Everton fans came out in their thousands to greet the team coach ahead of their crunch Premier League clash against Southampton.
Blues supporters lined the streets around Goodison Park in anticipation of Frank Lampard and his squad arriving on Saturday afternoon. And once they did, coming to the stadium past the club shop, flares were set off and the Blues made their way down Goodison Road through a sea of blue smoke.
'The 1878s', who describe themselves as 'a group of fans steering Everton towards an enjoyable atmosphere', organised the welcome following a Twitter poll. The Blues head into this afternoon’s clash against Nathan Jones’ side inside the bottom three.
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Taking to social media to announce this news earlier in the week, the group tweeted: "The fans have spoken and have voted for a coach greeting on Saturday v Southampton. With the majority 71% of fans voting yes. Route TBC later this week. See you all at 1pm on Saturday, Blues. Once again bring your voices to try and help the team get a much-needed three points."
Similar scenes were witnessed last season as Lampard's side rallied to secure their Premier League status. Everton experienced the benefits for the first time on May 1 as the Blues secured a vital win over Chelsea and the tradition has sporadically continued before games since then.
“I’d love it to be that [intimidating for the opposition]. We see the effect it has on the Club when it’s all joined up,” Lampard said on Friday when asked about the passion of supporters.
“The fans are so passionate, I have played against it, it’s a really tough place to come, and we want to make it that.
“I’m not trying to ask for anything from the fans, because I think that’s the wrong way to go about things, we have a job that we have to action for the fans to buy in.
“We felt like they started it last year, in terms of turning up early and giving the players a feeling. The players then go onto the pitch and play with passion, which got some big results that helped keep us up. So, of course, if we can have that again it would be great.”
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