How the originals help save the atmosphere of Goodison Park

In the L4 football foyer, a tall old lady enters her final years with a new life.

With its wooden seats, wooden floor and cluttered views, Goodison Park has become an anachronism so entrenched in modern football that Everton's departure from his 127-year-old home has long been unavoidable.

The club will soon begin its move in search of larger furniture near the dock, but a group of fans, The originals 1878, does its best to reinvigorate a stadium that often lacks a semblance of atmosphere in recent years.

Photo of Catherine Ivill / Getty Images

Owen and Ste are two key members of the group, formed in 2015 and who are now starting to have an increasing impact on the match moods on the day of one side of Stanley Park.

They believe that the real nadir came during the home defeat against Atalanta and Lyon in the Europa League last season. the first saw the Italians beat an Everton without a manager 5-1 against only 17,000, and the second saw a destroyed Goodison annihilated by the French formation.

"Lyon took only about 200 people and we exceeded 30,000. Anyway, I always knew that the atmosphere was bad, but it is in these games that we said" we must start to do something here. " It was embarrbading, " Ste says.

Photo of Gareth Copley / Getty Images

"That's all the culture of that; you just want to arrive at a quarter to three, have a coffee ten minutes before half-time, then go home five minutes before the end of the day. They are just waiting for victory, whereas if you go, your priority should be to enjoy the game with whoever you go.

"This generation knows nothing else. They want to sit there and sing only when it's 1-0 or 2-0. It's not really their fault, it's just the way they were raised. They pay between £ 40 and £ 50 so you can make the most of it. "

In meetings with the club – which, according to Owen, have been "very useful" – for several years, the group has been seen offering a platform to get their ideas across. more recently, the introduction of an air bombing siren before Z-Cars sounded in Goodison's loudspeakers during this month's Merseyside scoreless derby.

"We told them a few weeks before [the derby] there was a chance we could play the sirens before, and there was no need to mess around, they just did it right away, " Ste says.

"Since Liverpool game, things have really resumed. People finally understood that you could help the players by being a supporter. We have more support now, which is obviously positive. "

Clearly, more and more Evertonians are starting to become aware of it. Their call for fans to arrive at the stadium half an hour before the kickoff was successful. Many followed their lead and helped Goodison generate the volume rarely seen since the time of David Moyes.

They matched it in last week's 2-0 win over Chelsea, which adds to the band's excellent Everton No. 9 mosaic. Gwladys Street 1938has made the old settlement a much more colorful and vibrant place.

The last reward for their tireless work was the announcement by Everton Thursday of the introduction of a singing section of the upcoming season, located in GT8, a corner of the club's stand, Gwladys Street, which was received with almost universal positivity.

Owen, who has now reached one of the group's early goals, hopes that this section will allow those who are determined to make their voices heard to be heard, instead of spreading through various pockets of Goodison.

Blues follower on the road too, he highlights the ferocious atmosphere of Everton's 2-1 victory at Leicester City in October as a reference for what he plans to create in Goodison's singing section.

"When we started, it was [singing section] was one of our top priorities. Now that we have succeeded, it is really a strong point. We are really proud of what we have done and hope to start next season, " he says.

"The GT8 is not the most ideal place on the ground but we can not say right now" we want the GT4, just behind the goal. "We have to create a dynamic. could open GT7 for us next year.

"We had between 2,000 and 3,000 people in Leicester. If we had this central group at Goodison, it could be like that every week. "

Already gathered in GT8 for the rest of the campaign, Owen and Ste hope that the work done by The Originals may be wrong for those who denigrate the kind of fan culture they hope to bring back to Goodison.

The move to the Bramley-Moore dock is only a few years away, and both believe that an improved Goodison atmosphere will greatly ease the transition to the new stadium. For example, West Ham United, for example, failed miserably by leaving Upton. Park for the London stadium in 2016.

"It's a stigma in England about singing sections and" ultra "groups – you can not use the word" ultra "in England because of the amount of stigma it hides," Owen says.

"We have only three or four seasons left at Goodison Park; it's only about 60 games. We want to cherish the last games we have at Goodison and make them games to remember. "

"If you start now, you have a head start when you enter the new stadium. We started at Goodison now, so we can pbad it on to the new stadium, " Ste adds.

Goodison also seems to be touching the playing fields. Blues coach Marco Silva, delighted by this relentless derby atmosphere, said that even 70% of these sound levels would account for between 30% and 40% of the team's work. and his teammates.

Photo of Catherine Ivill / Getty Images

And Ste believes that replicating these levels of support over an entire season could be the difference between a potential European qualification for a club like Everton.

"If you have a good mood throughout the season, I've always said you get at least ten more points per season," he says.

"So, let's say we end up with 50 points, I think if we had a good mood week after week, we could finish at least 60. That could play a big role in getting into the Europa League."

With an badured singing section for the upcoming season and the growing group's reputation, there is, with good reason, great enthusiasm for what the immediate future could hold for Goodison.

But what does the group see as a long-term success in terms of rebuilding the stadium atmosphere?

"In a year, we would simply like to see Goodison again at its best. We saw him against Liverpool; it is very clear that there is laziness among the fans and that we just want to draw laziness from them ", Owen says.

Photo of Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

"We want people to go to play and have fun. It's becoming a chore for some, and going to football should not be like that.

"We just need to build on the momentum we have now. Originals have attracted a great deal of interest and, of course, the recently announced section will generate even more interest.

"For the rest of the season, it will be the main players who were in GT8 for the Chelsea match. We encourage people who want to sing during the match; just for the rest of this season before we get a real section; go down."

The changes can be gradual, but the impact is huge. Slowly but surely, Goodison may be back to being a bear pit.

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We thank Owen and Ste for their time and contributions.

All subscribers wishing to join the singing section next year must renew their subscription regardless of their place. If you do not renew, you will not be eligible. The renewal deadline for existing subscribers is Thursday, April 4th.

The Originals 1878 also collect donations to improve the atmosphere of Everton. To make a contribution, visit their GoFundMe page right here.