Lille on Wheels - Part 2

After taking a bit of inspiration from reading this http://toffeeweb.com/season/14-15/comment/fan/28564.html I thought I'd write part 2 or part deux. So here goes, apologies for the length of this, but there was a lot to get in!!

Ever since the draw was made for this season’s Europa League, Lille was always going be one that I was going to go to. I knew getting a ticket wouldn’t be a problem as I had all the required credits and travelling there wouldn’t be too much of an issue as I knew the Eurostar went straight into Lille.  So I put the plans into place for my friend and I to be able to go – booked the train tickets, arranged for assistance for the trains and found a hotel with a wheelchair accessible room. Further research carried out later on meant we knew the most wheelchair friendly way of travelling from the city to the ground and back again. We were good to go and very much looking forward to this trip.

We arrived in Lille around 3.40pm on Thursday after a relatively straight forward journey.  we checked into our hotel, put the bags into the room and decided to venture in to town to soak up the pre match atmosphere. I‘d received phone calls and texts from family and friends warning me not go to the square as there had been an incident involving tear gas being used on our supporters, we decided that we wouldn't be put off by this and would go there as that is where our friends would be. As we got near to the square we could hear choruses of Allez, Allez, Allez Oh and many other Everton songs from outside a bar. These fans were in great spirits, singing and having a good time. The locals seemed in awe of the numbers outside this one bar and were taking photographs and enjoying watching the scenes. We stayed there and joined in with the fun for a short time before setting off to the square. As we got to there, we could see all the flags and although the numbers of fans were dispersing in order to go to the stadium, there was still a decent number gathered there and the atmosphere was friendly and happy. Lots of songs were being sung and the fans were enjoying themselves. I am glad we went there. You couldn't help but sing along with our songs and it was a really enjoyable place to be. But because we didn't know how long it would take to get to the stadium we decided to leave just before 5pm to make our way to the ground.

This is when our jovial mood started to wear off quickly and be replaced by frustration, panic and annoyance. On our arrival at the Gare Lille Le Flandres, we couldn't find the disabled access to the Metro, we asked the police who were on duty there and they simply shrugged their shoulders and said "don't know" when asked if they could tell us where the lifts where. Eventually we found someone who pointed us to the lift and we got to the Metro station, which was extremely busy not only with match going fans of both clubs but rush hour commuters. It was literally heaving. The queue for the stairs to the platform for the Metro was like something I have never seen before, it was a bottleneck, how serious injury wasn't sustained by people there, I am not sure. We managed to get into single small lift somehow and joined what felt hundreds of other people on an extremely overcrowded platform. More and more people were joining the platform quicker than people were leaving it onto the metro trains. I positioned myself in my wheelchair to the right hand side which was the side of entry on to the metro and my carer had to stand to the side of me to stop anyone pushing into me and knocking me. Due to my disability, I am only little so my chair isn't that noticeable and I can also sustain injuries by being knocked into, I will openly admit I was scared being down on that platform and I know my friend felt similar, it felt like we could be crushed or have people fall on me at any minute. It was also ridiculously warm as well and at times I felt quite faint. From what I could tell there was no crowd control in place from station staff or police. As we eventually got near to where we were in a position to get on to the Metro, two policemen were notified by a couple of very helpful people in the queue that a wheelchair user was there and trying to board the next metro. They tried to hold back the crowd to allow us to board but couldn't so we had to wait for the next Metro. Thankfully we got on this train, much to our relief. There was no disabled space on the Metro despite there being a sign saying there was, to be honest I didn't care, I was just glad to be off that platform. The Metro train was packed but it didn't feel anywhere near as bad being on that unlike that platform.

Leaving the station there was a heavy police presence, which was more than little intimidating as we made our way to the stadium. We got to the stadium with about half an hour to go before kick off. My tickets were for the away end and according to the ticket our entrance was I02, but from we could not see where that was. Thankfully my friend saw some of the Everton stewards who were working at the entrances, one of them came with us to take us to an entrance, which was the same entrance as a lot of our supporters were using. There appeared to be no separate disabled entrance at all. Something I have never known in over 15 years of going to away matches. To get to this entrance, we had to fight our way through a huge mass of Evertonians who were also attempting to gain entry. With the help of the Everton steward and the Evertonians in this so called queue we managed to work our way through to the front. Without the assistance of the Everton steward and the understanding of our fans, I really don't think we would have got to the front of this mass of fans so quickly & safely. From what I could tell, there were no Lille stewards around these entrances to help with crowd control etc. Poor organisation yet again from the home club

