I will shed a tear for Goodison Park, the stadium of Everton where I knew I had made it

It will be a sentimental day for the blue half of Merseyside on Sunday when Evertonians say goodbye to Goodison Park after 133 years.

And there will be a large Brummie that also turns a small tear, because Everton’s house is very special for me.

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You never forget your first time and, ten years ago, Goodison was the place where I made my Premier League Debut for Watford. What a beautiful, historic, atmospheric place to do this.

I had played in the lower competitions and the Championship And I had waited so long to play in the top flight.

So when I walked down the tunnel of those tight players and then the steps Until the field on the melody of the Z Auto theme walk-in music that Everton Share with Watford – I was hit with a wall of noise and I knew I had arrived.

My debut was almost demolished after a matter of seconds, when I hit it John Stones.

It was my “Paul Gascoigne in the last minute of 1991”, a stream of blood, a case of serious impatience.

And I was lucky to escape with a booking and a “calm” of the ref. In the Variety Age, it would have been a right red.

After we got away with it, we led twice, but had to settle for a 2-2. Yet it was one of the highlights of my career.

I like the right old school football Stadiums, I think it’s great when the fans are so close to the field when the crowd goes on you – and Goodison Park is one of the absolute best, I would definitely call it in the top five where I played.

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From the moment that the team bus that runs close to the ground close to the ground, with those passionate supporters along the paving and the Winslow Hotel -Pub on the corner, you know that you are on your way to something special.

They call Everton the “People’s Club” and Goodison is a salt of the earth, with great architecture.

It is a memory that football was the game of the working man – and should be.

So I will miss Goodison Park. Even the press box, where I recently sat, with posts that hinder my vision and with barely enough legroom to place a dwarf.

I spoke with a number of club employees who have worked in the old place for years and they said: “We will miss it, but it will be Nice Everything works to go somewhere. “

It is clear why Everton is leaving Goodison for their new ultramodern house in Bramley-Moore Dock-Hun capacity will increase by more than 13,000, the facilities for supporters will increase considerably in a different competition and the income of the competition day.

Everton players may also suffer from leaving Goodison. The atmosphere can be so intense – as we saw then James Tarkowski Equalized in injury time in the last merseyside derby of the old ground-that it probably deserves different points per season.

But the timing feels good – with new owners and with 15 players from the contract – it feels like a brand new era for the club.

A new stadium does not often immediately bring success. When Arsenal Moved to the Emirates, many Gunners fans expected a different title. Nineteen years later they are still waiting to win the competition in their non-so-new home.

I was surprised David Moyes was handed over a contract of two and a half years when he returned to Everton in January. Although I have enormous respect for Moyes, it did not feel like the exciting appointment that was needed to lead the club to its brave new world.

There will be expectations and demands on Everton to change their style of football now that they are moving home – and I don’t know if Moyes is the ideal man to lead such a revision.

They will give the old place a good shipment and with Rots-bottom Southampton the visitors for the last men’s competition on the ground, they will expect to see it with a thunderous victory.

And for me it feels rather messy that the Everton Women’s Team plays with Goodison. People will still be there to watch football, so it’s just a partial farewell.

But most Evertonians acknowledge that their new home represents progress and that Goodison Park just needed too much TLC To make it viable these days.

Yet another small piece of English football soul will disappear when the men of Everton take their leave.

And for example, I will always cherish my memories of a very special football field.