Everton Legends Game at Hill Dickinson Stadium Combined the Hope of the Past with the Hopes of the Future

I was gearing up to watch Everton play at brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday but no sooner had I arrived in the city centre, I was talking about Goodison Park.

Usually on a matchday, I’d be queuing up for the Blue Dragon around 2pm but this time I was lining up outside an Italian three hours before kick-off. It was the first of many changes to the routine.

“Going the match are you, lad?” asked the gentleman in front of me, standing with his granddaughter after bringing her into town to treat her to new shoes.

“I used to live on Linton Street,” he said and of course I knew it right away. Off City Road, it’s mere yards from the Gwladys Street, the iconic stand I’ve sat in for years and have just said goodbye to in May.

“I’m 70 this year,” he continued, before revealing he was a Red. “I’d often chat to Brian Labone in the Exchange. He was so tall I’d have to arch my neck and look up as we spoke!”

My morning had been spent looking ahead to a different Everton future and now I was being hit with a wave of Goodison nostalgia. And I was glad of it.

Once inside, I overheard another fella chatting to his Dad and lad. As he twirled spaghetti around his fork, he looked up and beamed: “What I’m most looking forward to is seeing the view from my new seat!”

With Everton set to take on Roma in a pre-season friendly, three generations of Blues on the next table had also decided to ‘do as the Romans do’ and were having a bite to eat before their maiden trip to Bramley-Moore. They were buoyant and this was a moment; a moment they had waited years for.

Heading to the match, I wandered past Moorfields on Old Hall Street and, seeing the old buildings and high-rise architecture, never thought this would be my route to the match. With each step, more and more Blue shirts were appearing towards the Dock road.

Crossing at King Edward Street, pockets of fans navigated the moving traffic, speeding up and doing a Peter Kay jog as they weaved in and out of cars to get to the other side. It’s a move I’d done hundreds of times across County Road after the match at Goodison. It was another change but yet so reminiscent of the old routine.

By this time hundreds of supporters were on the march to the new ground. It was at this point that it really felt like an away day. Everyone knew they were heading to the match but some had their phones out and were checking routes and double checking they were on the right path. There was an air that everybody was unaware of their surroundings and taking in new landmarks. Then, the stadium appeared from nowhere, just as it does when you make a first trip on the road. Yet this was an Everton home game and the location wasn’t Goodison. It was unfamiliar and surreal.

I was heading to a new base that I had seen dreamed up for most of my life. Produced as sketches and graphics in various press releases, the plans for so long had failed to come to fruition.

It was in the matchday programme on Saturday, January 27, 2001 that the club made public its plans to relocate from Goodison to the King’s Dock. 'The battle is on to secure our biggest home win for years. The prize is a spectacular new stadium on the city's prestigious waterfront,’ read the inside page.

I had just turned ten that December and looked at the computer-generated imagery and it all looked so futuristic and out of this world. I then watched Everton get dumped out of the FA Cup by Tranmere Rovers in a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Goodison Park. Announcing such ambition on what proved to be a wretched day in the Toffees history is the type of metaphor we’ve all become accustomed to.

Just a kid when the first proposals were made public, I headed inside the club’s new ground for real at the age of 34. Some 25 years have passed and now, that stadium that seemed so otherworldly is now hosting football in the present day.

The setting is stunning and the views from your seat incredible. I’m in the South stand and hope we can soon create the fervent passion and bear pit atmosphere which so often roared from the Gwladys Street. I even made a point of finding out the name of the fella who was sat next to me, rather than realising every week for the next few decades that I have no clue what he’s called. ‘I’m Colin,’ he said and we shook hands, ready to embark on years of celebrating and cursing the Blues together.

The new stadium comes with all the mod-cons you would expect, including ‘Through Pass’, a retail revolution in which you tap your card, grab your food and drinks and walk away Literally. It’s simple and seamless is the claim and, before kick-off, I was in and out in no time, only pausing to check with staff that I really could just wander off with my haul. ‘Yeah, the scanners work it all out,’ I was told and so I headed to my seat.