Once at the entrance, it was obvious why so many fans were massed outside, the body checks! Delays into the ground was inevitable with these. I was searched by a steward; she searched me, my bag, my jacket and my wheelchair. Once passed this, I moved forward about two yards, I encountered the same checks yet again but this time by a police woman, who was nothing if not thorough! I have never encountered checks like that at football ground ever, in fact I don't think I have ever been checked at a ground before, my bag, yes, but not me or my chair. If I have it wasn't to that extent. I don't think the security checks in airports have ever been that thorough with me. All of my female friends felt the same about the body checks. On this second check my phone charger was confiscated from me. The policewoman tried to explain to me what was happening, but she didn't speak any English. Eventually a colleague told me I wouldn't be allowed to enter the ground with the charger and I could collect it after the game (which I did). I don't see what problem there was with the phone charger, I have taken it into many grounds previously.

Once we were allowed to go to our seats, I encountered another problem. My seat didn't exist! The numbers on the disabled bays jumped from 24 up to 36, my ticket was for bay 28! Reg, the EDSA steward told me to sit in a space that was empty for now. So we did and that is when I realised I had a major problem, I would not be able to see the pitch! The wheelchair bays were located at the back of the lower tier, the seats in front of us weren't even full at this point and I just knew that once they were I wouldn't see the pitch and this would be without the fans standing up. I have been to enough games to know what views will be like before games have started and it was obvious that this was going to be problematic. The wheelchair bays were like the ones at the Emirates, Wembley, the Etihad and the Britannia to name just a few in this country, but unlike these grounds, they were not elevated, so the disabled supporters sitting here were never going to have a clear view of the pitch. I was extremely disappointed and angered that for such a brand new ground, so little consideration had gone into the disabled viewing area.

After returning from the toilet (no signs to direct me to the disabled toilets or any Lille stewards to ask), the space I was sitting in had been taken by the disabled supporter who was meant to be there. So we had to find another one. Most were taken up by other wheelchair users, but there were a couple empty on the far side (last block of Everton supporters) but again the problem of seeing the pitch existed. To stand any chance of seeing the game I ended up sitting alongside another wheelchair user at the top of the steps right by the metal separation fence between the home and away fans, which felt like we were in a cage. My friend had no seat as the other supporters had been told on their entrance they could seat anywhere if they couldn’t find their seats so she stood behind me for the whole game. We had a bit of a view of the goal Tim Howard was defending in the first half, but an obscured one of the far end goal any play we had down the right side, I couldn’t see. In the second half, I hardly saw any Lille attacks as their fans that were to my immediate right stood whilst the attack was ongoing. I was literally waiting for their fans to start celebrating as that would have been the only way I would have know they'd have scored.

Within 5 minutes of kick off two other wheelchair users came and joined us at the top of the steps as they couldn't see from their designated wheelchair bays. We had to keep moving back and forth to allow our fans up and down the steps. At no point did any Lille stewards or police come over to us to tell us to move as we were clearly blocking the steps. We would never have been allowed to stay there at any ground in the UK. We asked the steward on the other side of separation fence if we could move into the Lille end as we thought we may have seen the pitch much clearer from there, but were told in no uncertain terms NO. At half time I moved to one of the wheelchair bays just to see what it was like and even with the fans seated I could just about make out the goal in front of us. There was no way I could stay there to watch the game. So I had to return to the top of the steps for the second half.

As the end of the game approached we saw a line of dozen or so armed police behind us and were told by one of our stewards, we'd be kept behind after the game. Thankfully the Everton stewards had arranged with the police to allow the wheelchairs to be allowed through this cordon and on to the concourse. I was so relieved that the stewards had sorted this.  As soon as the whistle went, the stewards took the wheelchair users and their carers through the armed police cordon and we waited out of the way of the crowd of Evertonians who had made their way to the top of the steps. We also were allowed to leave the ground after about 10 minutes, before the rest of the Everton fans. We were most grateful for this as it meant we could get on a Metro with nowhere near as much stress and panic as on our journey to the stadium and got back to our hotel safely around 10pm when I discovered my final problem of the trip, the wheelchair accessible room didn't live up to its name. But that is story for another time!

I must admit that I didn't enjoy any part of being in the ground or getting to and from it. I have been going to Goodison since 1993 and away games since 1999 have never seen so little organisation ever at a match. If it wasn't for the Everton stewards, I don't think we would have gotten in or out the ground as safely as we did. The policing at the ground was far too extreme and I can understand why this caused a lot of fans to get in after kick off. Due to the poor viewing area I didn't enjoy the game, just because I couldn't see it, nothing to do with how we played! This whole experience ruined what had been a trip my friend and I had been looking forward to for weeks. I was hoping to go to Euro 2016, but the experience in and around the stadium and in getting to it have really put me off this now.

