From New Orleans to Goodison Park: A Blue’s Journey
A story from Russell & Penelope Blanchard New Orleans Toffees
Why Everton?
I’ve been an Everton Supporter since October 2008. I was in London for the 2nd regular season American football game there between my home team the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers. While there I met people in a pub who asked about our American club and to tell them about the team. I explained that we are very passionate about our club and the people of the city really get behind them even though we never won the league and haven’t had much success lately. They told me the loyal supporters remind them of their club from home, Everton. (Surprisingly our American team, the Saints, won the Super Bowl the following year!). I was asked if I had a Premier League team, which I did not. I never felt drawn to the supposed “big clubs” lots of people in America support, mainly the clubs on top when they became a fan. I never felt like jumping on the proverbial “bandwagon”.
So, we made a deal in that London pub, they would support my club, if I supported their club. I started watching Everton matches that season. The transition was easy, they featured a few American players I was familiar with, Tim Howard, and then shortly after, Landon Donovan came over on a loan.
Shortly after my trip to London, I moved to New Orleans, LA and found a good pub to watch football matches, an Irish Pub called Finn McCool’s. The Everton supporters I encountered were lovely people, passionate people, and many of the other supporters seemed to question me, “Why Everton?”, the more I was asked this question, the more I felt I was supporting the right club. The FA Cup Final run in 2009 was especially thrilling and I built a good appreciation for David Moyes as the manager. I liked how the club seemed to always compete and fight, and seeing the fans pack Goodison from afar, always made me proud to be a Blue. I even ordered my first Everton kit, a Donovan #9 from the 2009/2010 season. Looking back, I appreciate the first Moyes era even more now! In 2012, one of the lads decided to organise the New Orleans Toffees supporters’ group and made some shirts, we were on our way! On the shirt it had the motto “We are chosen, we do not choose” and this was exactly how I felt.
I’m a bit of a historian and have always felt how special Goodison Park was, even though I had never been. As the old football grounds around Britian began to disappear, I felt even more of a pull to make it to Goodison and see the Grand Old Lady. As the plans for the new stadium began to take shape, I knew the clock was ticking. As life would have it, each season came and went and Goodison was rumoured to close at the end of the 23/24 season. I had made my peace that I wouldn’t make it. Then, the new stadium was delayed a bit and Goodison was announced to have one final campaign. I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
The plan was made to attend the February 1st, 2025 match against Leicester City. Through one of our regular Blues at the pub, Adrian, I was introduced to an Evertonian named Matt who offered to show us around Liverpool. My wife bought her first few items of Blue apparel, we arranged all our travel and I ordered our first ever run of New Orleans Toffees banners (one of which to give to the club) and some stickers to hand out around town. We were going to make it to Goodison Park after all!
What does Everton mean to you?
If you would have asked me before my trip to Liverpool what Everton means to me, I now feel the answer would be incomplete. I had an idea of Everton. I had a feeling of what I wanted Everton to be. The club, the city, the people, over my visit they exceeded my hopes tenfold. I stumbled into supporting Everton in a London pub. A few American players helped draw me in. There was something about the club though, something about the people I met along the way who were Blues. People who believed, people who liked an underdog story, people who supported a club that was always up for a scrap on the pitch.
This idea of Everton was realised when I finally made my visit to Liverpool.
We arrived in Liverpool via Lime Street Station, took the train up from London. We settled into our place near City Centre, had a quick walk down to the riverfront, saw the Beatles statue at sunset and felt excited for the days ahead.
Through the North American Toffees and social media, I saw some great photos of places near Goodison called “Chippys”. I reached out to the photographer to ask where we could find these “Chippys” since we would be at Goodison for a tour our first full day in town. So that’s how we met Laura Gates, and she has been lovely to get to know! She informed us that the Chippys wouldn’t really be open until match day and gave us some places to see around town.
On her list was the Bridewell pub, and since it was down the street from where we were staying, we headed on over our first night. We quickly met Colin, who has been an Everton season ticket holder for many years (he sits first row in Upper Bullens). I noticed the program for the 66 FA Cup Final on the wall and mentioned to him that I received a copy as a gift and that I had watched the match on Youtube. He said he was at Wembley that day and told me about his experience! Then we met David (who sits Row O in Lower Gwladys), who was shocked we came all the way from New Orleans to watch Everton and have been supporting them for so long. He made sure we were sorted with tickets for the game and constantly checked on us throughout the weekend to make sure we were getting along ok. (He even grabbed me a program from the last Derby!). This was our first night, I felt right at home, and David was sure to tell me to wear my Blue around town and wear it proudly. What good advice that was.
