last few weeks to put it in our hands and we did it. It was important we did that. I thought we played really well considering the circumstances.”
“It’s not something you want to be a part of. This giant of a football club, you don’t want to go down. We’ve reiterated that all season. We’re not but what we’ve got to do now is not make this a common theme now because it’s happened the last two seasons.”
Some fans invaded the pitch at the end of Everton’s win against Bournemouth, an expression of pent up emotion and relief rather than celebration for most. The relief is shared by business owners who rely on strong match day crowds to boost their takings. The stage is now set for a final season at Goodison Park that fans and players can be proud of.
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