The ups and downs of the 12-13 season

So that is it, the end of yet another season with Everton, a season that has had many a twist and turn, though I don’t suppose it’d be Everton if we didn’t have those.
The lows were really low; I hate even thinking about the cup defeats against Leeds and Wigan, let alone putting them down in writing to remind everyone about them. Embarrassed, disgusted and ashamed were just some of the adjectives I used to describe to how I felt after both of those defeats. Wigan was particularly hurtful due to the inept performance we gave and it really took a while for me to get over it. Talk about a massive missed opportunity. I’m still fuming over the defeat at Carrow Road too, bad enough losing like how we did, but losing to a Grant Holt (of all people) goal and then having to endure such a long and tedious coach journey home was really too much for me. Reading away wasn’t a particular high point either, teams who haven’t won in ages or strikers who are on a barren run in front of goal must love seeing us as their next game, as they know they’ve got a brilliant chance of ending their dreadful run. Even Torres scored his first league goal of 2013 on Sunday! Conceding last minute goals against Norwich (twice), Fulham, Newcastle wasn’t pleasant either. The lack of incomings in January was a source of major frustration for us all, ultimately costing us any real hopes we had a sustaining a real challenge of finishing 4th. The new signings that came in on deadline day in 2012 really gave such a lift to the club and the fans and contributed to such a good run of form to that season, but all January 2013 brought us was major disappointment. I know not all fans will agree with this next bit, but for me Moyes leaving, although I expected it, was a bit of a low. As I’ve said previously, I know my history; I know he isn’t our greatest manager. At times, he’s frustrated and angered me beyond belief with his team selections, substitutions and style of play, but when all you can really remember as our managers is Howard Kendall (3rd time around) and Walter Smith, Moyes changed us from perennial relegation candidates to top 6 finishes, he restored my pride in being an Evertonian and gave me the chance to watch players like Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Mirallas, Baines & Martyn.

The highs weren’t maybe as high as we’ve had in previous seasons but there were still some memorable moments. United at home on the opening game was just brilliant, if ever an example was needed of how magical Goodison Park on a night match is, then this was it. The Old Lady really did rock than night and the players responded to it. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a player totally dominate United, but that night Marouane Fellaini was truly unplayable and Jagielka was unbeatable at the back. Swansea away for the second season in a row was probably up there as my favourite away, it was one of the best performances I’ve seen us give at any time, especially away from home. We just dominated the game and the scoreline was in no way flattering to us. Those last five minutes in the Tottenham game at Goodison were amongst the craziest I’ve ever witnessed. It was literally “limbs everywhere” when Jelavic scored. Beating Newcastle at anytime is always pleasurable but particularly at St James’ Park, even more so after being one down within the first two minutes, the fact that Leighton Baines scored that screamer of a free kick (I will never, ever tire of seeing that goal) also helped a bit. The general performances of Baines all season has been a source of great pride for me, he is easily up there as one my favourite players ever, I’m so pleased that he’s finally being recognised more at international level now as well, as those of us who have watched him for the last few seasons know that he is at least the equal of Ashley Cole, beyond him in my eyes. The re-emergence of Seamus Coleman has been one of the highlights of the season too. He suffered a lot with second season syndrome and fitness issues last season, but this season he really has made that right back slot his own and has caught the eye both defensively and offensively. He is one of the hardest working players in our squad too. I will admit I didn’t know much about Kevin Mirallas when we signed him, but I know I like what I’ve seen so far from him. He must be the most exciting wide man we’ve had since Andrei Kanchelskis. If we can keep him fully fit for the majority of next season, we’ll have one hell of player on our hands.

The other highlights for me were off the field acts. The tribute Everton gave to the Hillsborough families prior to the Newcastle game was something very special. It was such an emotional and fitting tribute, one that all connected with the club quite rightly received deserved praise for. The late, great Alan Ball once said once Everton touches you, nothing will be the same, I think Tim Cahill flying back from New York to say his farewells in an already emotionally charged last home game of the season really proved that. Goodison was again brilliant that day, yes, we said our goodbyes and thank yous to three people who have been so important to us in the last decade or so, but as Moyes quite rightfully said, we showed our support for our club. Managers and players come and go, that’s football, but fans remain loyal and on that Sunday afternoon in the rain just before Mirallas made it 2-0, the fans showed that no one person is bigger than Everton Football Club.

