Latest news with #BillKenwright
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Wayne Rooney leads parade of Everton greats for emotional Goodison Park farewell - after Toffees sign off with victory over Southampton
Wayne Rooney was among the club greats who joined in Everton 's emotional farewell to Goodison Park on Sunday after victory against Southampton. Rooney was joined by fellow Blues legends Peter Reid, Graeme Sharp and Duncan Ferguson and 60 other former players in a parade on the pitch that followed Iliman Ndiaye's brace in a 2-0 win. After supporters good-naturedly mocked Rooney's association with Manchester United, he told them to a huge ovation: 'I am a Scouser by the way – a young lad from Crocky (Croxteth). 'Everton was the club I grew up with. I still love the club. I know we've had ups and down. Hopefully we can bring history we've had at Goodison Pak to the new stadium.' Rooney was embraced by former team-mate Duncan Ferguson and parade host boxer Tony Bellew as he spoke and there were more tears when Tim Cahill added a tribute to late chairman Bill Kenwright, saying: 'Bill will be watching down.' 1980s heroes Andy Gray and Peter Reid received some of the biggest cheers as they were announced. Gray said: 'I thought I'd seen everything in football until I came to Everton. The atmosphere here was something extraordinary. We may be leaving Goodison but Goodison will never leave us.' Earlier, thousands of Everton fans had turned out to greet the team's arrival and the players did their part by cruising to with two first-half goals against the Premier League's bottom team. Manager David Moyes said: 'The scenes outside the stadium were incredible. I made the point to the player we had to finish off the Goodison era properly. 'Although we were safe in the table, the pressure was still on them because of the occasion and because of all the greats who were sitting watching them.' After 133 years at Goodison, Everton's men's team will kick off next season at a new ground by Liverpool's waterside which was this week named the Hill Dickinson Stadium. The women's team will continue to play at Goodison.
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
‘Goodison Park was my football school': Jamie Carragher meets hero Kevin Sheedy
It is often said you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Evertonians could not be more appreciative of what they are losing when they relocate from Goodison Park. The groundsman's biggest worry at full-time this Sunday might be a waterlogged pitch because of the number of supporters overwhelmed at the thought of watching a top-flight game there for the last time. The same is true of the most celebrated players. 'I'm not really an emotional person, you know, Jamie. But I think I will be this weekend,' Everton legend Kevin Sheedy tells me as we meet at the stadium to share our Goodison memories. 'I'll not just be thinking about the games I played here and the brilliant times. I'll be thinking about my mum and dad coming to watch me, all the people who work here who I've met over the years. I'm still involved with the club doing stadium tours and meeting supporters in the club lounge and I was with a few fans the other day. 'They were all telling their personal stories; going to Goodison for the first time with their dad or grandad, remembering the result and who scored. As they were talking they all started welling up and the tears came. I think it's going to be that sort of day on Sunday.' 'That was peak Goodison' Whenever I think of what former chairman Bill Kenwright christened the 'Grand Old Lady', I am transported back to being my seven-year-old self watching Sheedy, Peter Reid, Graeme Sharp and Neville Southall in their prime. Goodison was my football school and the legends of Howard Kendall's title-winning teams were my teachers, the sights and sounds of the Gwladys Street terrace in the mid-1980s setting me on my journey to a life in football. You never forget your heroes. In my autobiography I described myself as the 'unofficial chairman of the Kevin Sheedy fanclub'. 'It was a magical time,' Sheedy says of the side which won the title in 1985 and 1987. 'The game everyone talks about most is Bayern Munich, of course (the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final, second leg). 'That was peak Goodison. The place was rammed and the team coach could only move at one mile an hour getting us here. We were looking out of the window and knew it was something special. The atmosphere in the warm-up was electric, and then the game itself, needing to score two in the second half. There was no noise like it when we scored the second and third. 'The funny thing is, whenever Kevin Ratcliffe won the toss and we knew we were kicking to the Gwladys Street second half, we just expected it. 'We had such good players, and the best goalkeeper in the world in Neville, that we just knew if we played to our level we would win.' It was my privilege to be standing on the Gwladys Street for that 3-1 win, seeing Sheedy composed enough amid the Goodison cauldron to deliver a cutting pass, that David Silva would have been proud of in more recent times, in the build-up to Everton's third Goodison Park was the most intimidating football fortress in the country then. If you want to fully comprehend the stadium's power, consider this: between Kendall's appointment as Everton manager in May, 1981, until the end of the 1989-90 season, no top-flight English club lost fewer home league games than Everton. Goodison was breached 19 times in 368 games. Over the same period, Liverpool lost 20 at Anfield. The Goodison factor was at its most potent when the team and supporters were in passionate harmony. 'Goodison was such a huge part of everything we achieved,' says Sheedy. 'You've got to have the team, obviously. But the starting point was the knowledge before every game that teams absolutely hated coming here, with that crowd right on top of them they were frightened to death. 'On the other side of it, we signed some players who could not handle playing in front of our crowd. You need to be mentally strong to play for Everton at Goodison because you don't always have a good game. As long as you're having a go they will stick with you and spur you on.' 