Football game at Everton's Goodison Park marks the team's last match in the Premier League on Sunday. Steeped in history and tradition, Goodison Park serves as the venue for Everton's final league encounter.
Liverpool, England - Bloody hell, I couldn't help but let loose a string of curses as I felt a surge of excitement. It was the spooky season of 2009, and the gloom of a wintry afternoon had enveloped Goodison Park like a shroud.
Everton was playing Aston Villa in a league match, and the game was turning incredibly tense and sour. Two late red cards, a terrible referee, and the floodlights flaring up under the strain - everything was coming together for a massive bowl of Goodison aggression.
The game ended in a forgettable 1-1 draw, but the man beside me, his eyes gleaming, didn't forget it any time soon. His enthusiasm lingered, reminding me to relish those rare occasions when every single spectator in this majestic football theatre shares in the same raw emotion.
And no place does emotion quite like Goodison Park.
Fury, relief, joy, and despair - and that's just a pathetic 2-0 defeat to Norwich in the League Cup fourth round.
The folks sitting in this footballing artifact have weathered every up and down in the stadium's long, legendary history. That's why, if there was a ballot for the best booters of all time, Everton would need a separate museum just to store their awards.
But this Sunday, there's a new emotion to add to the list - because everything is about to change.
A 133-year chapter in Everton's story is about to close, as Goodison Park hosts the men's team for the final time.
"Goodison has always been there, and there isn't an Evertonian alive who hasn't watched Everton anywhere else," said Matt Jones, host of the Blue Room podcast.
Like thousands of fellow fans, he'll grapple with various feelings this weekend.
"It's like a dad watching his daughter marry at a wedding and everything starts making him cry. The closer you get to the day, the more emotional it becomes," Jones told Al Jazeera Sport.
On a superficial level, Sunday's fixture against Southampton is just game number 2,791 for the Everton men's senior team at Goodison. But for Evertonians, it signifies much more. A part of our identity is about to vanish.
I've come of age in a variety of seats in every stand of that fabulous old stadium, learning every goddamn curse word there is along the way.
The highs and lows of the last 30 years have been intertwined with trips there, with the ground somehow managing to block out the troubles of the outside world for 90 precious minutes each time.
I've taken countless partners to Goodison (one said she'd never seen rage quite like it), with the majority of those relationships concluding like an Everton cup run.
But I've always felt grateful to sit within a real-life museum of football. Surrounded by history, tradition, and pissed-off middle-aged men shouting at anything that moves.
The Everton story's next chapter will see the men's team relocate to a sleek, modern stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. The incredible structure sits on the banks of the River Mersey and, for the sake of sponsorship, will be called the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Life in such a swanky, modern arena will be a massive leap for one of the oldest teams in English football.
"It's like leaving your family home, honestly, there's no other way I can describe it," said Merseyside-based sports reporter Giulia Bould.
"You know you're gonna move into a house with all the mod cons and your life's gonna be so damn easy there, but you've got to leave your family home. It's weird," she added.
This season has been crowded with finals for Everton, although luckily not the ones that are played at Wembley with a trophy at stake.
Instead, each match at Goodison counts as another final occurrence checked off the list. From the last cup game to the last night match, even the last Saturday 3 pm kickoff has had a shoutout.
But on Sunday, it'll truly be the final - although only for the men's team.
Just days before what was supposed to be the closing match, Everton announced that Goodison would be given a reprieve. The bulldozers won't be moving in - the women's team will instead.
"I think it's perfect," said Bould as she reflects on Everton's American owners' decision to pass Goodison over to the women's team.
"Under the previous owner, the women's side has long been back-burnered and run into the ground really. It's been treated like second-rate garbage, but now it gets the attention it deserves, setting the precedent for everyone else," Bould told Al Jazeera Sport.
Goodison Park has no qualms about setting a precedent. it was the first purpose-built football stadium in England, the first to install dugouts and undersoil heating. It holds the record for hosting the most English top-flight football games.
Goodison was also the venue for an FA Cup final and a World Cup semifinal, with Pele and Eusebio both scoring there during the 1966 tournament. Even North Korea has played on the Goodison turf.
The storied history of Everton's home has caught the attention of some of the giants of the modern game. Jose Mourinho called it "the history of English football," while Arsene Wenger described it as "one of the loudest" stadiums he's heard.
Sir Alex Ferguson once spared former Evertonian Wayne Rooney from attending a Goodison match with Manchester United in order to shield him from the abuse he would receive.
Paying a visit to Goodison Park today feels like a far cry from the riches of modern English football. To put it straight, the stadium ain't fit for purpose anymore. That's what makes it magical.
"It's like traveling back in time to watch football," said photographer and Evertonian Gary Lambert. The time warp begins even before you step foot inside the stadium.
"Goodison looks imposing from the outside. It seems to appear out of nowhere between the rows of terrace houses," said Lambert.
Once inside, the stadium's history unfurls through the various sights and sounds. Obstructed views are common, with posts and pillars causing many a twisting neck.
The distinctive Archibald Leitch crisscross design graces the ancient Bullens Road stand.
"Goodison Park is the bluest place on earth," said Lambert. "The brickwork on three-quarters of the ground is painted a vivid shade of royal blue."
But there's one particular quirk that stands out above all: "Whenever Everton goes on the attack, there are still so many old-fashioned wooden seats, so the seats bang and click as everyone gets on their feet."
The wooden clanking is something she'll miss when Everton moves from their historical home. Like all Everton fans, I'll miss the pre-match rituals around Goodison: the parking near the snooker hall, a pre-match pint in Crofts Social Club, the everlasting lines for the loo. I might even miss the lack of legroom.
It's tough to fathom life after Goodison for Everton's men. The two are inseparable and so well-suited. Everton is Goodison, and Goodison is Everton. A divorce after 133 years will leave a deep scar.
But change is imperative for a club still clinging to past glories. Everton's new ground could mark a new beginning. The Hill Dickinson Stadium might not be a fitting name for us, but it represents the new era of football, where money equals power.
In many ways, Sunday's match will mark a passing of the torch, as the grand old team steps into the modern world.
"We've reached the end of a long, long road at Goodison," said Jones. "And we're just reaching the very beginning of a new one."
- The latest sports analysis suggests that the emotional significance of Goodison Park is about to reach a new level, as it hosts the men's team for the final time before the move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
- As the date of the historic final match at Goodison Park approaches, football fans are comparing the impending closure to a father watching his daughter marry, as the emotion becomes increasingly intense.
- The sports world, particularly European-leagues and the Premier-League, is eagerly anticipating the breaking news of Goodison Park's last match, as it marks the end of a 133-year chapter in Everton's history, and the beginning of a new era in European football.
