The evening started with
a recurrence of the obligatory People's Lounge technical glitch curse, which
Keith Seymour bravely tackled, to at least offer one screen for the
presentation. Thus, allowing the images to be viewed clearly by most of those
present.
Most of our members will
probably have seen some of the recent leaving-of-Goodison type videos. With
current or ex-players expressing their feelings for the "Grand old
lady". In one of those videos, an emotional Leon Osman uttered that
age-old lament, associated with many historic buildings: "if only these
walls could talk". Well, the night's guest speaker Simon Inglis, has
spent his whole career listening intently to the walls, nooks and crannies of
stadia all over the country, and indeed all over the world. Goodison Park has
featured extensively in many of the books he has written on stadia...... and he
was only too keen to regale us all with what those walls, and other ghosts of
Goodison-past had said to him over the many years that he has visited and
research it.
Simon introduced himself
as an Aston Villa supporter and briefly explaining his life's work, hinting at
his many associations with Goodison Park during his long career. It was
immediately obvious that he felt honoured to be invited to talk about the
History of Goodison, and that he was certainly not going to short-change the
listening audience (in actual fact, when he was asked, he had no hesitation in
saying yes and appearing for free! Such is the high regard in which he holds
the place). He was also very aware that in many ways he was preaching to the
converted, therefore he regularly invited comments throughout the presentation,
ever-willing to receive any snippets of new inside-information from the assembled
"knowledge and expertise".
Simon's enthusiasm for
his subject shone throughout. As did his determination to cover every stage in
the evolution of Everton Football club and Goodison Park itself. He did this
while continually providing detailed social and historical context from
Football's very beginning, with numerous references to other club's stadia for
comparison. He even gave brief descriptions of the ground we left behind at
Anfield before moving on to the ground we then created from nothing, at Mere
Green. This was accompanied with several images of our first attempts at
grandstand design, on the Bullens Rd and the world's first double-decker stand
at the Park End, which he explained was by all accounts not entirely well
received by the Goodison board of the time.
As the biographer of
Archibald Leitch, Simon then set out the timeline for the involvement of the
famed Stadium Engineer, through the whole development of Goodison Park into the
finest stadium in the country, over 30yr period. No stone was left unturned, as
all the key events that helped project Leitch into his preeminent position were
discussed, and how ultimately that led to the building of the old Mainstand in
1909. The importance and significance of the famous signature Leitch truss
balcony was fully explained, with all the associated technical details
comprehensively covered.
The same treatment was
then given to the Bullens Rd stand (1926) and onwards to the extended Gwladys
St (1938), marking the end of Archibald Leitch's involvement and Goodison Park
being the first club in the country to achieve a unified stadium design, with
standing and sitting on all sides in 4 double-decker stands.
Simon then covered all
the post war developments, the choice as a World Cup semi-final venue in 1966
and onwards showing the phased replacement of the 1909 Mainstand, with images
of both old and new stands co-existing in our Championship-winning season
(1970). He then covered the relative minor details regarding the old
semi-circular cut-outs behind the goals, the bricking-up of the old Park End
and finally the last addition to the stadium, the existing Park End stand,
where the event was being hosted.
Simon's enthusiasm and
engaging style kept a large audience fully attentive throughout, even the most
granular detail extracting comments, questions and more than a few laughs from
those present.
After the formal
presentation, the audience was then invited out onto the stand itself for a
brief interlude, and many took the opportunity to take photographs of the dimly
lit stands we had just learnt so much about. This seemed to be quite an
emotional experience for some of those present. Perhaps some making their last
visit to Goodison.
Following that, members
returned to the lounge and Simon chaired a short Q&A session with many who
still wanted to know more and others only to keen to offer their own answers
and anecdotes.
Laura Gates also
exhibited her excellent Goodison Photography collection in the Lounge and many
members purchased copies as a brilliant memento to the Old Lady.
Simon was doing a decent impression of Ken Dodd and seemed happy to answer all questions and could probably have stayed all night. However, at 9:45pm, our Chair, Julie had to finally call an end to the proceedings and thank Simon for sharing so much of his knowledge, and others who contributed with their questions. Judging by the responses on the night and many others since, a thoroughly enjoyable and informative evening was had by all.