We headed out to Goodison on Thursday for our scheduled tour. Enjoyed walking around the grounds, and Laura was right, not much open on a non-match day. The tour was amazing, it was special to hear all the stories, enter the historic dressing rooms, (the visiting dressing room had just the right amount of.. shall we say “comforts”) and sit in Moyes’s match day seat! Walking out the tunnel to the siren was chilling. We encountered some other NAT’s on the tour and after a little shopping at Everton One all made our way to the Royal Oak for a pint, which was a bit quiet but welcoming.
Our friend Matt we had met back home picked us up at the Bombed Out Church and took us on a fantastic tour around town, shared some great history with us, showed us the Beatles sites, and the beautiful new Everton Stadium! We ended the tour with a pint across the street at the Bramley Moore Pub (look for our New Orleans Toffees badge on the window). At the Pub we randomly ran into Sean and Emily (New Orleans Toffees on their second pilgrimage to Goodison) and met their dear friends Neal and Elaine, Blues over from Northern Ireland, who have been supporting the club for many years!
After the Pub we made it to the top of Liverpool Cathedral for a wonderful panoramic view of the city! We were the last two people let up for the day so made it just in time.
Before the tour we had spent some time at the Liverpool Museum and as a history nerd I was loved learning the history of the city and the docks, I was especially intrigued by the Overhead Railway, or “Docker’s Umbrella”. I was in search of a book on the Railway, and Matt recommend we stop in and see Jarrod at Reid of Liverpool, a bookstore.
Jarrod was sitting in front of a fireplace surrounded by books and was instantly open to chat. He learned why we were visiting and shared that he was also a Blue. When I told him about what book I was looking for he immediately went to searching while we chatted. He shared a great story with me about how he remembered riding the Railway with a barrel of grapes his father had procured from a mate at the docks. These grapes were for the family to enjoy on Christmas, but in the weeks leading up to it, young Jarrod got into the barrel repeatedly so when his father opened it on Christmas day it was half full! Jarrod never did tell him the barrel was once full.
That evening the wife and I visited a few pubs, had some pies at the Roscoe Head and ended up at Ye Cracke. We made fast friends with a fellow Blue named Andy, who liked to tell us that the Cracke was a “proper boozer”. We got on with the barmaid Leslie, her son is a Blue (and later on found out he is mates with our mate Matt!). She took one of our badges and proudly put it up, have a look next time you are there for a pint. She also gave my wife a nice stash of chocolates, which she snacked on all weekend. Thanks Leslie! We decided to walk with Andy towards his bus, such a lovely man, on the way we ran into Sean, Emily, Neal and Elaine in the street! Andy decided his night was over, we said our goodbyes and the rest of us proceeded to have a late-night session at Peter Kavanagh’s!
What a whirlwind start to our trip, everyone who heard our story and saw my Blue kit was so friendly and welcoming. Even the counter lady at Maggie May’s who saw my shirt colour after I removed my coat, said something
along the lines of “I liked you before you took the coat off” was just joking with us (I think?) and made us feel welcome.
Everton is truly the People’s Club, and I learned on my adventure through the beautiful city how great the people are and the amazing welcome we received around town is something I will never forget.
How was your experience of going to Goodison for your first and final time?
Match Day. Goodison Park.
We started the day at the Riverside Diner for a full English breakfast, we were the only customers when we walked in and the lady behind the counter turned out to be a Blue as well! She showed us photos of her red haired grandson holding a blue flare for one of the protest marches last year on Goodison Road. The breakfast was perfect, I will be back. We then made our way to Prince Rupert’s Tower for a quick photo before heading to Goodison.
