
'The atmosphere was just unreal, absolutely unreal'
Kevin Ratcliffe, Everton's most successful ever captain, has been sharing his memories of Goodison Park with BBC Sport Wales.The Toffees' game against Southampton on Sunday will be the final senior men's fixture at their home of 133 years.Ratcliffe skippered Everton to two First Division titles, an FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup during the 1980s under Howard Kendall."There was only one thing I wanted to do and that was to play football for Everton Football Club and play at Goodison. My family were all Evertonians," he said."That was my dream – but not in my wildest dreams did I think I was going to be captain of them and winning things. That was just an added extra."The Bayern Munich game [1985 Cup Winners Cup semi-final second leg] will take a lot of beating. The atmosphere was just unreal, absolutely unreal."Getting to the ground and coming round the Bullens Road we couldn't get down there – the bus was rocking."We literally got into the ground 45 minutes before the game because the streets were lined with fans."It's a typical old ground and it's needed upgrading – going to the new stadium is going to be absolutely fantastic."But this place will be missed – there's no doubt about it. And the one thing that will be missed is the atmosphere."

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