'Best team performance I played in' There were so many childhood highlights for me, especially in the 1984-85 season. Aside from the Bayern win, the 5-0 victory over Manchester United signalled an emerging side had evolved into the finished product, Sheedy scoring twice. Because it wasn't filmed for Match of the Day, the clips of the goals were limited to a small segment on the BBC News. My dad taped it and sent the cloudy video all around Bootle. 'That was the day I came off the pitch thinking: 'We've got a hell of a team here. We could win the league,'' says Sheedy. 'It was probably the best team performance I ever played in. United had a good team with some great players and we could have scored eight or nine.' Games with more extensive TV highlights ensured I could memorise and recite every Barry Davies and John Motson commentary. Ask any Evertonian from that era about the greatest individual performances and they will mention Andy Gray's two diving headers against Sunderland in the title run-in, and the day Ipswich Town visited Goodison in the FA Cup and Sheedy showcased his footballing genius. From a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, one of the greatest dead-ball specialists of any era picked out the top left-hand corner, leaving keeper Paul Cooper stranded. Before he could celebrate, referee Alan Robinson intervened claiming Sheedy had struck it too soon. Expecting the same attempt, Cooper covered the angle to prevent a repeat. No problem. Sheedy dipped his left-footer over the defensive wall with a delicate chip to the opposite side of the Park End goal. 'It's probably the one I get asked about the most,' says Sheedy. 'When you look at it again you can see Peter Reid having a go at me for taking it too early, so after it is disallowed he says: 'What are we going to do now?' 'So I've said back to him: 'What do you mean 'we?' Get out the f---ing way and I'll put it in the other corner.' To this day, if I see any footballer with a gorgeous left foot, Sheedy is my reference, and it's the same with set-piece takers. Even when David Beckham was in his prime, I would think: 'He's brilliant at free-kicks, but is he better than Sheedy?' 'I couldn't tell you how many free-kicks I scored,' says Sheedy. 'I know I got plenty in that 84-85 season. I can think of about 12 in my career, at least. What do they say the record is now? Eighteen? It's a pity they didn't keep track of that kind of thing in those days.' As the 84-85 league title edged closer, the final whistle would see me dashing out to the bookmakers on Goodison Road to check how our nearest rivals had got on. 'What was the Spurs score?' I'd shout. Yes, it feels like a long time ago. 'My best year at Everton' Strangely, Everton's 1987 championship-winning side is not celebrated as much, but it was Sheedy's positional move from left to central midfield which was a turning point in the title race. Another of his extraordinary Goodison goals came in a 5-1 win over Leicester City, Sheedy somehow chipping the ball over keeper Ian Andrews from the edge of the penalty area. He scored 16 goals in 37 games that season. 'That was my best year at Everton,' he says. 'I think the fans tend to remember the big away wins more that year – away at Aston Villa and Arsenal – but we lost only once at Goodison.' Everton's run at the summit ended after that, my Goodison experiences growing in frustration before professional responsibilities led to my switching allegiances. I had a Gwladys Street view of the greatest ever Goodison derby, the 4-4 draw with Liverpool in the 1991 FA Cup replay. 'I was injured so I watched it from the stands, but there is no doubt the crowd was a massive factor that day, too. Liverpool couldn't finish us off, could they?' says Sheedy. 'Even in those years Liverpool were a better side, they found it hard winning here.' By 1994, only Southall, Dave Watson and Ian Snodin remained of the last title-winning side, leading to one of my final reckless acts as diehard blue who was now part of Liverpool's youth set-up. I was attending Lilleshall, the England schoolboys School of Excellence, as Everton drifted towards relegation. Home for the final weekend but without a ticket, my dad called me at half-time when the score was 2-0 to Wimbledon to say we had to be at Goodison for what looked like it would be a funeral march out of the Premier League. After the comeback 3-2 win, we had a night out and Lilleshall's coaches were a man short at training the following Monday. 'I'm pretty sure I was playing for Blackpool that day. Wherever I was, all I was thinking about was: 'How are Everton getting on?'' says Sheedy, who having started his career at Liverpool made a reverse trip to me in his tribal loyalties. 'Goodison has been a salvation for the club really. It was the fans which kept the team up, not only the Wimbledon game, but on a few occasions since.' 'A passion inherited through generations' Regeneration at Bramley-Moore Dock beckons from the start of next season, a move everyone understands even if they will leave Goodison Park with a heavy heart. My first Goodison experience was on August 25, 1984. Everton lost 4-1 to Tottenham Hotspur, but I had the consolation of meeting William Dean. No, not that one. Bill Dean was a renowned Liverpool actor who played Harry Cross in the soap opera Brookside and was such a massive Evertonian, he changed his name from Patrick Connolly to that of his hero better known as 'Dixie'. The 40,000 lucky enough to be there on Sunday will have their own tales to tell. 'One fan told me that for all the years he has been going to Goodison he has been sitting in front of a lady, now aged 86, who as a matter of routine kisses him on the back of the head every time Everton score,' says Sheedy. 'It's the realisation that those little moments will no longer be experienced inside Goodison which make it more than a football game on Sunday. 'It's about the relationship the supporters have with each other and how they've inherited that passion through generations. It's going to be hard for a lot of people to get through that last game.'
