The day began with a peaceful protest. From the Royal Oak Pub at 1130am, on the corner of County Road, a couple of thousand fans marched up Spellow Lane and circled Goodison Park. The aim, once again, was to vent their disenchantment about Everton’s Board of Directors.
Farhad Moshiri, the major shareholder, Chairman Bill Kenwright and Denise Barrett-Baxendale, the Chief Executive, were fixed firmly in the firing line, with banners urging them to “get out of our club” – none of those named were there to see it, having elected to stay away for Arsenal’s visit.
Their seats in the Directors Box remained empty, the dislocation between the powers-that-be and the people never more evident by the fact that a fixture that carried such importance – the debut of a new manager – passed by without their presence. It was the right decision.
For the day that started with a protest ended with a party. Sometimes it is difficult to put into words the impact of a stadium – it’s only bricks and mortar and seats, after all – but this was one of those afternoons when could not have wished to watch football anywhere else.
Goodison, when the noise is turned up to maximum volume and those inside are unified with a common cause, is magical. Sean Dyche was guaranteed to get a generous ovation but, privately, he must have been blown away by the hurricane the majority of the 39,314 crowd actually produced.
Saturday’s match was preceded by a peaceful protest against Everton’s Board of Directors
Sean Dyche was greeted by a hurricane of support at Goodison Park on his first match in charge
Once they had made their point outside, the unity behind Dyche and his team was apparent.
When Everton pressed up the pitch and forced Arsenal’s defenders to make hurried clearances that went out of touch or passes that failed to meet their target, the accompanying roar was guttural.
‘I’ve been here when we played very well at Burnley and there were a few murmurings and there was a bit of heat on the players and been here when it was really rocking,’ said Dyche. ‘I thought it was rocking. That’s all I asked for.
‘I’m aware there is a lot of noise around here and I have to learn about that. I will. I respect fans and their views but while their views are there can they ease that aside and remember the belief in Everton as a football club and the heartbeat that has been here for many years.’
Dyche puffed out his chest about it all and he was right too. You would say with certainty Everton will not go down if each remaining afternoon here until the end of the campaign is in a similar vein. These fans want to see honesty and hard work, first and foremost, from those in Blue and that was on show here.
The thing about Goodison when the temperature rises so positively, is there is little the opponent can do. It’s like trying to douse a bush fire with a bucket of water – impossible. Mikel Arteta spent five years here and was even involved in a similar fixture against Arsenal.
On January 21, 2006, Everton were languishing towards the foot of the table but a James Beattie goal flattened a team that included Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Cesc Fabregas and Sol Campbell. Nobody gave Everton a hope of winning that day. Nobody, of course, except the home fans.
Mikel Arteta’s side fell to a deflating defeat as they looked to extend their Premier League lead to eight points
Everton’s Board decided to stay away from the game that saw their side shock the leaders
Supporters carried banners depicting the Board of Directors as clowns prior to kick-off
‘We cannot control the energy that they were going to have,’ said Arteta, whose stare was almost vacant as he reflected on a damaging result.
‘I was certain it was going to be exactly how it’s been. In the last 15 minutes, we made a lot of rash decisions.’
But Everton didn’t. The players ran and tackled and the crowd screamed and sang in response. One win won’t take the ill-feeling away but how they needed reacquainting with this euphoric feeling again, encapsulated at the final whistle, when the colossal Amadou Onana dropped to his knees.
This, in a nutshell, was everything that football should be about: happiness. It’s been absent around here for too long.
Amadou Onana was colossal in the middle of the park for Everton throughout the fixture
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