Premier League
Everton’s Goodison Park set for emotional last Merseyside derby
Goodison Park, home of Everton since 1892, plays host to the Merseyside derby for the final time on Feb 12 as the Toffees aim to derail Liverpool’s English Premier League title charge.
Everton will move to a new state-of-the-art 53,000-capacity ground on Liverpool’s Bramley Moore Dock next season when they finally leave behind England’s first major football stadium.
The origins of Goodison gave birth to the rivalry between the city’s two clubs.
Everton, formed in 1878, once called Anfield their home before a dispute over rent between their landlord John Houlding and the club’s board. Rather than meet Houlding’s demands, Everton moved to new land just across Stanley Park little more than half a mile away.
Left with a stadium but no team, Houlding, a local businessman and politician, decided to form his own – Liverpool.
Goodison was a ground-breaking development. It twice hosted the FA Cup final in 1894 and 1910 and allowed Everton to become the richest club in England at the time thanks to bumper crowds.
“Behold Goodison Park!” The Out of Doors publication reported in October 1892.
“No single picture could take in the entire scene the ground presents, it is so magnificently large.”
A series of developments ensured it remained among England’s leading stadia for over a century, playing host to more games than anywhere but Wembley during the Three Lions’ World Cup triumph in 1966.
Everton’s golden era arrived in the 1980s, winning two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup between 1984 and 1987.
They still sit fifth for most English top-flight titles, behind only Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. But the last of those came 38 years ago and Everton have not won a trophy since the 1995 FA Cup.
“It’s a place that is steeped in history. You can feel it and that brings that added bit of bite to the atmosphere,” Peter MacFarlane of Everton fan podcast The Blue Room told AFP.
“As an Evertonian there aren’t many people who follow us because they are glory hunters, especially over the past 30 years. We go there because we love the football club and that translates from us into Goodison. It’s not just any game, it means a lot to us, especially the derby!”
The club’s grand old ground has mirrored the decline on the pitch.
At the time of the latest major development, with the opening of the Park End stand in 1994 to bring the capacity to 40,000, it was only surpassed by Old Trafford and Anfield. Now it sits 12th.
But as Everton have battled relegation over the past three seasons, the Goodison atmosphere has been crucial to maintaining a 71-year uninterrupted stay in the top flight.
The return of David Moyes as manager in January has steered the team towards safety once more and hope for a fresh start in a new home.
“We’ll all miss Goodison. It is where my grandad went, my dad went, it is all we know, but it is time to move on,” added MacFarlane. “It doesn’t matter where Everton play, Evertonians will still be there.”
A long and emotional goodbye has only seven games to go.
Putting a spanner in the works of leaders Liverpool’s bid to match United’s record of 20 English titles would be the perfect farewell for long-suffering Toffees fans.
Jarrad Branthwaite, for one, has said that Everton must go into the final Goodison Park derby believing they can win.
“It is the Merseyside derby, another game that we are looking to win, that’s it,” the Toffees’ defender told beIN Sports.
“If you build it up too much then you can fall under pressure, so I think for us as players, we are going into it with the belief that we can get a result like last season (2-0 win).
“The fans they create the atmosphere for us to go out there and do a job. We need to go out and perform.”
-AFP
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Premier League
English Premiership rules forbid Nigerian-born English player, Nwaneri from Arsenal locker room
Ethan Nwaneri, born of Nigerian parentage, but English in nationality, is not allowed to get ready for matches in Arsenal’s senior dressing room because of safeguarding the rules.
That is the revelation by Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta. The 17-year-old is in the midst of a stunning breakthrough campaign, slotting into the Gunners’ first team with ease and providing a viable solution to their issues on the right flank.
According to the UK newspaper, Daily Mail, so far this season, Nwaneri has made his first Premier League, and Champions League starts, and shone in the Carabao Cup while scoring across all three competitions.
Safeguarding rules mean that players must be 18 or older to share a dressing room with the senior squad.
It means that the starlet must get changed elsewhere before joining his colleagues for the final team talk.
‘Ethan cannot be in our dressing room still, which is unbelievable. He needs to get dressed somewhere else, even on match day.
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Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has joined Aston Villa on loan, both Premier League clubs announced on Sunday, bringing to an end a difficult few weeks for the England striker after he was frozen out at Old Trafford.
Rashford, who has been capped 60 times by England, will join Villa until the end of the season.
“I was lucky to have a few clubs approach me but Aston Villa was an easy decision. I really admire the way that Aston Villa have been playing this season, and the manager’s ambitions. I just want to play football and am excited to get started, Rashford posted on social media.
“I would like to thank Manchester United and Aston Villa for making this loan deal happen… I wish everyone at Manchester United all the best for the rest of the season,” he added.
Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 appearances for Manchester United after coming through the club’s youth system and breaking into the senior side in 2016. He has lifted the Europa League, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
However, the striker had not featured for United since mid-December after admitting he was ready for a new challenge in his career.
Manager Ruben Amorim called into question the forward’s workrate and defended his decision to again omit him from his squad for their win over Fulham last month, insisting he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford has also scored 17 goals for England. He has played in two World Cups and two European Championships for his country
Villa have also signed Spanish fullback Andres Garcia from Levante and Dutch striker Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window.
-Reuters
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Manchester United’s woeful home form this season continued as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Despite United chasing a fourth successive win in all competitions, Palace were much the better side in the first half at Old Trafford, passing up several chances to capitalise on their superiority.
The visitors did make one count after 64 minutes, Jean-Philippe Mateta reacting first after the ball had come off the crossbar to give his side a deserved lead.
United upped the ante in search of an equaliser but lacked ideas, with Mateta condemning the hosts to a seventh home league loss this term with a late second, helping Palace climb above 13th-placed United into 12th in the standings.
“The result is really bad,” United manager Ruben Amorim told Sky Sports. “The performance was a little bit better than the last games. We controlled the transitions quite well for Crystal Palace.
“It’s normal for the fans to feel negative, it is a hard season for them but football can change in certain moments. I will prepare for the next game and move forward. Better things will come.”
United came into Sunday’s encounter on the back of their best run under Amorim, having secured a third successive win in all competitions at Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.
Amorim has, however, yet to taste back-to-back league wins since he took charge in late November. No United manager since Tommy Docherty in 1972-73 has had to wait so long to achieve that.
After a pre-match tribute to those who died in the Munich air disaster 67 years ago, Kobbie Mainoo, playing in an unfamiliar central striker role, went close to giving United the perfect start, striking the post with a deflected shot.
Palace, in fine away form having won four of their previous five on the road, looked the more threatening early on, with defenders Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell going close to an opener.
The visitors continued to press, with Mateta denied by a brilliant save from Andre Onana as halftime approached.
Needing improvement after again failing to score in the first half of a league match – now 18 goalless opening periods in 24 this season – United pushed forward after the break.
Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was finally called into action, denying Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte with smart saves, but Mateta’s close-range finish, after Maxence Lacroix’s header had hit the crossbar, was what the visitors’ endeavour merited.
For all their pressure, United openings failed to materialise, with Mateta finishing off a Palace counter in the 89th minute to send the away supporters into raptures.
– Premier League – Manchester United v Crystal Palace – Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain – February 2, 2025 Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta scores their second goal past Manchester United’s Andre Onana Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduf
United have now lost seven of their first 13 league home matches this season, their joint-most at this stage of a league campaign, along with 1893-94.
United defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off on a stretcher in the second half with what looked like a serious knee injury.
-Reuters
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