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'He was the first chairman who I had phone calls with'
On BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, former Everton winger Theo Walcott discussed his experiences with former chairman Bill Kenwright:"He was very different because I remember he always used to take his time and phone you. It would be on a Sunday evening and you'd get a phone call you and he'd just want to check in and see how the family is or how your week is looking."It was a bit more personal and he actually wanted to know the player differently, away from the football. I think that side of it helps with players feeling good about themselves, going into it knowing that someone cares about something other than just their playing ability."Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Everton's new stadium: Guide to the move from Goodison Park to Bramley-Moore Dock
Goodison Park, the home of Everton Football Club for more than 130 years, is set to close in the summer of 2025. The historic ground was built in 1892 following a disagreement with the owner of Anfield – the ground in which Everton had started their professional career, and where local rivals Liverpool now play. Goodison Park was chosen to host the FA Cup final in 1894 and 1910, with five 1966 World Cup matches also held there. The stadium was developed in 1994, giving it a capacity of 39,572. Whilst at Goodison Park, Everton won nine First Division titles, the most recent of which came in the 1986/87 season. This season is Everton's last campaign at the ground, with the recent 2-2 draw with rivals Liverpool a fittingly raucous last Merseyside derby at the ground. Now, 133 years since its construction, Everton are waving goodbye to the stadium as they move to a new site at Bramley-Moore Dock. Following a match against Southampton on 18 May 2025 the stadium, affectionately known as The Grand Old Lady, will no longer be used by Everton, with a Farewell to Goodison Festival being planned by the club. A three-day festival is set to be held, including live music and player appearances, if approval from Liverpool Council is approved. Everton last gained permission to host a non-football event in 2016 when boxer, and Everton fan, Tony Bellew won the WBC cruiser-weight title. Everton's move away from Goodison Park has been discussed for over 20 years, with a 1996 plan to move to a new site abandoned because of insufficient funding. A further project failed in 2006 when the club allowed fans to vote on whether a move should occur. Supporters were in favour of this but the proposal was rejected by the Government. In 2017, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright confirmed that Bramley-Moore Dock was the preferred site for a new stadium, with the plan confirmed later that year. Expanding the capacity of the club's home and increasing the financial value the stadium offers to Everton are the main reasons suggested as to why the club have decided to move. At the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season the stadium is set to be demolished with a mixed-use housing scheme to be built in its place, as part of the Goodison Park Legacy project. This plan, which will create 173 homes and over 50,000 sq ft of offices, was agreed in February 2021, following the approval of Everton's new stadium. The £82 million project will also include a care home, green spaces and 100,000 sq ft of community spaces. Everton's new home, situated at Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall, Liverpool, is set to be the seventh-biggest stadium in the Premier League, with a capacity of 52,888. This would be larger than St James' Park, with only Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester United having larger grounds. Additionally, there will be parts of the stadium with safe-standing seats. The club has also confirmed that the ground is 'future-proofed', meaning the club can increase its capacity should the government change the legislation surrounding the ratio of one person standing to one seat. In total, the project will give Everton more than 13,000 extra seats when compared to Goodison Park. — Everton Stadium (@EvertonStadium) January 23, 2025 The initial cost of moving away from Goodison Park was estimated to be around £500 million, but it is now believed to have cost closer to £800 million, with the club enlisting the help of international banks, such as JP Morgan, to finance the move. The true extent of the stadium's cost was revealed in documents from Everton's appeal to their 10-point deduction in the 2023/24 season, due to a breach of the Profit and Sustainability Rules. With building all but complete, Everton look set to move into the new stadium for the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Test events are likely to take place, but the first competitive fixture will be in August 2025. The stadium has also been chosen as one of six English venues to host the 2028 European Championships, alongside Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Etihad Stadium, St James' Park and Villa Park. Alongside the Euros, Everton's new stadium may also be used for the first Rugby League ashes in more than 20 years. Pitch lines painted and goal posts in place. Is it starting to feel real yet? — Everton Stadium (@EvertonStadium) February 6, 2025 The full name of the stadium is yet to be confirmed with it being referred to as both Everton Stadium and more commonly, Bramley Moore, due to the dock in which the ground is located. It had been reported that Everton had agreed to a £30 million naming rights option with the former Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov. However, the club now state that they are 'working to secure a naming rights partner'. Everton's new owners, The Friedkin Group, will focus on gaining naming rights and also believe there is financial potential in selling advertising space across the venue. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Everton's new stadium: Guide to the move from Goodison Park to Bramley-Moore Dock
