Goodison - The First Time

I was 11 when I went to my first match at Goodison. For someone brought up in Anfield in the 1960s that makes me a relatively late starter. My mum and dad and brother were all reds. For some reason that never did much for me (born not made?).

Like many of my generation I became obsessed with football following the 1966 World Cup. I can still remember the Brazilian fans in Stanley Park challenging us to a kick about. I was so star struck it might as well have been Pele himself. My uncle Bill was a great Blue – he was at Wembley in 1933 when we won the cup – Dixie Dean and all. But what changed a passing interest in Everton to an all consuming passion was the arrival of one Alan Ball, fresh from that famous win. His two goals in a 3 – 1 win over Liverpool sealed my fate. I was blue for life and he was the idol whose pictures covered my bedroom wall for the next 5 years!

I had met Iggy on the bus travelling from Anfield to school in Wavertree. He was a veteran blue. He had been going to games for at least a year or so. And so it was that, on 12^th November 1966 we went together to the home game against Arsenal. The first thing I remember is that he had the biggest rattle you have ever seen, two or three times the size of the one in the picture.

It took both hands to operate it and it was so loud… It would certainly merit action by the noise abatement society. It was probably a lethal weapon that wouldn't get past the turnstile these days.

As we did the short walk along Priory Road I began to get that feeling of sickness in my stomach that I sometimes still get as the ground gets closer. We paid our 5 shillings and then we were inside Goodison Park. I was spellbound. I had never seen anything like it. We were in the Paddock and stood in the corner near the Park End where the wall was low enough for a couple of 11 year olds to see. In those days the Goodison Road Terrace was massive and seemed like a sea of blue and white. To my right was the Gladys Street end. I remember thinking that, one day, I would be big enough to stand there.

What stood out were the colours, the smells (!) and the music. I saw the Seekers in May this year (they are getting on a bit now) and I could barely control the emotion as they sang – We Shall Not be Moved. And of course there was the Z Cars theme. I was as if I had been translated to another world, like Dorothy and Toto.

But the most abiding memory was during the first half. The ball went out play right in front of us. Who came over for the ball? Golden Vision himself - Alex Young. 

He was no  more than a few inches away from us. With his blond curls and piercing eyes he was like a Greek god. In fact, a few years later, I was in Florence and saw Michelangelo’s David. All I could think of was the features of Alex Young on that first day I saw him. Of course I wouldn’t assume to make any other comparison with the famous sculpture but you get my meaning!

I don’t know whether another memorable moment actually happened or whether memory has elaborated. Did Alan Ball really sit on the ball momentarily whilst surrounded by Arsenal defenders? Probably not but the day was so unreal I would have believed anything.

I cannot remember anything about the game itself. It ended 0 – 0 – something that was to be a feature of Arsenal games in years to come. But it didn’t really matter. This was the start of something that has lasted a lifetime.

Even now, if I am in the Main Stand I look across to that little corner of the old paddock and still remember the excitement of that day.