Goodison Park had another famous night added to its fabled history with the comeback win over Crystal Palace.
While it marked the end of a season most Blues would rather forget, the scenes as Everton confirmed Premier League safety will live long in the memories of all who witnessed them. Time will tell whether further tales will enter Goodison Park folklore before the club moves to a new home at Bramley-Moore Dock.
For all those who will miss the magic of the Grand Old Lady, a new book has captured its spirit for future generations. Written by Steve Zocek, of Everton Heritage Society, he described Goodison Memories as, simply, a "labour of love".
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Steve, a lifelong Blue, first went to Goodison Park with his dad in October 1968. The 61-year-old still travels home and away to follow Everton. In Goodison Memories: A Lifetime of Football at Everton, he spoke to dozens of visitors to the historic ground over the course of his lifetime.
He explained: "I've been going to Everton since 1968. It's been a massive part of my life and Goodison Park is the only place I've known Everton to play their home games. As a member of Everton Heritage Society I am always thinking about Everton and I thought, with the move to the new ground, it would be nice to retain some memories of Goodison. Because I was born in 1960 I decided to gather the memories from players who had played there for all the clubs in the top flight since 1959."
Bob Wilson recalls stepping out in L4 with Arsenal and Steve Perryman tells of his experience visiting Everton with Tottenham Hotspur. Not content with top flight players - or even footballers - Steve dug deeper, however. As a result, he unearthed players who had one-off Goodison highlights in the cups - including footballers from Telford United to Darlington. Managers and even journalists contributed too, giving their thoughts on the view from the dug-out and commentary box. The foreword to the book is penned by John Motson.
Steve said the most popular features that came up in the memories were the famous Littlewoods clocks while some could recall the old semi-circle walls behind each goal.
He added: "Every contribution from every angle was as much important as the other. The players in particular who played in the late 1960s brought back a lot of memories for me too, reminding me of the old stadium as I first saw it, the tall stands, the deep terraces, the huge floodlight pylons which could be seen from a distance coming into the L4 area. Goodison in its day was a top stadium. Sadly, it’s now aged. It was so nice that the contributors added their memories of how much they valued it."
The book is now available in Waterstones in Liverpool city centre and online, with all money raised going to the Heritage Society.
Steve said: "I enjoyed writing it. The reason behind it is that I wanted to retain the memories for the people in years to come, who will be asking their dads and grandads what Goodison Park was like. Hopefully, through the book, they will have an idea. I look back at some of the great nights like Bayern Munich and I just think it is important these stories are never forgotten. If I can bottle the memories for future generations, hopefully they will have a feel of what it is all about."
*Goodison Memories is available to order online here. You can find more information about Everton Heritage Society here.
