THEY CAME in their blue-clad hordes. A full house inside, over 10,000 outside, just to be there to bid the fondest of farewells to Goodison.
The streets around the Grand Old Lady had been crammed for hours before the noon kick – off.
Everywhere there were flares. And tears, of course.
There were bound to betears – and not brought on by the blues smoke that drifted around –as all the memories of dads, grandads, sons, daughters and grandmas flooded the atmosphere.
Even the Toffee Lady was there, a pretty young fan complete with pure white head dress, a modern reincarnation of Mary Bushell, who handed the sweets out to supporters on match day,
She was the daughter of Old Ma Bushell who in the 1890s ran the nearby Ye Ancient Everton Toffee house and why the club is called The Toffees to this day even if the tradition is no more.
For this bittersweet goodbye there was Wayne Rooney, born and brought up a Blue and one of the greatest ever to be spawned at Goodison, smiling in the main stand, blue scarf around his neck, joined by other legends, like iconic ex – player and manager Joe Royle, Phil Jagielka, Andy Gray.
Another, Peter Reid, a member of the last title – winning Everton side of 1987 two years after the same triumph, stressed : “Listen, this is the best place in the world with the best people in the world.
“You can’t beat it. Very emotional to be honest, mind you I have had a shandy!”;;
Present, naturally, was also the manager who named Everton “The People’s Club”;; in his first spell, David Moyes standing on the touchline still blown by the farewell that began building at 8.00am in the terraced streets that surround the stadium.
This was the 2,971stgame at Goodison before the move to Bramley – Moore Dock, the £800M new home now branded the Hill Dickinson stadium as part of a £10M year naming rights deal.
Just a few months ago there were fears that the last – ever game might be more like a wake for he replaced Sean Dyche with the side a point above the drop zone and locked in a third successive relegation battle.
A battle that many of the supporters who cried and laughed and cheered as Iliman Ndiaye produced a first half double against Southampton, guests who remained very much in the kitchen at this giant party, believed could this time not be won.
Moyes, himself in his second life as boss having first left for Manchester United after 11 years in charge to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson, was as emotional as anybody, his rescue mission completed weeks before.
The 62 year old declared : “The welcome was amazing, the streets all blue, really really special even if, yes, it’s a sad day leaving this place too.”;;
He produced a fine gesture to mark the occasion, allowing veteran Seamus Coleman to lead the team out as club captain in the absence of hamstrung team skipper James Tarkowski.
Sadly for the Irishman, granted at the age of 36 a new contract, he lasted only 18 minutes, forced off with an ankle injury to be replaced by a full back three years older than him in Ashley Young who was playing his last game at Goodison.
Moyes was able to afford Coleman that special moment because of passionate performances like the one that marked a 29thdefeat of what, for Saints, has been a funeral procession of a season.
He stressed : “If you’d come to me when I got here and said that we would be hosting Southampton and already be safe I would have taken it.
“I’m just so happy that we are in this situation now, for these fans, for this club. Everton fans are different, this club is different – you can only know what it’s really like when you are inside it.”;;
The last capacity crowd of 39, 201 at Goodison forgot those years around kick – off time and erupted with joy inside six minutes as Ndaye waltzed through the Saints defence to plant a hit shot into Aaron Ramsdale’s right hand corner.
Sixty seconds into time added on he did so again, the winger granted the freedom of Goodison by visitors who were always only going to be making up the numbers.
The old ground isn’t being demolished now, the Toffees women’s side moving in, 133 years of history continuing at what Moyes says is an “iconic”;; landmark on the Merseyside skyline and relieved that it will remain standing.
Yet most of those who streamed out at the end, more tears streaming down many of their faces, won’t be back, that shiny new 52,888-seater waiting to welcome them next season.
But as goodbyes go, this was the grandest of goodbyes to the Grand Old Lady.
Some of the football from the bye-bye Blueswho did their club proud after Moyes’ return wasn’t bad either.
But it was the day, the last lingering looks, the last memories, the last win, some of the emotion too much for some at the end of it, that those fans took away with them as forever Evertonians.
