Goodison Park's famous tunnel has a new look and front and centre of the design is what matters most about Everton - the fans.
The club revealed the new images, which will be passed by players as they head out to the pitch to the soundtrack of Z-Cars, on social media yesterday and they are a fitting tribute to the supporters. Blues coming together in adversity played a huge role in inspiring the club's relegation survival bid last season and that has not been lost on those at the club.
One of the most positive effects of an otherwise difficult season has been the rekindling of the connections between the fanbase and the club, inspired by Frank Lampard's open embrace of a support he repeatedly expressed his gratitude for. That the fans will now be the last thing the players see inside the stadium - before becoming the first thing players will see (and hear) when they step out onto the pitch - feels poignant. No-one should forget what they did for the club in one of the darkest hours of its modern history.
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And in fairness no-one appears to be. That the fanbase is the spine of the club is frequently being acknowledged as Lampard's project builds momentum. After the players returned for pre-season after the summer break one could be forgiven for thinking they would want to put the trauma of the relegation scare behind them. Instead at Finch Farm they were greeted with a message board on their walk out to the training pitches. On it were plastered images of the supporters throwing the blue-pyro welcome parties for the coaches ahead of crunch games against Chelsea, Brentford and Crystal Palace along with social media messages highlighting just what the club meant to them.
Away from the cameras this is a trait that has also continued. I am lucky, in this job I get to visit Finch Farm on a regular basis. Unless the overflow car park is in use there is only typically one way in and one way out - meaning I disappoint fans hoping to see a player for autographs and pictures twice on every visit. I've not seen a player let anyone down though. Even under the height of pressure I've seen Anthony Gordon, Alex Iwobi, Asmir Begovic and others stopping to meet supporters. Waiting for them to finish so that I can head back to the ECHO offices in Liverpool city centre is never a chore.
The fans are the club and they have shown this season how their commitment knows no limit. Too few have been the days like Southampton, when players danced in front of the travelling section to celebrate an important win. Yet they keep selling out away ends and they keep singing. Even in that back to back horror show at Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, where Everton failed to muster a shot on target in either game, they kept singing. It was the Blue end you could hear for most of the second half at St James' Park even as their side laboured to a frustrating defeat.
So to see that the supporters have become the subject of choice for the new-look Goodison tunnel, in possibly its final guise before the club departs the Grand Old Lady for the Liverpool waterfront, is pleasing. It represents an acknowledgement of their importance to the club and drives home that bond between those on the pitch and those in the stands. Hopefully there will be more celebratory scenes like the ones after the big win over Crystal Palace to come. Those who made the journeys to the capital and the north east this month certainly deserve such a moment at Craven Cottage on Saturday night.
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