Former Everton player Ronny Goodlass is walking 128km across the Netherlands for charity – even though it means he’ll miss his first Merseyside Derby for several decades. True Blue Goodlass, who played for his boyhood team in the 1970s before spells in Dutch football with NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag, is now a popular broadcaster and pundit on Everton matches but fixture rescheduling to move their trip to Anfield to Sunday April 24 has ensured he won’t be making the trip across Stanley Park this season.
Instead the 68-year-old will be journeying across the North Sea to raise funds for Health Through Sport, the charity he started in 2005 which delivers football coaching to vulnerable, disadvantaged people and the homeless across Merseyside. Goodlass’ four-day walk will take him from the Dutch capital of The Hague to the city of Breda and will be bookended by taking in matches involving the two clubs he turned out for in the Eredivisie as a British football trailblazer on the continent.
Instead of watching Frank Lampard’s men tackle Jurgen Klopp’s side, Goodlass will be taking in ADO Den Haag’s home game with Jong FC Utrecht on Sunday April 24 where he is hoping to meet up with some former team-mates like Dick Advocaat and once he has completed his cross-country trek, he’ll attend NAC Breda versus TOP Oss on Friday April 29. Goodlass told the ECHO: “It’s lovely to be able to come together with three of my former clubs, as Everton are also helping out, doing something like this to raise money for charity and even though we’ve only just started spreading the word, people have already been generous with their donations.