On a personal note, the season will be remembered as the one that I finally achieved my ambition of attending all the games we played, all 45 of them. Having missed games in previous seasons due to lack of accessible transport or due to my brother’s work shifts, I never actually thought I’d ever do it (a special and massive thank you to Lynne, Colin and Eddie for helping me achieve my ever present record). Other very random things I will remember from the 12-13 season is me refusing to go to near to Leighton Baines to get a photo with him in case I injured him ahead of the derby, finally going for a drink with my mates in the Brick, meeting one of my first Everton heroes in Joe Parkinson, getting to meet a lot of mad, crazy but boss Evertonians, still managing to go all girly when I met my first love, Duncan Ferguson, again, hitting a drunk Leon Osman at the end of season awards evening, to be fair to Ossie, he didn’t seem to mind, I doubt he’d even remember I did it and most embarrassingly of all making a total idiot of myself in front of Phil Jagielka by declaring my love for him and not being able to spell my name to him!!

Who knows what this summer is going to bring for us, it is going to be one of the biggest and most important close seasons we’ve had for many a year, all I do know is, that come August the 17th I will be ready to take my seat on the best rollercoaster going, the rollercoaster that is Everton!

Just don't even dare, Everton!!

All week I've been telling my Evertonian mates not to look too far ahead of themselves, that we need to take one game at a time but I can see why they are looking ahead though. Why wouldn’t we, this is such a massive chance for us to progress, not just the quarter finals, but to at least the semi final and another Wembley trip. However, I am having to stop myself from thinking like that as that is like tempting fate. This is Everton after all, how many times have they let us down in the past?  I'm definitely once bitten, twice shy when it comes to Everton and cup games. I really do dislike the things!

I came out of Boundary Park last Saturday night quite angry (and with a headache thanks to my proximity to the Oldham fan with that bloody stupid drum!). Angry at the ending to the game, obviously and also at the performance against a lower league club who are on a poor run of form and have no manager. After taking the lead so early in the second half, I was hoping we had weathered the Oldham storm and we'd push on to see out the tie comfortably, but as has been the case in recent weeks, our performance was too bitty, too hit and miss and not what was needed in such a banana skin of a cup game. You could deny Oldham their equaliser really. They were always going to go for it as the game approached its end; they had nothing to lose in going for it. We should have expected that and been more prepared for the onslaught. They did go for it and got their reward for doing so. Fair play to them for that.

Some of my anger was later directed to Phil Dowd, who failed to spot Lee Croft's blocking off of Tim Howard, but to blame the referee as a reason for us not hanging onto the lead is a poor excuse. We need to look at ourselves, leaving Baines with a two on one which lead to the successive corners which ultimately resulted in the goal was poor. Duffy who had only been on the pitch at matter of seconds should not really have been put on marking their danger man, Matt Smith. For me that should have been Distin or Fellaini's job to mark him. Our general performance throughout the game was sluggish and although we did well to get ourselves in the lead after falling behind relatively early on, we never looked like we'd ever go on to dominate the game from that point, which is what we really should be doing against lower league sides. Oldham’s equaliser was on the cards from about the 80^th minute.

So now we move onto Tuesday's replay. I’d like to think that the players know the massive chance we have got here, and will come out with a positive attitude and take the game to Oldham right from the off, which is something we failed to do at Boundary Park. If the likes of Pienaar, Mirallas, Fellaini and Jelavic can play like we know they can, that surely will be enough to get us past this plucky League One team? Hopefully Seamus Coleman will be fit enough to play too, as he'll help to speed up our attacks down our right flank, which at times were quite pedestrian on Saturday and we will have learnt a way to deal more successfully with Matt Smith's physical presence. But as I said before, I've been bitten before by Everton in cup competitions, ironically Oldham was one of those teams who have bit us. It just cannot happen again! The incentive of a home quarter final against Wigan has got to mean something to the players and the manager too; it certainly does to the fans. Hence the excitement from so many of us. We know that we've given such a favourable draw, with the exception of getting Barnsley or Blackburn; we couldn't have picked a better potential quarter final opponent for us. I'd be devastated and fuming if we didn't take this chance.

Who knows, with the uncertainty regarding his contract, this maybe Moyes' last chance to win something with us, so I'm hoping he and the players realise this and give us fans the opportunity of at least one Wembley trip this year. I honestly don’t think we’ll get a better chance of at least getting to the final and who knows maybe ending our 18 year trophy drought.

