Iliman Ndiaye scored the last goals at Goodison Park as Everton signed off 133 years of history with a fitting 2-0 win over an abject Southampton.
Nottingham Forest’s Horace Pike had the honour of being first on the scoresheet here in September 1892 – Fred Geary registered the Toffees’ first in the 2-2 draw – but Senegal international Ndiaye had the final say.
The 2,791st men’s senior match at the ground was a celebration from beginning to end as fans said farewell to the old in anticipation of the new with the pending move to Bramley-Moore Dock.
Everton’s women have been handed the keys for next season after new owners The Friedkin Group abandoned plans to demolish the first purpose-built football stadium in the country but this was the final time Goodison will be packed to the rafters.
There were 39,201 inside but thousands more turned up with their blue smoke and pyrotechnics to mark the occasion, with pleas for any spares falling on deaf ears of those lucky few with a golden ticket – reportedly selling for over £1,000 on some resale sites.
It resulted in disorganised scenes outside the ground, with the streets flooded hours before kick-off, creating a logjam which blocked roads and meant the planned team coach welcome was aborted.
Unfortunately few supporters seemed to be aware of the fact, which led to more congestion problems – former world cruiserweight champion and Evertonian Tony Bellew had to beat a path through the crowd to escort one supporter in a wheelchair – and concerns from some they would not get to their seat in time.
But everyone did make it and the volume at kick-off, which had been preceded by a parade around half the pitch by several club greats, was possibly the loudest it had ever been.
Everton’s club colours flew at half-mast above the Bullens Road Stand but inside the ground it was party time.
The game was almost secondary to soaking up the historic surroundings and atmosphere for one last time but the action on the pitch did not disappoint.
Beto was denied early on by Aaron Ramsdale, who was beaten after just six minutes when Ndiaye became only the second player to reach double figures this season with a casually-stroked shot from 20 yards beating the goalkeeper’s right hand.
Captain Seamus Coleman, the club’s longest-serving player, started his first match since Boxing Day after injury but lasted just 18 minutes.
He turns 37 in October and is one of 14 players out of contract but has been reassured by boss David Moyes that he will stay on next season.
The same cannot be said for his replacement Ashley Young, three years his senior, who is not being retained.
Beto had two goals disallowed for offside, the second from a header which came from a brilliant passage of one-touch football around the penalty area, before in added time Ndiaye sidestepped Ramsdale from Dwight McNeil’s through-ball for his 11th of the season.
The out-of-contract Abdoulaye Doucoure’s wave to the crowd when he was replaced by the on-loan Charly Alcaraz in the second half suggested he knows his future lies elsewhere, while in-demand centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite could also have made his last appearance for the club after limping off with a hamstring injury.
In the closing stages all the old songs were belted out at full volume but there was no fairytale final goal in front of the Gwladys Street End.
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