If it was the day Evertonians feared would never come, it was an afternoon that may be seared into memories for years. Not merely those of Jack Grealish, either, though his first start for his latest employers reinforced the sense of new beginnings. Goodison Park was Everton’s home for 133 years, the new Hill Dickinson Stadium for one game, but first impressions were uniformly positive.
Everton have exchanged a 19th-century ground for a 21st-century stadium, a gleaming dockside monument, of red brick and shining steel, with steep-sided stands rising into the Merseyside skyline, blue smoke rising above the river. Wide-eyed Evertonians looked at it with a sense of disbelief; for all the mishaps of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership, he ended their long quest to get a ground for fitting for the times. This looks a lovely legacy. Some £802m may have been well spent.
Perhaps, too, the same will be said of the £12m cost to borrow Grealish for the season. A statement of a stadium may have needed a flagship arrival, a crowd-pleaser, and Grealish began in the right way. “As soon as I spoke to David Moyes on FaceTime, I wanted to come here and today shows why,” said the man who cost £100m four years ago. His last season at Manchester City produced a lone assist in the Premier League. His first hour at Everton’s shiny new home yielded two.
It was that sort of occasion. There have been times in recent years when Everton have become wearily accustomed to things going wrong; on their big day, everything went right. The first goal, win and penalty save at the Hill Dickinson all went to them. In the bigger picture, too, there has been a happy ending that sometimes seemed hard to envisage.
The Hill Dickinson Stadium’s was constructed in a troubled time of failed takeovers by questionable companies, of points deductions, of permanent peril. This could have been a Championship ground, or a project that propelled Everton into administration. Instead, The Friedkin Group are credible owners, they are a Premier League team, this a Euro 2028 venue.
Dan Meis, the architect responsible, was on the pitch before kick-off. Moyes has his own construction project. “For 100 years there will be different managers here, but the stadium will be here and we have to start the building of a strong team,” he said.
Everton had wanted to move to a bigger ground in his first spell in charge. They eventually did in his second. “You go to nearly all the best stadiums in the world, but this felt different because I was thought about the people who put the thought and effort to do with building this ground, who instigated it, who found a way to get the money,” explained Moyes; the late chairman Bill Kenwright was among those in his thoughts.
His emotions, he said, were of “joy”. He added: “It was a great feeling and it was really important to win the first game in the new stadium.” Many a club has endured a wait for a victory after relocating. Not Everton.
In a sense, it was a seamless transition. Winners 2-0 in their last game at Goodison Park, they repeated the scoreline after moving two miles. A scorer was the same, too. It was a historic double for Iliman Ndiaye; having got the last goal at Goodison Park, in men’s football anyway, he delivered the first at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, in competitive football anyway.
It came courtesy of Grealish. with the sort of driving run that he used to make at Aston Villa. Moyes had given the loanee just a second league start of 2023. The Manchester City exile rewarded him, skipping past Mats Wieffer, centring for Ndiaye to volley in. “We want more flair and quality,” said Moyes; Grealish will be charged with bringing both. “The boy who we saw playing for Man City in the year they won the treble is a really exciting player. I hope we can get him back. He probably has something to prove.”
This was the right start. Grealish had his part in the second goal, too, teeing up the makeshift left-back James Garner as the boy from Birkenhead drilled in a shot to become the first Merseysider to score here. “Jimmy Garner’s performance was fabulous,” said Moyes.
Before and in between the goals, Everton were not especially convincing. “Overall we were the better team,” said Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler. “We created so many chances and so many big chances.” At 0-0, a juggling Kaoru Mitoma volleyed against the bar. Danny Welbeck skewed a shot over from six yards. Either could have had his place in Hill Dickinson history.
Before Garner struck, Jan Paul van Hecke’s shot deflected off Grealish and on to the post. Matt O’Riley, the recipient of James Tarkowski’s terrible back pass, was denied by Jordan Pickford. When Everton were two goals to the good, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall did not handle Yankuba Minteh’s shot as much as save it. Pickford made a better stop, diving to his left to block Welbeck’s tame spot kick. O’Riley had scored from 12 yards against Fulham and Pickford expected him to step up again but Welbeck was the nominated taker, Hurzeler revealed. “A huge save,” Moyes said. “Jordan probably changed the outcome of the game.” The first penalty save at this ground was made by one of Everton’s finest ever goalkeepers.
Given that Pickford, as much as anyone, kept Everton up in relegation battles, it felt appropriate. Pickford was perhaps the last Goodison great. Before kick-off, the video montage of Everton’s past paid tribute to the famous old figures who were celebrated in brickwork on the sides of the old ground. ‘Spirit of the Blues’ still contains its lyrics about Goodison Park but Everton are on the waterfront now. And, perhaps, on the way up.