So please, please, please Everton, do not give ITV their headline story of a cup shock on Tuesday, they had that in the fourth round. Play from first whistle to the last, get Goodison rocking like only it can in a night match and give me the chance to join some of our other fans in dreaming of Wembley.

 

The Brilliance of Baines

An epiphany occurred over this weekend, it’s taken some time, but finally, the rest of the footballing world, ok, maybe not the world, but certainly this country has now seen how good a player Leighton Baines actually is. Ask any Everton fan and we would have told you this for probably the last 18 months, two years, if not longer, but others in the media have eventually caught onto just how good the 27 year old from Kirkby really is.

Everything about Baines is just class, both on and off the pitch. Unlike certain other left backs, it is unimaginable that you will never see Baines on Twitter, let him alone using any form social media to verbally abuse the powers that be at the FA. Even when the media were more than hinting that his so called homesickness was the reason that he was overlooked for the 2010 World Cup squad in favour of Stephen Warnock (he who is now on loan at a Championship club), Baines maintained his dignity and continued to play consistently well for Everton and only when selected for the squad for this summer’s European championships did he use his media interviews to set the story straight about the mythical homesickness stories.  

“'People who are gullible enough to believe everything they read, that's up to them. That summer I spent three weeks with Everton in Australia. I'd have much rather of spent those three or four weeks at a World Cup. It wasn't to be. But, as I say, if [homesickness] was ever an issue, I wouldn't have been away with the club that long.”

Would Mr A Cole take such an omission from the squad in quite the same, mild mannered way? Methinks not!

You won’t see Baines falling out of nightclubs at all hours of the morning, he is far happier going  to concerts, even if as Marouane Fellaini said recently he has the worst choice in music of the team!! w From what I know I don’t think he has, Leighton is our music aficionado. He is a family man too who still goes around to his mum’s for his Sunday dinner when he can. I once saw him in Starbucks by our work with his eldest lad (his mini me) and absolutely no one battered an eyelid when he walked in (apart from me, of course, took all my restraint not to go over and say hello), he was just a normal dad taking his son (named Lennon, ode to his excellent musical taste maybe?) for a drink and a cake.

On the field, he is anything but normal, he has grown into easily the best left back I’ve seen at Goodison, I saw something on Twitter about him the other day saying that he’d even fit in playing with 84-85 squad. Can’t get much more of a compliment than that really. The partnership he has struck up with Steven Pienaar is one of the best, if not the best in the Premier League.  At times their link up is so instinctive it is almost telepathic. Sitting further back in the away end at the DW on Saturday, I was pretty much in line with the left side and at times in the second half it really was a joy to watch those two play, you could see how well they really do work as a duo and not just offensively, as Pienaar doesn’t shirk when it comes to helping out Baines when we’re defending either. But going forward is when the pair are at their exciting best, the first goal in the recent game against Newcastle was a perfect example of this, not many left backs would ever be found in the opposition’s penalty area that many times a season as Baines is in most games.  Baines’ is up and down that left touchline so much during games that there mustn’t a blade of grass he hasn’t touched he could easily be classed as a left midfield. His delivery from both open play and set pieces is at times just undefendable, it is no wonder he is at the top of the chances created charts.Opponents know how much of a threat our left side is and do try to nullify that side of our team but despite this the duo have so far scored three goals between them and assisted 6 for the likes of Jelavic and Fellaini. His penalty taking ability for an Englishman is outstanding – 9 out of 9 in the Premier League now and he's not a bad free kick taker either, Chelsea in the FA Cup will always be one of my favourite goals, couldn’t have timed the goal any better or have put it in that top corner anymore perfectly, proper postage stamp job. . Unlike so many modern day attacking left or right backs, Baines can actually defend too. Many times he has got in last ditch tackles, blocks or defended the goal-line from corners; he can perform both roles of a modern day full back equally as well.

International recognition has been achieved by Baines now, long overdue in my opinion after the ridiculous homesickness stories, but he never seems to be the same player when he dons the England shirt, maybe that is because he lacks a bit of confidence, he is seen to be a quiet lad, but as my cousin’s husband said when he managed Baines for his under 14 team and appointed him captain “he was quiet compared to most, but when he spoke, the other lads listened and would do what Bainesy said” Maybe he’s read and believes the media reports on him who always seem to spell it out that he is a good cover for Cole but no more than that. If England played to his strengths by actually passing to him when he’s made one of his trademark runs forward then maybe the media would see that he is at least equal to Cole. Although to me he is much more than Cole’s equal, not just because of how he plays on the pitch but how he is off the pitch, if more players were like Leighton, maybe footballers would have a far better reputation that what they have now. England may fail to appreciate what they have in Baines, but he’s got not concerns about being unappreciated at Goodison, we know we are lucky to have the Premier League’s best left back playing for us.