Returning at half-time for a bottle of water, the flow enjoyed pre-match wasn’t possible due to the demand and queues formed. During the test events, the South stand concourses have been chocker to the point of standstill at times with people packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines. Hopefully that eases as the season progresses and we all get used to the inner workings of it all.

This ‘Through Pass’ technology though, this was 2025 and so far removed from Goodison. That was until a visibly putout Blue who had gained entry to ‘Through Pass’ poked his head out and declared to those still waiting to get in, ‘If you want ale, they’ve run out’. I instantly felt at home. This might not be Goodison Park anymore, but wow was that Everton.

Toffees shared online this new-fangled way of getting your pie and pint at the match but soon, followers of Aston Villa, Brighton and Leicester all chimed in that they have had this for three years at their grounds. It just showed how the Blues had fallen behind the times in terms of the modern game.

However, it’s important to note that this ground move isn’t about keeping up with the Joneses. No, this switch to Hill Dickinson Stadium is about moving forward again.

The innovation and achievements made by Everton between 1878 and 1995 means that the club has always remained ahead of 95% of the clubs in England. The standing as football royalty has never been lost. The move is to ensure the club can’t stand still any longer but instead, reclaim its place at the top table. Remember, no club has played more top-flight seasons than Everton. It’s basically our table.

As for the match, David Moyes’ side still wasn’t functioning as more additions are required. It’s common knowledge and so few assertions can be made.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall drove forward with purpose and Thierno Barry positioned himself well. These two additions have already changed up the attack and the direction of the play can be switched in an instant; a major improvement on the one-paced nature of offensive moves in recent seasons. Saying that, a wide player is needed to make it operate efficiently. As it stands, the right side isn’t operational and needs bolstering urgently.

The 1-0 defeat by Roma was standard pre-season fare and barely mustered a response from me. However, when it came to the Legends game, I found myself fully engaged and reacting to each passage of play. As Leighton Baines curled a ball in for Phil Jagielka to head home, I gave a fist pump. I audibly gasped ‘Go on!’ as the ball dropped for Steven Naismith and I was chuffed to see Yakubu’s legendary celebration again after all these years.

Then there was Oumar Niasse laying off a ball to Peter Reid which wasn’t expected but yes, it happened. It was one of those instances this club often conjures and makes it unique. No other club, for example, benefits from a protestor attaching himself to a goalpost by scoring a 99th minute winner while battling relegation. Only Everton. The fact such a quirk took place so early at Hill Dickinson Stadium bodes well.

Seeing the likes of Baines, Barry, Pienaar, Hibbert and Yakubu in the royal blue took me back to those European nights under the Goodison lights. Brann, Larissa, Fiorentina, Wolfsburg. It took me back to a time of hope that has been so lacking in the years since. These lads didn’t win a trophy but they could and should have. They made me excited for matchday every single week and proud to be Blue. I had faith in every kick of the ball and felt part of all those Goodison memories.

Seeing those players who I had watched during my college and Uni years at the new stadium was special. Because that’s what Saturday was all about; hope.

It’s the hope of a brighter future. Hope of having that connection with the entire squad again. Being part of the journey to something you’ll one day look back on as enjoyable and worthwhile. Hope of finally lifting silverware again.

That’s because, among the different generations of Evertonians, the barren years have led us to believe that we don’t get these nice things. No way do us long-suffering supporters get a shiny new stadium. It just doesn’t happen. We have to just ride the wave of disappointment again and again. Roberto Martinez alluded to it when he arrived in 2013 when he admitted he sensed that the Toffees fanbase felt that winning trophies was now for other clubs. Not for us.

On Saturday, some Blues looked up at the towering stadium and couldn’t believe it was now theirs, the home of Everton. But it is. It’s ours and success can be too.

Hill Dickinson Stadium isn’t Goodison. It never will be and how could it be? But, like Goodison, it is Everton’s home and all new routines and memories will be made.

Sure, it’s the hope that kills you but the hope can define us too and push Everton on in this bold new era of unobstructed views.

An Everton season ticket holder and football writer, you can subscribe to all of Ell Bretland's work at https://ellbretland.substack.com