Beardsley played for Liverpool first, but we don't talk about that! He actually played in a pretty ordinary Everton team in the early 1990's but he was a great player so we forgave him his earlier transgression. Did you know he had a trial at Man Utd but the then manager Ron Atkinson didn't rate him so he went out to Vancouver?
The stadium thing is very confused. Everton wanted to build a new stadium out at the docks but the city council wouldn't help at all. Meanwhile the council gave Liverpool permission to build a stadium in Stanley Park, a great old public park which is between both club's stadiums. It isn't known what caused city councillors to vote for such desecration... Everton now plan to build a stadium just outside the city boundary. But the financial reality seems to be putting the breaks on both club's plans. Liverpool's American owners (one of whom owns the Montreal Canadiens) seem to have maxed out their credit cards and the planned building work isn't close to beginning. Everton have to go through a public enquiry before they can get the go-ahead for their stadium. Now the leader of Liverpool city council wants the clubs to share a new stadium, which makes economic sense but nothing else!
Goodison is a beautiful stadium. Most of these new football stadiums all look the same and have no character whatsoever. But the problems began with all-seater stadium legislation. When I went to my first Everton game the crowd was 61,000 but now there is room for just 40,000 seats. The stadium is surrounded by housing so there's no room for expansion. Everton were once known as 'The Bank of England Club' but now we're struggling to keep up financially with the 'Big Four' (Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool) who make huge money from the European 'Champions' League each year. Everton finished 5th last season and lost 1-2 in the FA Cup final to Chelsea.
Did you know that Everton began playing at Anfield, Liverpool's ground? We even won our first championship there in the early 1890's. But then the landlord gave us a massive rent hike and we moved to Goodison. That landlord then formed his own club and called it Liverpool...
