Inside the beating heart of Goodison Park as Everton fans prepare to bid farewell to the ground that has united their community for 133 years

Dave Parker steps outside the front door of his house on the corner of Gwladys Street and glances to his right to take in the Holy Trinity statue.

Three of Everton’s finest, Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey and Alan Ball, stand resplendent, bathed in April sunshine.

Dave looks to the left to see Kendall’s portrait emblazoned on the stand that now bears his name, its nearest turnstile just 70 paces away from the house this fan has lived in for 34 years.

‘I get a shiver down my spine just thinking this is all coming to an end,’ he says, after inviting me in for a cup of tea.

‘I’ve loved every second of it here. It’s the matchday atmosphere, it’s electric.’

As Everton prepare to bring the curtain down on 133 years at this famous old stadium, Dave and thousands of fellow Blues can be forgiven the odd wistful moment. There will be more on Saturday, as Goodison Park hosts the champions of England for the final time.

The Toffees play their last game at the ground on May 18 when they host Southampton

‘I have regulars who sit on the wall out the front, every match,’ he says. ‘A lady, her husband and son. They bring butties, chips, and we’ll always make them a cup of tea. And there’s two lads who come over from Dublin, they bring me a bottle of whisky. I probably won’t see them again after this.’

Allegiance to the blue half of the city spans five generations in the Parker family, far from unusual among Evertonians.

‘My first game was with my dad in 1965 against Arsenal, a 1-0 win,’ he says. ‘I went to Wembley the next year for the FA Cup final, and then during the World Cup we used to come to Goodison to soak up the atmosphere. Pele and Eusebio both played here. Eusebio said it was his favourite-ever ground.

‘You can hear everything in the house. The night games are amazing. A few years ago when my grandson Thomas was about 18 months old, he was outside with my daughter and the fans would come over and ruffle his hair, then touch my flag for good luck.

‘At the end of the game the street was teeming, everyone singing “Everton, Everton”. My wife held the baby aloft in the window and they all went mad, cheering him. It’s funny things like that you remember. And the police horses, they used to knock against my window. I’d give them a Polo mint and a bucket of water.’

At the other end of the ground, standing by the Dixie Dean statue, another local has stories to share. Dave Fehily is well known in these parts after a cameo in the film Howard’s Way, which charts the success enjoyed in Kendall’s first spell in charge.

The movie opens with the young Fehily running down to the nearest phone box in December 1971 to demand an answer from title-winning manager Harry Catterick as to why Everton had sold World Cup winner Alan Ball to Arsenal.

‘My Everton journey began here, on the Bullens Road,’ he says, as we walk around the stadium’s perimeter. ‘My dad, my grandad and, when he passed away, my nan kept the season ticket and it’s still in the family. These doors, 53 and 54, that was our entrance. My first game was against Tranmere in 1968, FA Cup fifth round. Joe Royle scored the first and Johnny Morrissey got the second.

Goodison Park has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England (2324)

‘We filmed Colin Harvey for Howard’s Way on this corner, Bullens Road and Gwladys Street, and he told me his uncle lived in the street behind here and him and his mum used to stay there when his dad was away. Him and his grandad used to come and stand on the Gwladys Street End.

‘I’m absolutely heartbroken to be leaving here, I feel like I’m leaving a family member behind.’

A bit further on is St Luke’s church, nestled in the corner between the Gwladys Street and Main Stand, which opened its doors for worship in 1901 and will continue to provide a weekly service, Sunday at 11am, after Everton move on.

A strong connection to the club was inevitable, with the church hall a matchday haven and the roof offering a precarious vantage point for intrepid fans before a big screen spoiled the free view.

‘If I had a pound for every time a fan told me he’d been up on our roof, we’d have a fortune,’ the late rector and passionate Blue, Harry Ross, once quipped. ‘But it was a good spot, nearer my God to thee.’

The incumbent, Lynn Davidson, presided over former striker Kevin Campbell’s memorial service here last September and is aware of the strength of feeling among fans about the move.

‘It’s something we as a church are having to think about,’ she tells the club chaplain, Reverend Henry Corbett, in an Everton Heritage Society film. ‘We have a responsibility to help look after the local community because this is going to be a big deal for people when Everton move out.’

Reverend Henry has been the club’s chaplain since 1985, when manager Kendall told him: ‘My players have problems but they won’t always come to me, as I’m picking the team.’ He has been there ever since, preaching at Duncan Ferguson’s wedding at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, having earlier visited the Scottish striker during his brief stint in Barlinnie prison.

