There were many ways this landmark day in Everton’s history could have gone and the team’s performance at Leeds last Monday hinted at a few of the unpalatable outcomes that could have afflicted what should have been — and, thankfully, very much was — a momentous and uplifting day for the club and its embattled supporters.
Add in the fact that the Blues hadn’t won a match in August since beating today’s opponents, Brighton & Hove Albion, on the south coast four years ago, plus a measure of pressure to get the new era at Hill Dickinson Stadium off to a positive start and it was hard not to feel a touch of apprehension amid the undoubted excitement on the walk-up to the ground.
By 4pm all those doubts had been swept into the Mersey as David Moyes cajoled a stirring response from his charges and, with Jack Grealish playing a starring role in his own first step towards renewal and redemption, Jordan Pickford making two crucial interventions and Iliman Ndiaye supplying another entry into the Everton history books, the Toffees emerged victorious on their big day.
It wasn’t perfect by any means — it didn’t have to be; the result was paramount — and, in truth the match could have gone either way but there were flourishes to this display that augur well for this season and beyond, while any fears that it would take a while for Bramley-Moore Dock to feel like home so soon after the Blues’ departure from Goodison Park were quickly dispelled.
From the moment There She Goes, the song that we’ll look back on as the bridge between the old and the new, blasted through the ear-splitting speakers and was followed by Grand Old Team, the siren and Z-Cars, it all felt very “Everton”. As if the heart and soul of this famous old institution had been neatly lifted from Walton and transported intact to the north docks for the club to begin life in the third stadium it has built in this city.
Where blue pyro had filled the streets and sky around Goodison in May from the hands of supporters, today it was jettisoned spectacularly from the roof of Everton’s iconic new arena amid a thunderous roar from close to 50,000 Evertonians inside.
90-plus minutes of hugely encouraging football later, the second rendition of GOT that led into Spirit of the Blues accompanied celebration in the stands and a lap of of applause from Moyes and his players following a 2–0 victory that gets both 2025/26 and that potentially bright new era underway.
Much has been made of Everton’s protracted transfer dealings this summer and the lack, in particular, of more full-back cover to add depth in the right side of defence and emergency options on days like Monday and today when there are no natural players in the position on whom to call.
Vitalii Mykolenko was again ruled out with the groin injury he sustained against Roma and Adam Aznou, an absentee himself at Elland Road after rolling his ankle in training, had to be scrubbed from the list of substitutes after aggravating the problem in the warm-up.
That meant James Garner filling in at left-back again, with Tim Iroegbunam reprising his role as his deputy in central midfield while Thierno Barry was handed his full debut in place of Beto. Likewise Grealish who came in for Charly Alcaraz and Ndiaye switched flanks to the right.
The sight of the Senegalese skipping his way past three opponents, riding an illegal challenge from Carlos Baleba and putting a first shot on target early on was reassuring evidence that his impact wouldn’t be diminished at all by the change.
James Tarkowski, on the other hand and in stark contrast to his defensive partner Michael Keane, was less impressive as Brighton threatened to take hold of the game in the first half and ruin the occasion. The team skipper mis-judged a punt forward from Bart Verbruggen that allowed Kaoru Mitoma to steal in behind him, knock the ball back to wrong-foot the Toffees’ two retreating centre-halves and then rattle volley off the top of the crossbar from 12 yards out.
A minute later, the Seagulls’ impressive link-up play saw them build down their right where the ever-lively Yankuba Minteh shrugged Idrissa Gueye aside and centred for Danny Welbeck who seemed certain to score before he contrived to scoop his shot over the bar from right in front of Pickford’s goal.
Then, midway through the first period, the hosts made the visitors pay for their profligacy with a sweeping move of their own after Barry had been bundled over near the halfway line by Lewis Dunk and Ndiaye seized on the loose ball. A quick pass inside to Gueye then to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who helped it on to Grealish and the on-loan star did what he does so well — drove past his man to the byline, fired the ball across and there was Ndiaye to steer it over the line.
History made by the player to score the last goal at Goodison and the first at Hill Dickinson Stadium and following in the footsteps of Fred Geary who did the same either aside of Stanley Park in 1892. Cue another deafening Bramley-Moore roar.
It set the stage for a poignant and beautifully observed minute’s applause for Michael Jones, the Everton fan who died so tragically during the construction of the Stadium before Iroegbunam, looking night and day from the player that performed so poorly at Leeds, jinked his way into space for a left-footed shot from the edge of the box but fired a yard wide.
While not quite at their free-flowing best and without the injured Georginio Rutter, Brighton nevertheless remained a threat and Jan Paul van Hecke came within inches of wiping out the Blues’ lead when his long-range effort took a deflected off Grealish and thumped off the post seven minutes before the interval.
And when they couldn’t make inroads themselves, Tarkowski almost handed the Seagulls an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Everton’s back line had recovered from Garner’s unfortunate slip when Yasin Ayari could only poke it to the defender but instead of belting it clear, Tarkowski turned back towards goal and handed the ball straight to Matt O’Riley with an awful back-pass. Thankfully, Pickford read the midfielder’s intentions as he tried to round the keeper and made a vital double save to preserve the lead.
Barry’s inclusion from the start had been a welcome but not automatic decision from Moyes based on Beto’s hugely disappointing showing at Leeds and while the young Frenchman will feel he should have done better with a couple of headers off set-piece opportunities, he exhibited some promising play and it was his lovely cushioned lay-off to Ndiaye of Tarkowski’s ball forward that paved the way for the second goal.
The Toffees’ No 10 prodded the 1-2 back to Barry who set off down the right touchline before cutting it back to Gueye. His ball out to the left for Grealish was held up long enough for Garner to arrive and unleash a smart first-time shot that arrowed inside Verbguggen’s near post and nestled in the goal to make it 2-0.
Pickford beat away a powerful drive from Ayari on the hour mark as Brighton searched for a way back into the contest but the potential turning point came in the 75th minute when Mitoma curled a cross in with the outside of his boot that fell to Minteh on the other side of the box. His attempted cross was blocked by Dewsbury-Hall at point-blank range but unfairly with his arm according to referee Stuart Attwell and, in turn, the Video Assistant Referee.
The official line was that the Everton man had used his hands to make his body bigger when, in actual fact, he had raised it to protect his face but, the handball rule being what it now is, a reversal of the decision was never likely. Instead, Welbeck stepped up to try and halve the visitors’ deficit but, after taking an age to take the penalty, he ended up rolling a weak kick to Pickford’s left and the England man made a comfortable stop.
From then on, it Everton who should have added to the scoreline. Dewsbury-Hall opted for selflessness when a yawning gap in Brighton’s defence opened up and he opted for a pass to Dwight McNeil and the substitute could only shoot into the side-netting.
Beto, on for Barry, went close himself but could only hook a shot on the turn high and wide while McNeil mis-hit another great chance in front of goal.
Instead of folding and giving up another of those 2-0 leads that proved so vulnerable last season, Everton held on and there was time for the electric Grealish to milk the applause when he eventually acquiesced to being taken off in injury time with the three points safely in the bag.
133 years to the day after Goodison Park was officially opened, Everton marked another seismic day in their history with a well-earned victory. They rode their luck at times and were fortunate to be ahead at the halfway stage but, by the end, had run out worthy winners.
In Grealish, the club have secured, for a season at least, a genuinely elite footballer who seems thrilled to be here and who has become an instant hero. With the mesmeric Ndiaye already established in a similar position of adulation, Dewsbury-Hall providing thrust and purpose in attacking midfield and, hopefully, some more depth to be added before the transfer deadline, this first season on the banks of the river could be a memorable one for all the right reasons.