20 May 1995 - how the teams lined uppublished at 07:41 BST 20 May
07:41 BST 20 May
The Toffees lined up with an almost full strength team, except Earl Barrett who was cup-tied. Duncan Ferguson passed a late fitness test for the match, but only made the bench before coming on as a substitute early in the second half.
Manchester United were without forward duo Eric Cantona and Andy Cole, who were suspended and cup-tied respectively. Andrei Kanchelskis, who moved to Goodison Park just a few months later, was injured for the match.
The footage and photographs from Sunday's 'End of an Era' celebration at Goodison Park really did speak a thousand words.
The surrounding streets were paved in royal blue. The plumes of blue smoke could be seen for miles. It was quite simply a spectacle like no other.
Supporters began arriving as early as 8am, with standing room at a premium an hour or so later.
Pre-match scenes highlighted both the level of feeling and the size of our football club. Starved of success for so long, I look forward to the scenes when we win silverware in the future.
There were countless times during the day that emotion overcame so many around me.
People walking to their seats with tears streaming down their faces was a common sight.
Others simply stood, reflecting and absorbing our home for one final time.
A reminder of our illustrious history was on show in the form of so many heroes from both the recent and more distant past.
Encapsulating 133 years of memories, moments, family and history was never going to be easy, but the club got it all so right.
From There She Goes being belted round the ground to the sombre string edition of Z-Cars, it all felt so very Everton.
Duncan Ferguson perhaps summed it up best. "This is our life. This is our heart," he bellowed post-match.
If Goodison Park is our heart, then the Hill Dickinson Stadium will become our lungs, as it will allow us to breathe new life into our club.
Goodison Park has my heart. It holds my memories. It will forever remind me of decades of unwavering love and affection.
Goodbye to Goodison - relive the historic day published at 13:35 BST 19 May
13:35 BST 19 May
After 133 years, Everton fans said goodbye to Goodison Park on Sunday as they embark on a new journey at Bramley-Moore Dock, or, as it will be known - Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Here are some of the best pictures from a historic day...
Emotions running high after farewell to 'special' Goodisonpublished at 10:58 BST 19 May
10:58 BST 19 May
Image source, Getty Images
We asked you to tell us how you are feeling after the last match at Goodison Park.
Here are some of your comments:
Mike: It was a great team performance in a day full of mixed emotions. Goodison Park never looked and sounded as good as it did on Sunday. The crowd, team and manager give it the perfect send-off. Here's to a brighter future. COYB.
Martin: Feeling very emotional now that the men's team have finished at Goodison. Thinking of my dad and him taking me to my first game on 3 January 1988 when we beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 thanks to a Wayne Clarke goal. It's the memories and the loved ones no longer with us that make Goodison so special.
Andy: It was a sad, sad day - the men's team leaving Goodison Park. However, we can feel happy in the fact we are going into a state of the art new ground and hopefully become a team competing at the very top again. Love the Toffees - onwards and upwards.
Mac: Very, very sad. I've been a supporter for 60 years and the Grand Old Lady was like a second home. I will miss watching Everton Football Club at this iconic stadium.
Mark: Four generations of Blues in my family have been invested in that stadium. Amazing times - like league and cup titles - and bad times - like relegation struggles. I was reminiscing with my son about the last time we were there with my late father. I'll miss Goodison, the Grand Old Lady. She served us well. COYB.
Timo: Have loved going the game at the Grand Old Lady for 40 years and have loved the happiness and sadness that only Evertonians understand. Goodnight, old girl - look after our ladies next season.
'Goodison possesses something bricks and mortar simply cannot provide'published at 09:42 BST 19 May
09:42 BST 19 May
Phil McNulty Chief football writer
Everton must now try to recreate the heart and soul of Goodison Park on the banks of the River Mersey at Bramley Moore Dock.
It will be a tough task.
While the old Leitch architecture gave the Goodison Park structure something unique, it also possesses something bricks and mortar simply cannot provide.
Former Everton striker Andy Gray, who won the top-flight title, FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup, said: "We will leave Goodison Park. Goodison Park will never leave us."
A lone trumpeter played a final, mournful version of 'Z Cars' to close the day, thousands of fans remaining in their seats and unable to tear themselves away from the places they have come to call their home.
Tears of joy, despair and relief have all been shed here at Goodison Park. This time it was a mixture of emotions.
Just as Everton labelled this day, it was "the end of an era".
Goodbye to Goodison Park 'could not have been written any better'published at 08:26 BST 19 May
08:26 BST 19 May
Image source, Getty Images
"We talk about Hollywood scripts and this could not have been written any better," says former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on the final men's game at Goodison Park.
Ex-Everton players returned to bid the Grand Old Lady a final farewell, whilst David Moyes also selected Seamus Coleman to lead his side out for the very last time there.
It was a magnificent send-off to English football's most played-in ground with those that care the most.
"David Moyes has transformed the club since returning and there is a connection with the fan base and he knows the club is moving forward," said Reo-Coker on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.
"They are leaving Goodison Park, a historic stadium in English football, and now it is up to those fans to make the new stadium just as intimidating.
"It is all going in the right direction and I don't think there is a better man to take them on this next journey than Moyes."
Your final Goodison memoriespublished at 18:16 BST 18 May
18:16 BST 18 May
We asked for your photos and stories from the last day at Goodison Park.
Here are some of your best moments:
Image caption,
Andy: Up the Blues!