Goodison Park, the home of Everton Football Club for more than 130 years, is set to close in the summer of 2025. The historic ground was built in 1892 following a disagreement with the owner of Anfield – the ground in which Everton had started their professional career, and where local rivals Liverpool now play. Goodison Park was chosen to host the FA Cup final in 1894 and 1910, with five 1966 World Cup matches also held there. The stadium was developed in 1994, giving it a capacity of 39,572. Whilst at Goodison Park, Everton won nine First Division titles, the most recent of which came in the 1986/87 season. This season is Everton's last campaign at the ground, with the recent 2-2 draw with rivals Liverpool a fittingly raucous last Merseyside derby at the ground. Now, 133 years since its construction, Everton are waving goodbye to the stadium as they move to a new site at Bramley-Moore Dock. What is happening to Goodison Park Following a match against Southampton on 18 May 2025 the stadium, affectionately known as The Grand Old Lady, will no longer be used by Everton, with a Farewell to Goodison Festival being planned by the club. A three-day festival is set to be held, including live music and player appearances, if approval from Liverpool Council is approved. Everton last gained permission to host a non-football event in 2016 when boxer, and Everton fan, Tony Bellew won the WBC cruiser-weight title. Why is Goodison Park closing? Everton's move away from Goodison Park has been discussed for over 20 years, with a 1996 plan to move to a new site abandoned because of insufficient funding. A further project failed in 2006 when the club allowed fans to vote on whether a move should occur. Supporters were in favour of this but the proposal was rejected by the Government. In 2017, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright confirmed that Bramley-Moore Dock was the preferred site for a new stadium, with the plan confirmed later that year. Expanding the capacity of the club's home and increasing the financial value the stadium offers to Everton are the main reasons suggested as to why the club have decided to move. What will happen to Goodison Park: At the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season the stadium is set to be demolished with a mixed-use housing scheme to be built in its place, as part of the Goodison Park Legacy project. This plan, which will create 173 homes and over 50,000 sq ft of offices, was agreed in February 2021, following the approval of Everton's new stadium. The £82 million project will also include a care home, green spaces and 100,000 sq ft of community spaces. How big is Everton's new stadium? Everton's new home, situated at Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall, Liverpool, is set to be the seventh-biggest stadium in the Premier League, with a capacity of 52,888. This would be larger than St James' Park, with only Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Tottenham and Manchester United having larger grounds. Additionally, there will be parts of the stadium with safe-standing seats. The club has also confirmed that the ground is 'future-proofed', meaning the club can increase its capacity should the government change the legislation surrounding the ratio of one person standing to one seat. In total, the project will give Everton more than 13,000 extra seats when compared to Goodison Park. — Everton Stadium (@EvertonStadium) January 23, 2025 How much did Everton's new stadium cost to build? The initial cost of moving away from Goodison Park was estimated to be around £500 million, but it is now believed to have cost closer to £800 million, with the club enlisting the help of international banks, such as JP Morgan, to finance the move. The true extent of the stadium's cost was revealed in documents from Everton's appeal to their 10-point deduction in the 2023/24 season, due to a breach of the Profit and Sustainability Rules. When will Everton be moving to the new stadium? With building all but complete, Everton look set to move into the new stadium for the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Test events are likely to take place, but the first competitive fixture will be in August 2025. The stadium has also been chosen as one of six English venues to host the 2028 European Championships, alongside Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Etihad Stadium, St James' Park and Villa Park. Alongside the Euros, Everton's new stadium may also be used for the first Rugby League ashes in more than 20 years. Pitch lines painted and goal posts in place. Is it starting to feel real yet? — Everton Stadium (@EvertonStadium) February 6, 2025 What will Everton's new stadium be called? The full name of the stadium is yet to be confirmed with it being referred to as both Everton Stadium and more commonly, Bramley Moore, due to the dock in which the ground is located. It had been reported that Everton had agreed to a £30 million naming rights option with the former Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov. However, the club now state that they are 'working to secure a naming rights partner'. Everton's new owners, The Friedkin Group, will focus on gaining naming rights and also believe there is financial potential in selling advertising space across the venue.