Hillsborough - Merseyside United

April 15^th 1989, is a date that will never be forgotten in the city of Liverpool. Everyone will remember where they were on that fateful day when 96 Liverpool fans went to the match to support their team like thousands of other fans did on that sunny Saturday spring afternoon, except those 96 men, women and children never came back home.

I was  just 7 back then and can remember bits of that day so vividly. It was one of the last times I can remember watching anything with my dad before his death later that year as we followed his weekly Saturday ritual of watching Grandstand. My auntie Kathleen was in ours and she’d bought me a gold sparkly address book, I was sitting with her asking her where she lived so I could wrire her address in my new book. I can remember so clearly seeing a picture on the telly of an ambulance being driven onto the pitch (later we’d find out that this was the one and only ambulance that ever made on to the pitch that day). My mum and dad talking about it while Kathleen distracted me from looking at the scenes on the TV by helping write more addresses into the book. When my brother phoned on his way home from our semi final at Villa Park, I remember waiting not so patiently on the ledge by the meter cupboard in our hall for my chance to speak to him (this was back in the days before cordless phones), obviously my mum or dad, can’t remember which one was telling him about what had happened in Sheffield and confirming the reports they’d heard about deaths were sadly true. When I got my chance to speak I asked him if he’d saw the ambulance on the pitch, and had Everton  had an ambulance on the pitch too and I said it was there because there’d been a fight and people were going to hospital. The innocence of youth, eh?

It was only much later, once I really started going to the match that I begun to understand what really happened that day. Although I think I knew well before then that this was something serious and wasn't a fight like my innocent 7 year self thought, as our ex neighbours nephew was sadly one of the 96 victims. She would sometimes come into ours to talk to mum about it, I think I just picked up on her anger and upset that this was no fight or accident.

In school as part of our English GCSE we had to do an assignment on the role media plays in social events and our group was given Hillsborough. Only then did I really discover so many shocking revelations that to me proved this was one of the biggest injustices ever to happen in this country:- the 3.15pm cut off point in which the coroner had declared that all fans had died by, despite testimony to the contrary,  the fact dozens of ambulances were lined up outside the ground but were not allowed on to the pitch to treat the injured and the dying, South Yorkshire Police attempting to apportion blame to the Liverpool fans for the tragedy by saying they were mounting a pitch invasion, arriving ticketless and drunk, the Sun newspaper and their infamous headline and all other shocking and upsetting facts that even at the age of 14/15 made me feel a huge sense of injustice of behalf of the victims and their families.  Maybe because I had an interest in the topic or had a knowledge of how football fans and specifically those hailing from Liverpool were perceived in the media, I really put such an effort into this particular assignment as I wanted to make sure I showed that the media, the written media especially were wrong with their opinions on the cause of this tragedy, my efforts paid off as I received one of the highest marks our school ever had for any coursework piece, not just an English one.

If as a schoolgirl I could see that the findings from the original enquiry didn’t add up and the media reports were certainly not true, surely those in power would see this, they did eventually, but I never expected that it would take until September 2012 for the truth, the real truth that everyone in the city of Liverpool has known since April 1989 to finally be revealed.  The fact that is has taken over two decades for this truth to be made public angers and saddens me so much. In that time the families and the supporters of the Justice for the 96 campaign have fought with such amazing dignity and pride to eventually be told that their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties and friends were conclusively not to blame and the disaster was a failure in police control, things that we all knew from days after the tragedy.

The revelations from last Wednesday’s report were even more heartbreaking, shocking and unforgivable than I think anyone ever imagined they would be. It was very hard for me and a couple of friends being in work reading updates via Twitter of the findings, particularly hard as one the girls was actually there on that day and if wasn’t for the fact she was wearing flat shoes so couldn’t see and moved to one of the emptier side pens where she thought she’d stand a better chance of seeing the game, she would have more than likely have been one of those in the central pens. It was so hard for all of us not to cry hearing about how maybe some of the fans may have been able to have been saved if proper medical treatment had been allowed on to the pitch and how the South Yorkshire Police treated the dead – testing even the kids for alcohol to try to blame them as the cause of the tragedy is nothing short of disgraceful. Not one of those fans deserved to be treated like that and I sincerely hope that the justice that those 96 fully deserve is delivered a hell of a lot quicker than the truth did. No football fan should ever go to the match to support their team with their family or their mates and not come back home with them.

