Saturday 2nd January KO 3pm
Ground Name: Goodison Park
Capacity: 40,569 (all seated)
Address: Goodison Road, Liverpool, L4 4EL
Main Telephone No: 0871 663 1878
Fax No: 0151 286 9112
Club Nickname: The Toffees
Year Ground Opened: 1892
Pitch Size: 112 x 78 yards
Shirt Sponsors: Chang
Home Kit Colours: Royal Blue & White
Meeting Place
Address: The Fly in the Loaf, 35 Hardman Street, Liverpool, L1 9AS
The Ground
Looking from the outside, Goodison, with its tall stands seems huge. The crowds filling the narrow streets around the ground on matchday, make you feel that you are going back in time, to when the outside of every football ground appeared like this. However, that's Goodison's problem. Apart from the newish Park Stand (which has an electric scoreboard on its roof), the rest of the ground looks tired. Yes the ground is still large, but it needs modernising. Nevertheless unlike some new grounds, Goodison oozes character and the three tiered Main Stand is still an impressive sight. There are two large video screens at opposite corners of the ground.Away fans are located in one corner of the two tiered, Bullens Road Stand, which is at the side of the pitch, where just over 3,000 away fans can be accommodated. If you can, try to avoid getting get tickets for the rear sections of both the the upper and lower tiers, as the view can be quite poor.
How To Get There
By Public Transport
Everton's Goodison Park is situated three miles north of Liverpool City Centre. The nearest British Rail station is Liverpool Lime Street. The nearest Merseyrail station is Kirkdale (Northern Line) approximately one mile from Goodison Park.
Buses from the city centre (Queen Square Bus Station): 1,2, 20, 19, 311, 345 and 350.
Soccerbus
All home matchdays are served by the Soccerbus.
For just £1 extra, take a train from anywhere on the rail network to Sandhills Station for your direct bus link to Goodison Park.
Soccerbus will run for 2 hours before each match (last bus from the station is approximately 15 minutes before kick-off) and for 50 minutes after the final whistle (subject to availability).
By Car
From the North & South: From the M6, exit at junction 26 onto the M58 and continue until the end. At the gyratory, go left to join the M57 Junction 7. Exit the M57 at Junction 4 to turn right into East Lancashire Road (A580). Follow the road, across Queen's Drive, into Walton Lane. Goodison Road is less than a mile along, on the right.
Alternative Route from North:
From the M6, exit at Junction 26 onto the M58 and continue to the end. At the gyratory system, go a quarter way around, turning left onto the A59 Ormskirk Road. Continue along as the road becomes Rice Lane, and over the roundabout into County Road. Three quarters of a mile along County Road, turn left into Spellow Lane, and then left into Goodison Road. Goodison Park is on the right.
Alternative route from the South:
From the M6 exit at Junction 21a onto the M62 to Liverpool. Follow to the end of the motorway and turn right onto the A5058 Queen's Drive. After 41/2 miles, at the roundabout junction with the A59, turn left into County Road. Three quarters of a mile along County Road, turn left into Spellow Lane, and then left into Goodison Road. Goodison Park is on the right.
From the East:From the M62, exit Junction 6 onto the M57, go to the end of the motorway and then left onto the A59 Ormskirk Road. Then follow the same route for north.
From the West:From the M53, continue to Wallasey and follow Liverpool via the Kingsway Mersey Tunnel. Turn left at the end into Scotland Road, taking the right fork to the A58 Kirkdale Road. Follow the road round for two miles and Goodison will appear in front of you.
Car Parking is available in Stanley Park, approximately half-a-mile from Goodison Park.
By Train
Kirkdale station is the closest to the ground (just under a mile away). However, it may be more advisable to go to Sandhills Station as this has the benefit of a bus service to the ground, which runs for a couple of hours before the game and around 50 minutes after the final whistle. The bus drops you off within easy walking distance of Goodison.
Gary Beaumont adds; 'The best route for away fans from the city centre if they want to use public transport is definitely the Merseyrail Northern Line to Sandhills where they alight and catch the special Soccerbuses; trains can be caught from Liverpool Central. If fans are buying their train tickets in Liverpool, ask for a return to Goodison Park as opposed to Sandhills even though that's where you're getting off. The advantage of doing this is that the train ticket is valid also for the Soccerbus and the additional fare is only £1 return as opposed to £1.50 that you'd have to pay on the bus if you only bought your ticket to Sandhills. Both Sandhills & Kirkdale stations and can be reached by first getting a train from Liverpool Lime Street to Liverpool Central and then changing there for Kirkdale.
On exiting from Kirkdale Station turn right and then cross the railway bridge, you will see a pub opposite called the 'Melrose Abbey', which is a recommended watering hole. Walk up Westminster Road, alongside the pub, for about 400yds and you'll see the Elm Tree pub. Turn left at the pub into Goodall Street and walk up to end of the road, crossing the junction with Carisbrooke Road and into Harlech Street. At the end of Harlech Street you will reach the main County Road (A59). Cross over County Road at the traffic lights and then proceed down Andrew Street. At the top of Andrew Street you can see St Lukes Church sat in the corner of the ground.
The main railway station in Liverpool is Lime Street which is over three miles from the ground and is really too far to walk (although it is mostly downhill on the way back to the station), so either head for Kirkdale station or jump in a taxi (about £6). Otherwise you can catch various buses from the bus station which is seven minutes walk away from Lime Street and is well signposted. Either the 19, 19a, 20, 21 or 311 will drop you right outside the ground at a cost of about a £1. The buses are run by Arriva and the journey takes about 15 to 25 minutes dependant on traffic.