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Goodison Park


Goodison Park was the first major football stadium built in England.

The ground was opened on 24 August 1892 - Everton's first game there was on 2 September 1892 when they beat Bolton 4-2.

It's name came from an engineer called George William Goodison, responsible for the pipe work for the local sewerage system.

Despite the revolutionary initial developments, it was not long before Goodison Park was improved even further when a new Bullens Road stand was built in 1895.

The Goodison Park of today really began to take shape after the turn of the century, beginning in 1907 with the building of a double-decker stand at the Park End. In 1909, the large Main Stand on Goodison Road was built. It housed all the offices and players' facilities, and survived until 1971.

The next big change took place in 1926, when another double-decker, similar to the Main Stand, was built on the Bullens Road side opposite.

Goodison enjoyed a royal visit in 1938, when George VI and Queen Elizabeth, (the mother of current Queen Elizabeth II), came to Everton and saw the new Gwladys Street Stand. Goodison Park thereby became the only ground in Britain to have four double-decker stands and was newly affirmed as the most advanced stadium in Britain.

The next ground development took place in 1971, when the 1909 double-decker Main Stand on Goodison Road was demolished to make way for a massive new three-tiered Main Stand.

This stand houses the Club’s 12 executive boxes, as well as the Dixie Dean, Alex Young, Joe Mercer, Brian Labone, Blues 100, 1878 and Sponsors’ lounges.

The next development was the conversion of Goodison to an all-seater stadium, following the Taylor Report, in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster.

This required the conversion of the paddock, enclosure and Gwladys Street terracing into seated accommodation.

The Park End terracing remained temporarily but was only opened for big games. The reason for this was the intended redevelopment of the Park End. This came to fruition in the early part of 1994.

The new Stanley Park End stand is a single tier cantilever stand with a capacity of 6,000.

The stand was opened on Saturday 17 September 1994 by David Hunt MP. A contribution of £1.3M was also given by the Football Trust.

The Park End also hosts Club offices and two corporate lounges, the People’s Club and the Captain’s Table.

Because of the age of Goodison Park, three of the four stands have seats with views restricted by giant pillars which hold the stadium together.

In total, around 10 per cent of all seats are affected, though the Park End is free of obstructed views.

Source: Everton FC


Goodison Park artwork

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