As emotional as I was on Wednesday, I was also filled with a huge sense of pride. Proud of a city, one that is usually so, so divided when it comes to its football allegiances, but one that came together to stand united for those 96 victims and their relatives. People can say what they like about us scousers and football fans, and they usually do, but I really believe no other city would stand as one like both fans of Everton and Liverpool have in the last 23 years. Hillsborough was not just a tragedy that affected the football club of Liverpool; it affected the whole of the City of Liverpool too. Evertonians lost family and friends that day too and if it wasn’t for a toss of a coin, it could have easily have been us playing at that ground and not at Villa Park. I don’t know of any Everton fan that has not respected and supported the justice campaign.  If anyone has disrespected it, they are not a proper Evertonian in my opinion.

The club too have also shown great support to Liverpool and the campaign over the years and the shirts we had in our club shops with remembering the 96 on was a lovely, dignified touch by EFC as was Graeme Sharp playing a part in the vigil on the night the findings were revealed. My pride in Everton escalated even further on the night of the 17th of September after witnessing such a moving, emotional but ultimately fitting tribute ahead of our game against Newcastle, I knew the club would do something but I never thought it would be that emotional, the choice of The Hollies ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother’ was a perfect song that really summed up the support given from both Everton and its supporters to the families of the victims in the last 23 years, the whole tribute at the match was beautiful. I don't think I watched the first few minutes of the match as I was unable to focus through my tears and my phone was bleeping like mad with messages fo thanks from my rednose mates who were just as moved by what Everton had done as all of those inside Goodison were.

I maybe being hugely blinkered here but I really don’t think any city would have reacted like Liverpool has done and will always do when it comes to Hillsborough, the truth of what really happened that day has finally been revealed, now the fight for justice for the victims and to get those who really were to blame to be made accountable for the actions begins and I have no doubt that both sides of Stanley Park will be as united as ever to make sure this happens - two clubs, one city, one justice.

That Christmas Eve Feeling

8pm tomorrow night and life as I know it and love it will resume. Summer is never my favourite time of the year, as there is no Everton. Even though we've had Euro 2012 and the amazing and ever so enjoyable Olympics this year, none of that comes close to a match day at Goodison. We have the added bonus of tomorrow being a night game, which is even better as there is something a little bit special about night matches at Goodison.

Every season I am always excited to get back to Goodison, not just for the football but to see the familiar faces of those people who've sat by for years, but this season I am like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the big day to hurry up and come and I get the feeling I am not on my own with this feeling. Why the change? Whisper it quietly but there is something affecting most Evertonians this summer, we've become positive!! The last few summers we've had to endure not being able to buy anyone until pretty late in the window, usually on the last day or two after we've sold a big name player to fund any incomings, last August's deadline day was easily one of the worst days in my Everton life, heartbroken didn't come close to describing my feelings. Then we've had injuries to first choice players so have had to rely on the kids making up the numbers in the squad, who can forget the Blackburn game from 2008 and the extremely youthful bench of Turner, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Agard, Kissock, Wallace?!

This year things somehow feel different, yes we've sold a player for big money, but let’s face it Rodwell was never what you'd class as a first team regular because of his injury record and out of our most sellable assets I would have sold him any day over the likes of Fellaini and Baines. But we have actually got some signings in!! The relief of getting Pienaar back permanently after his impressive loan last season was felt by all Evertonians; I cannot wait to see him and Baines causing many a problem for right backs up and down the country this season. Steven Naismith's arrival has caused excitement for the fans especially after his goal-scoring exploits against AEK Athens and today's news of the signing of Kevin Mirallas has sent the positivity through the roof. It's a shame we won't be seeing him play tomorrow as that would make the atmosphere even better. Rumours are abound of still one or two more incomings being possible too, if that did happen and come September the 1st we still had Baines and Fellaini in our starting XI, I really don't think I will have know such a positive summer at the club in recent years.

Just hope come 9:50pm tomorrow night, I will still be as excited and not feeling like the kid at Christmas when the present you've really wanted turned out be a disappointment.

COYB!!

The night Goodison Park rioted!!

Those 17,508 fans who where there will never forget it, those that weren't, wish they had have been there to witness a truly unbelievable and some ways unique sight of a Tony Hibbert goal and celebratory riot/pitch invasion. Definitely not an ordinary pre-season game, but doesn't that just sum up Everton and Evertonians?!