Image caption,
Paul: So many memories at Goodison Park. I've been coming since 1994. So happy I managed to get my mum and daughters here this season for one final time. Sad to leave, but looking forward to the future.
Image caption,
Paul: Final bevvies at the Clock Z pub on Walton Road
Image caption,
Tony: The first big game I was allowed to go to on my own. Feb 1971. Goodison Park. I was 11. I couldn't see a thing from the Gwladys Stand but the atmosphere was unbelievable.
Image caption,
Tom: Amazing atmosphere at Goodison - a very emotional day
Image caption,
Mark: Chosen by the Blues
Image caption,
Mark: The atmosphere was bouncing on Goodison Road
'Today is something I will never forget'published at 17:03 BST 18 May
17:03 BST 18 May
Image source, Getty Images
Dwight McNeil spoke to BBC Radio Merseyside after Everton's final match at Goodison Park: "We knew there was only one thing to do today and that was to win. It has been an amazing day. Coming in on the coach, I've never seen anything like it, It was amazing to see it and it is something I will never forget. We are sending Goodison off in the right way.
"I'll always remember getting the last assist at Goodison, it is something I will always treasure. It is a privilege to be at this club, I've loved every minute here and I'm looking forward to what the future holds."
On his favourite Goodison memory: "The one that will stay with me forever is Liverpool at home last season when we won 2-0. That was an incredible night under the lights."
'Everyone came together as one club' published at 14:43 BST 18 May
14:43 BST 18 May
Image source, Getty Images
David Moyes spoke to BBC Sport after Everton's victory against Southampton: "Extraordinary atmosphere. The crowd were amazing, as it was outside before the game. We started the game pretty well and got in front. We played some good bits but not always. The job was to win the game today and see ourselves out at Goodison in a good light.
"The support at Everton is immense. It's needed some form of success. Today is a day they've been waiting on for so long, a new stadium coming.
"I never thought I'd be the one to do it [manage them in the new ground]. I'm really pleased. I'm honoured to be given that opportunity. We all see it as another chance. We need to start rebuilding Everton again. We've done the job [of staying up]. We have to try to build on that next year. If we can get an atmosphere like this in the new stadium it'll give us every chance of winning games.
"I thought it was as if everyone had come together as one club. Today was everyone standing together."
Since David Moyes' first game back in charge of Everton, only Newcastle (21) and Liverpool (18) have scored more first half Premier League goals than the Toffees (17). Their 17 goals before half-time is one more than they'd scored in the opening 45 minutes of their previous 40 games under Sean Dyche.
Goodison Park 'a lovely old place' and 'I loved the buzz' - Roylepublished at 18:15 BST 17 May
18:15 BST 17 May
Image source, Getty Images
Former Everton player and manager Joe Royle says scoring his first goal at Goodison Park "seems like a lifetime ago" but he describes walking down the tunnel and out onto the pitch as being "a feeling you cannot scratch".
He explained what it felt like to sign for the club as a young boy on BBC Radio Merseyside's Goodbye to Goodison podcast: "I was just over the moon, not to be corny. This sounds conceited but I had the choice of several clubs, one not too far from here, but it was always Everton for me."
When asked what Goodison Park means to him, he replied: "This is the place where I scored my first goal. I was also in a side that won the league here and I can remember us all running around with the cup. We won the FA Cup as well, so there are some great memories here for me.
"It is a lovely old place. You only have to look at it to see that it is super.
"Walking out onto the pitch here is a feeling you cannot scratch. I loved the buzz of getting out there.
"You would have a mixed crowd some days, where the fans would be so easy-osy about things, but then you would come out after half-time and boy did they let you know they were there.
"The crowd hasn't changed an awful lot. The crowd here on a cold night in November would still get behind the team and the opposition wouldn't like it at all - and it is still just as good.
"Even now, you see the same regular fans in the same regular seats. It is seldom very short of customers here."
Finally, on his favourite memory at the historic ground, he said: "Scoring here in my first home game for the club. I scrambled one in. I probably miskicked it slightly but nevertheless I was there to scramble it over the line and it counts just the same as a volley!"
Everton's first Toffee ladypublished at 17:27 BST 17 May
17:27 BST 17 May
Lynette Horsburgh BBC News
Image source, Family Photograph
Image caption,
Everton FC toffee lady Mary Morgan with player Tommy Eglington
Saying goodbye to Goodison Park is "going to be like losing a little bit of my mum", the daughter of Everton's first official toffee lady has said.
The tradition of handing toffees out at Everton's stadium dates back to the 1890s when Old Ma Bushell, who ran the nearby Ye Ancient Everton Toffee House, dressed her granddaughter in her finest clothes and sent her with a basket of Everton toffees to throw into the crowd.
Lifelong Evertonian Mary Morgan (nee Gorry) was the Blues' toffee lady from 1953 until 1956.
Speaking ahead of the final men's fixture at Goodison Park before their move to Bramley-Moore Dock this summer, Patricia Smith said: "It'll be a sad day - there's going to be a lot of tears."
She said her mum's role as the toffee lady "started off as a joke" when she customised a bridesmaid dress, handstitched "Everton Supporters Federation" on a white pinny, and teamed it with a bonnet.
It was a nod to the traditional attire worn more than 60 years previously, when Jemima Bushell handed out Everton toffees to fans as Ye Ancient Everton Toffee House battled to outdo Everton mints creator Mother Noblett, whose shop was situated closer to Goodison.
And so the enduring link between Everton and toffee was born.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