As we arrived at Goodison we had made plans to meet up with Laura at the Winslow Hotel Pub, as she was kind enough to offer to take some photos before the match. As we walked by Hot Wok how wonderful it was to see the entire neighborhood come to life! We settled into the Winslow for an early pint, grabbed a table even and waited for Laura. Laura turned up shortly after and it was a pleasure to meet her, her partner Connor and a Swedish Toffee named Karl. Laura took some great photos as we displayed our New Orleans Toffees banner proudly in front of Goodison! We then said our goodbyes and ventured over to turn our banner in to the club to be displayed in Goodison and hopefully at BMD in the future. (Look for it at the match!)
As we attempted to soak in the match day atmosphere we headed to St. Luke’s, a destination I had only read about and seen through photos. What a wonderful collection of club history! We chatted to a few members of the EFC Heritage Society and passed out a few of our badges, we were even gifted a “Farewell to Goodison” scarf for traveling so far to see the Toffees!
We stopped back into the Winslow to try and grab a pint, which was basically impossible, so we set out for the Royal Oak to meet up with Sean and his group for a quick drink. The Royal Oak is much different on match day! We were able to down a pint and catch up again after parting late the night before. With the clock ticking towards tip- off, we parted with our friends till after the match and made our way to the Gwladys Street end.
We found our gate easy enough, I felt the history as I passed through the turnstile and felt the need to capture the moment. We were fortunate to have paper tickets as well, something I feel is a rarity in this modern world. It just wouldn’t have felt right going into Goodison for the first time and having someone scan my phone.
With the clock ticking and everyone packing the concourse area, we hit the concession stand for a couple steak pies and a bottle of Carling, as it seemed to be the thing to do. With no time to delay we made our way to our seats and hoped for the best!
How beautiful Goodison is! Our first visit for the tour on Thursday was wonderful, but to see the Grand Old Lady filled with football fans was a different feeling entirely. We stored our pies under our seat, met Robbie, our seat mate, and said a few hellos to the lads around us. Everyone was nice enough. Then the wonderful display put on by the 1878s began to take shape in front of us, a large banner blocked a bit of our view, but when the siren sounded and Z-Cars began to play how the ground roared to life! The banners and flags were wrapped up and the match was set to begin! I was soaking in the ground, the sounds, the crowd, then the tip-off and here we go... and GOALLLL!!!!
Could it be true, did the Blues just score?!? We were elated!! Hugging all the grown men and women we had just met minutes before and jumping up and down. My worry of not seeing a goal was extinguished, how glorious it is to be alive!! As we began to settle in, and rumors of one of the fastest goals in history begin to be murmured, there it is again... GOALLLLL!!! We jumped up and down again, we hugged again, and everyone around us began to say “You are good luck!” “You must come to every match!!”
Oh how the Lower Gwladys was alive and everything I had ever hoped would be my Everton experience was transpiring. As we approached the half, the pints were working their way through me and when play stopped for an injury I decided to make a run for the loo. As I walked into the concourse, how packed it was!! Blues just standing about and drinking and socializing and watching the match! I couldn’t believe the atmosphere. As I ran back to the seat, there it is again, GOOAAALLL, Ole Ole Ole Ole, Beto, Beto!! I felt shame for leaving my seat but glad I got to see that crowd under the seats erupt for a goal and beer fly into the air!
We ate our Steak Pies at the half from our seats and made friends with the three lads vaping next to us, who had already been admonished for sneaking bottles of beer in. As we moved into the second half, I made a vow to not leave my seat for any reason. I was rewarded with another GOOAALL in the 90th minute!! It was right in front of us, and as they say, I believe we in the Gwladys Street End helped suck the ball into the net. 4-nil!
A win on my first and last trip to Goodison Park, a win that allowed me to see the fastest goal by a Blue in the 133-year history of Goodison Park! A trip that included meeting so many wonderful people in a beautiful city. We met up with our mate Matt and his wife Stacey back at the Oak and he was kind enough to give us a ride back to town where we all went out for drinks at the Cambridge! Met another lot of lovely Blues there including one named Wildman in a 666 kit! Pints were drank, good times filled with laughter were had, and we all couldn’t believe our fortune on our last (first for me as well) pilgrimage to Goodison that we were granted such an amazing experience and fantastic result. One of my favorite memories was during the 80th something minute as I watched the sky change colors from under the lower Gwladys and saw the Goodison letters above the Park End, I felt proud to be a Blue, I felt thankful to have made it to Goodison, I felt at home.