Premiership players are seen to be not deserved of testimonials these days, in the age of multi million pound contracts and sponsorship deals and I do understand that train of thought, but many recipients of testimonials now donate the proceeds to charities (just as Hibbert has done). Despite the misgivings of testimonials, I am glad Hibbert got his night. Hibbert isn’t what you’d call a typical modern day footballer, he shuns the media spotlight, I bet he hated having to do so much media work for the testimonial and he probably isn’t a household name to non Evertonians. But what he is, is a loyal player who seems to me just to be happy and grateful to be playing for the club he’s always supported. He may well not be the most skillful of players (although in my opinion, he is up there as being the best tackler at the club and can time a sliding tackle better than anyone we’ve got) but he is committed player and a hard working one too. Qualities that are often overlooked nowadays. He will play in any position in the defence that he is asked to play in without any complaints or moans, who can forget the excellent display he put in against Manchester City at Goodison last season when played at centre half against the likes of Dzeko, Silva and Aguero. If he’s left out for a period of time, you will never hear any complaints from him; no comments made to the media;  he just gets on with it, bides his time and works hard in training till he gets his chance again, which invariably he does. Also it’s very rare these days to see a local boy do well for a club, I really hate the thought of us never having at least one local lad playing for us and to have one do so for over 11 years is definitely an achievement that deserves recognition.

The game itself wasn’t against one of the biggest of European names in AEK Athens and maybe scoring after 38 seconds didn’t help make the game much of a contest as Moyes would have probably have wanted but seeing Steven Naismith score so early and his subsequent 30 minute hat trick was very encouraging and maybe the thought of Tim who crossed our minds during that first half. Can already see signs of a partnership developing between him and Pienaar especially as two of the goals were set up by our returning South African as well as hopefully re-establishing the excellent partnership he had with Jelavic up at Rangers. But even a hat trick on your Goodison debut wasn’t good enough to get the headlines for our newest recruit as this night was all about the player we know as Hibbo.

Let’s face it Hibbert likes to defend; he isn’t a Leighton Baines who likes to get on the score sheet throughout the season. If Tony gets a shot remotely near the target in a season that is good for him (I have seen a goalie have to make a save from him in a league game, but that was in 2004). He isn’t bothered about not scoring, the fact he hasn’t ever scored in over 300 games shows this, but us fans are. The cries of “shoooot” every time he gets anywhere near the opposition half, let alone their penalty area and the “he scores when he wants” song proves how much we’d like to see him score, but it’s never happened. It nearly did in the first half when the goalie had to tip over his 20 yard pile driver over the bar, much to the frustrations of the Park End.

The moment of history came early in the second when we awarded a free kick just outside the area. I was shouting for Hibbert to take it, it never actually occurred to me that he would but as he wandered over to that side of the pitch, the anticipation levels in the Old Lady grew as everyone realised this may be the moment we’ve wanted. Mobile phones were all zoomed in on him as he stood there, rather nervously waiting for his moment, Pienaar and Baines set it up perfectly and Hibbo struck a very decent low shot into the back of the Gwladys Street net. He said that he never wanted to score a gimme, a penalty in injury time or something similar, and he never, this was no gimme, Bainesy would have been proud of that free kick. It seemed to take a few seconds for all of us there to realise what had happened, but the next few minutes were some of the best scenes I’ve seen at Goodison. The main man stood there with his arms aloft and huge smile on his face. His teammates then all mobbed him; they were genuinely as pleased for him as the fans were. Then, us fans took centre stage as we fulfilled our promise of when Hibbert scores, we riot. Scores of fans from the Gwladys Street, the Bullens Road and the Main Stand piled on the pitch to celebrate. It was all good natured and so funny to watch as the rest of the ground sang “Oh Tony Hibbert, he scores when he wants” All too often these days, the fun and enjoyment is knocked out of football as it is all about winning, so to see these scenes was so enjoyable. The players found it just as enjoyable judging by the tweets from the likes of Duffy, Distin and Neville after the game. Even the man all this was for enjoyed it, he probably never thought we’d do it, but we did and what a way for him to remember his night, he incited a riot at Goodison, but that’s Evertonians for you, we said we’d riot and we did and as Steven Naismith put it “Cheers Hibbo, score 3 and couldn’t get the fans on the park, then u bag and the place goes mental haha, great sight, amazing to see”

It was amazing and those who were there will never forget the night that one of Huyton’s finest finally scored. I don’t care that it was only a friendly, it was the night Tony Hibbert scored and Goodison Park rioted and I was so glad to have been a part of it.