Pictured: supporters climb the roof of St Luke’s church to get a view of Goodison Park

The stadium has a capacity of 39,414 and has been home to Everton since 1892 – 133 years 

His pastoral care has extended to the city’s oldest youth club up the road by Everton Brow. Shrewsbury House, known locally as the Shewsy, was founded in 1903 and was a charity close to the heart of Mail Sport’s legendary tennis correspondent, Mike Dickson. They share a site with St Peter’s church, Everton’s opponents in the club’s first-ever game, December 20, 1879, a 6-0 win for Everton in Stanley Park.

Here we meet Adam Byrne, a Blue, and Joseph Rooney, a Red despite the name. Both attended and now volunteer at the centre. It is the night after the Anfield derby, a 1-0 win for Liverpool, and the banter is sharp, much like the football on their five-a-side pitch.

‘I started coming here when I was about 13,’ says Adam. ‘That’s about 30 years. I was just very happy coming here. A place where you felt safe, where you get listened to.

‘This is one of the poorest wards in the country so it might be struggling economically but it’s very rich in other ways, in community values and looking out for each other.’

Everton and England forward Toni Duggan came through the Shewsy, Ferguson and Everton’s assistant manager Alan Irvine have been up to speak to the youngsters and Everton in the Community have played their part, too, helping out with tickets for matches.

This is an age group looking to the future, as Alfie, a bubbly 17-year-old goalkeeper says: ‘Goodison has memories, like the Tarkowski goal in the derby this season, staying up against Palace and Bournemouth.

‘Unbelievable scenes. But the new ground… I can’t wait. You can see it from up here on the hill. It looks amazing.’

Adam takes me to see for myself. We walk past Prince Rupert’s Tower, the Georgian ‘lock-up’ represented on the Everton badge, and the site of the original Toffee Shop that gave the club its nickname, on up to the highest point in the city. There in the distance, taking its place in a vista that includes both cathedrals and the Liver Building, is the Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, architect Dan Meis’s £800million masterpiece.

Goodison Park’s record attendance is 78,299 – which came vs Liverpool in September 1948

‘I come from a docker’s family,’ says Adam, proudly. ‘They worked down there. My grandad worked that very dock. It’s a nice connection for me.’

Matchday is a feast for the senses, more so than ever this season as fans come to say their goodbyes. There is a unique feel, the arteries of tight residential streets leading up to three sides of the ground, through which the blue hordes walk, many families simply spilling out of their front doors to watch their team.

Here the residents can smell the burgers, the chips and fried onions, and hear the banter and the songs, before leaving the house. Kids still play football in the street before the game.

It is a sunny Grand National weekend for Arsenal’s last visit, the Goodison Cafe has already shut up shop but queues are forming at the popular food van at the entrance to Goodison Road. Its boss, Tony Murray, is reflective, saying: ‘The first match we opened for was against Newcastle in 1988 and Tony Cottee scored a hat-trick, we won 4-0. But I’ve been coming 60 years as a fan. I’ve got pictures of my father with Dixie Dean, my brother was the mascot when Everton won the league in 1963.’

Tony is still waiting to hear if he will be given a pitch for his business at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Also facing uncertainty is Dave Bond, the licensee and general manager of The Winslow. The pub, a veritable shrine to the team, only opens on match days and for private functions and serves, he reckons, ‘about 4,000 pints’ when Everton play across the road. I’ve enjoyed a few, often brushing shoulders with former players among the throngs. ‘Peter Reid and Kevin Sheedy were in the other day,’ says Dave. ‘Reidy got up and sang We Shall Not Be Moved. That’s Reidy!’

Royle was summoned over from the Main Stand on the night of his first game as boss, a 2-0 win over Liverpool in November 1994. He bought a round for the bar.

Dave hopes to be able run shuttle buses to the new stadium and keep his business going. He is also planning a fanzone in Bootle, but the likely impact of the ground move on his business means it is a worrying time.

Marching further down the Goodison Road, to rework the line from a favourite terrace song, we meet ex-Everton defender Michael Ball at his mate’s house, opposite the players’ entrance. Carl asks us in, past the hallway wall signed by dozens of players.

Ball made 121 league appearances for Everton and, like Harvey and others, embodies the connection between the club and its fans. ‘I’m excited about the new stadium and surroundings but this is my life,’ he says. ‘I was born only a couple of streets away. My dad was born in the road behind the Gwladys Street. I remember walking round with him, into the pubs, wanting to be a part of it.

‘He took me to the game when I was four or five. I’ve been lucky to wear the shirt. Every time I see Goodison I get a nice feeling, it’s our home. Now it’s come full circle. We have a new home, and I’m taking my lad to the match.’

Football, family and friendships. Such are the stories of Goodison.