Old and best (Goodison Park (Everton FC))

Member Name: loz09

Product:	Goodison Park (Everton FC)
Date:	22/07/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Atmosphere

Disadvantages: Restricted views

***Please do not comment or rate because of the team you support; actually read the review first!***

The first ever purpose built football stadium lies at the heart of a mass of housing. This has been the home of Everton f.c. since 1892. The four stands that were once representing architectural revolution, now left behind by newer stadia. This famous old ground lies just 3/4 of a mile away from the home of Liverpool f.c; anfield. Only stanley park separates the two clubs and their similarly out dated stadia, yet both remain at the forefront of English football.

I can assure you all, however, that although the stands may be dated, the atmosphere at the ground has not been left behind. The old saying that they just don't make them like they used to would be well utilised here. Sure you may get 70,000 in a brand new bowl, but it's undoubted most new stadium's do not carry the vocals the way older ones do. Goodison park was built for acoustics and carries the noise fantastically around it. 'The grand ole lady' as she is affectionately known, provides the backdrop for a 12th man when needed. It is without doubt, that on some occasions, you may be forgiven for forgetting the disadvantages of staying at goodison park. I have been lucky enough to witness games where the pouring of emotiong creates an electric buzz that undoubtedly reaches the players on the pitch; and the amazingly close proximity of the players to the fans makes it all the better.

So there are four sides to this ground, they are the park end, the gwladys street, the bullens road and the main stand.

Starting with the park end, this lies behind one of the goals, and is the most recent of the stands to be made all seated. Remaining as a terrace following the introduction of all steated grounds being made compulsory, this was only opened for big games. This was only temporary as it was planned to rebuild the stand with seats. This came about in 1994, and there is often disappointment expressed that the single tiered stand was built with a capacity of 6,000. The stand could have been take a fair few yards back (where housing used to lie but was bought and demolished by the club), and in this way a massive tier could have overshadowed the goal. Sitting in the park end it's clear that this is the most recent stand a there are no restricted views. This is named the park end as the outside face stanley park.

Opposite the park end is the gwladys street, with lies behind the other goal. This is a two tiered stand and is where I have a season ticket; therefore this is my favourite part of the ground! The lower and upper gwladys both have restricted views, not least because of the poles that may obstruct some views, but also because if you sit quite far back the overhang will mean you can't see when the ball goes over head height. The gwladys street houses everton's most voiciferous fans, hence why it's traditional for us to kick towards that end in the second half. The lower gwladys now houses a disable enclosure raised a few rows back.

The remaining two stands lie opposite each other. The bullens road is two tiered, and below the lower bullens lies the paddock. At the corner closest to the park end the away fans are seated. The bullens has a lot of restricted views, but there are none in the paddock. Thos who sit here usually say they like the banter that they can have with the close proximity of away fans.

The final stand is the largest one. The main stand is three tiered. The top balcony is very high and quite steep. The top balcony and middle tier both house resticted views mainly because of the large poles that run down to hold the roof up. The very bottom tier is the family encolsure, and regulations have become more strict recently; it now really is somehwere you wouldn't want to be unless you had kids.

Summary: Make the most of it whilst you can