The case for leaving Goodison Park....

I think the strength of feeling on this issue depends greatly on whether or not you live in Liverpool. So, at the risk of putting my head in the Lion’s mouth, here’s my opinion.

I don't live in Liverpool. I don't have any romantic attachment with the City. I face a round trip of 6 hours just for home games. But I travel to watch Everton Football club, I don't travel to see Goodison Park.

For those who live in the City, it must be heartbreaking to see the club moving (and I think it’s clear now that they ARE moving) outside of the boundaries.

But for a lot of fans (and judging by the number of cars parked in Stanley Park on matchdays, I'm not the only fan to travel long distances to get to the ground) it isn't about WHERE we play. If it was, we'd support our local teams. I love Everton Football Club, no matter where they play.

Everton is a huge club. We regularly attract over 35,000 fans for home games which is almost twice as much at the attendances at clubs such as Blackburn, Fulham, Wigan etc. And yet we seem to be falling behind these clubs in terms of spending power. Those clubs have sugar daddy’s capable of investment, whereas we have Bill, who loves the club but is clearly skint. So we need to try something different.

In my opinion, this deal is too good to turn down. We are being given £50m to buy our own stadium. That’s free money!!! And £50m of it! And the land is willingly being offerred to us by Knowsley Council. That’s free land!! How many other clubs in the world, not just the Premiership, would bite Tesco’s hand off for this kind of offer?

And on top of this we could make money from the sale of Goodison, and the potentially lucrative naming rights (although I cringe at the idea of the “Tesco Value Stadium”).

Goodison was magical. It's hosted wonderful night games, and produces an incredible atmosphere. I’ve seen the highlights and the lowlights - Villareal was fantastic night, despite the result. The last home game against Portsmouth was magnificent. I wasn’t able to experience the famous Bayern Munich game of 85, but I did see them thrash Newport County in 86!!

One of my favourites was a bruising 1-0 victory over Spurs in 97. Dave Watson was in charge, and it was Rideout’s last game for us. Nobody else remembers it except me, but the way that Everton bullied Spurs into submission was an awesome sight. I’ve endured goalless draws against Birmingham and home defeats to Chelsea. But all the time the thrill was in seeing the team, not the stadium.

Goodison is old, with too many restricted views. Even if you have a good view, watching the match can be uncomfortable on wooden seats with cramped leg and arse room. And the obvious lack of corporate facilities (where the real money is to be made) is strangling the club.

I want Everton to move forward, and I just don't see that happenning at Goodison. In 10 or 20 years time, we would be kicking ourselves for not being brave and moving to Kirkby.

We’re part of history, right now. These are important times in the future of Everton Football club. We can take the easy path, stay at Goodison and moan about the lack of money coming into the club and how Kenwright is lying to us all.

Or we can stand up and admit that times change, and a new stadium will provide better facilities and encourage fresh investment. The longer we stay where we are, the faster we’ll go backwards.

Hey Diddly dee.....

Well, my 5 minutes of fame have come and gone. The star that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and I have burnt so very very brightly.

On the 1st July, I fulfilled my destiny - I was a movie star!! Well, I say “star”, I was actually an Extra for the filming of a Jack the Ripper movie. Well, I say “movie”, it was actually a short “teaser” film designed to be shown at Film Festivals across the globe.

So there we were in the Square Mile of London at 8am on a Sunday morning. There was a small crew including Producer, Director, Writer, Director of Photography and principal cast. I was there to help out, in whatever capacity I could, but I imagined this to be making coffee and holding umbrella’s.

The Producer had left posters all around Spitalfields and Liverpool Street, asking for Extra’s to come down to Mitre Square on Sunday morning. And some turned up, but not quite what we had expected. Six “extra’s” who had been out drinking HEAVILY all night saw our poster and decided it was more fun than wandering the streets of London until their coach took them back to Bristol at 4pm.

A few others turned up, including my mate (and part time Bruce Willis look-a-like) Dan and some guy who looked (and behaved) like the Tim Robbins character in War of the Worlds. Creepy.

The film centred on a Jack the Ripper tour guide, played by Dynasty’s own Christopher Cazenove, and the young woman (played by Melanie Gutteridge, from The Bill) who takes an unhealthy interest in his tales.

I was placed in charge of “wrangling” the Extra’s into some form of sense. Which required a great deal of coffee, muffins and croissants to sober them up and pacify them. Their job as Extra’s was to portray the Tour group, being led around London by Mr Cazenove, and responding with appropriate groans of shock and disgust at his graphic tales of Jack’s ripping exploits. I just stood on the sidelines and pointed at where they needed to stand.

However, right at the last minute, I was flung centre screen as Extra number 1. Wow, look at me Mum, acceptance at last! A lesser man than myself would have been nervous, stagestruck even. But I was confident in my own abilities as a thespian, and knew that when the Director called for action, a little magic would happen. I grimaced, I groaned and I howled with such vigour that wouldn’t have been out of place in Holby City’s waiting room.

“Is there no end to this boys talents?” cried the director. Well, he might have thought it at any rate, but didn’t want to make all the other Extra’s feel bad. They did the best they could, but with obvious limits.

Once my Extra scenes were over, I returned to Assistant Director mode, which basically meant that I was a runner. To-ing and fro-ing from one place to another, fetching drinks and equipment, blocking off streets to avoid passers-by interrupting filming. It was non-stop and completely exhausting but it was so much fun!!

Twelve hours of filming around the creepiest parts of London might not appeal to some people. The idea of not sitting down all day might be seem the best way to spend a Sunday. Carrying two carrier bags full of 15 cups of Starbucks’ finest through crowded streets, before standing in the middle of the road to stop pedestrians walking across the middle of a shot. It all might seem a little tedious. But not to me. Even the 3 hour drive home across London and down the M4 was enjoyable. Because as I drove home I just smiled to myself and considered how lucky I’d been to be part of something so great as movie making.

Allright, it was small scale and low budget. I mean, any film with more than two farthings to rub together would have hired someone far more handsome than myself to be lead Extra. And yes, it was incredibly hard work for no pay, but it was far more rewarding than sitting at a desk all day pretending to look busy whilst writing an article about the previous weekend’s experience of making a film.

See what I mean?