The Magic of Goodison

A work colleague took his seven year old son to his first ever match when we played Wigan recently. On the Monday after the game I was regaled with stories of how in awe of everything his lad was by Goodison, the look on his face when he saw the players coming out to warm up and how he didn't really notice that Wigan had scored even though he had a perfect view of it from his seat in the Upper Bullens but was fully aware that Everton had equalised. Not to mention the fact he got a little angry with his dad for leaving a couple of minutes before the end and missing our third goal. I have a feeling that this will not be Adam's only visit to Goodison, much to his dad's relief, who now feels he is a proper father now for passing his love of Everton onto his eldest son!


Listening to how excited Adam was got me to thinking about my first game at Goodison, I remember the date - 01/05/1993 (a date that I will never ever forget) and that we played Arsenal and drew 0-0, but apart from that, I have to admit that I don't remember too much else, apart from knowing this was a place that I needed to come back to (haven't really stopped going back there much since that fateful May day).


I may not remember much about my first game at the Old Lady but I do remember my cousin's first visit to Goodison and how without maybe realising it at the time, it changed his life - I took my our Marc who was then 11, to see us play Man Utd in February 1995 (he was a Man Utd fan at the time), and he'd never been to a match before. His dad worked on Saturdays so couldn't take him, though I am not sure he'd have taken him to Old Trafford even if he was able to take him the match.


Even though he was supporting the opposition that day, I remember that you could see on Marc's face how in awe of the whole occasion he was. He hardly spoke from the moment we got into Goodison, which is so not like us when we get together (even during my holy communion we got told off as he was talking during the service and making me laugh!)  As it turned out Big Duncan scored one of his classic headers and we won 1-0, much to Marc's disappointment. If Marc was quite quiet during the game, he was even quieter on the way home, as he got a lot of stick from me and my brother (all of it good natured but very deserved). Despite seeing his team losing that day he said he really enjoyed going to the match and enjoyed the atmosphere and asked if Id take him to the next Man Utd game at Goodison.


Circumstances meant I never did take him to another match and we never really saw each other as much after that, but I was told by his nan and grandad that he'd fallen out of love with Manchester United. So I thought he was just a typical glory hunter and once United started winning again (apparently he didn't like it as I gloated to him when we won the FA Cup in the same) , he'd suddenly remember that he's always been a big supporter.


Ten years later in 2005 when back at Goodison, history repeated itself and Ferguson rolled back the years and scored yet another classic header down the Gwladys Street End as we beat United 1-0, who did I find was sitting two seats away from me, just like a decade ago, but our Marc. This time not supporting Manchester United, but the mighty blues. He was as passionate about us as I was. He was now an Evertonian. He said he'd never forgotten that day back in '95 when he first experienced a football match live. Even though his team that day had lost, he remember the whole atmosphere, the noise of the fans and the way the ground erupted after the goal and the full time whistle. He knew he was never going to get the chance to experience the same level of support and passion being a United fan, so he switched his allegiance to Everton, a decision he said he'd not regretted.


The next time I saw him at the match was outside Wembley in April 2009 when once again we'd beaten his "first" team, you would never have known that he once supported United. He was singing and dancing, just like those of us who had supported Everton all our lives and he admitted that when Jags scored the winning penalty he had shed a little tear, which is exactly what I did (although it was probably more than a little tear in my case)


Maybe sometimes I take the magic of Goodison for granted as I am there week in, week out, through good times and bad, but for someone experiencing it for the first time, the old lady must still have some powers, it certainly did something to my cousin and it seems to have had a similar affect on Adam too.