VV
AWAY FROM HOME
GWLADYS
It was too much for me and my bright pink face, all twisted and
snotty from the tears. Then again though it wasn’t enough. From
up there, all I could do was watch as Everton fans took the field
below. I’d gone from being there to being a million miles away in
the blink of an eye. All I could do was watch. Was I even a part of
it all?
I stayed up there with my dad for as long as we could watching it all
unfold beneath us before we headed for the endless stairs that’d take
us back down to the world. The world that waits outside of every
Everton match. The streets were buzzing. Everyone was smiling,
talking, singing, and hugging. No doubt we all felt the relief of
having a future that still fit our past. A future as one of the all-time
great elite clubs in British football.The other thing I remember is
that there was turf everywhere too. Hallowed turf. The fans from
the lower tiers around the ground had been on the pitch and they’d
grabbed what they could to take home with them. Their own very
real bit of Goodison Park that they’d own and have forever. I was
wounded I wasn’t carrying my own little bit of Goodison and then a
fella caught me looking at his and tore off a chunk and passed it to
me. As soon as I got home I planted it in my mum and dad’s
back garden. It’s definitely since taken over the whole of lawn, just
like every other lump of turf taken out of Goodison on that day, or
any other, will taken over whatever patches of grass they’ll have
ended up becoming a part of. Goodison is everywhere now. I’m
telling you. I hope it is anyway. Not least because we’re leaving
Goodison. But also, because I can’t always be there these days. After
the Top Balc I moved to the Lower Gwladys and was there for years.
Row EE, seat 114 in the Lower Gwladys still is and always will be
my seat. That’ll be going in the back garden after our last match at
Goodison too, you watch. University in Wales didn’t stop my love
affair with the Old Lady but moving to Barcelona, Spain meant I had
to cut right down how often I get to see her.
Living somewhere else doesn’t stop you being a real blue though
does it? You can watch all the matches on the internet these days
you still bleed blue even if you don’t go to Goodison all the time.
Even if you’ve never been away to see Everton draw nil nil at Exeter
in the FA Cup, you can still be a diehard Evertonian. Goodison is
everywhere. Goodison is wherever we make it. We’re all looking at
you Bramley Moore for a start, but the rest of the world is willing
and waiting. Goodison is everywhere, what we feel is what makes
the difference. Even if we’re there or not, at least I hope so.
I’m traveling now you see, in Bangkok while I’ve been writing this
piece. I’ve been away from home since before the start of the season
and outside of Europe since we had to come from behind against
Huddersfield at home in September. I won’t be back until long after
Marco Silva’s first season will be over. I’m buzzing for it like. I’m
thrilled to be in one place one week and another the next. What a
treat it is to see places like the Iguazu Falls, Macchu Pichu, and
Angkor Wat. To feel a part of cities like Buenos Aires, La Paz, L.A.
and Kuala Lumpur. To see River Plate play Boca in el Superclasico.
Trouble is though, there’s not meant to be no Goodison out there
in those places, is there? But there can be. I might only get to feel
like I felt in the top balcony as thousands of Everton fans burst onto
the pitch to celebrate together. I might only get to watch, but as
long as I try to, I’ll still get to be there. Still get to feel at home with
the blues. Goodison is where we make it. At least that’s what this
Evertonian away from home hopes and believes. COYB!
You can follow this story in Gwladys next season as the weeks go by,
just like they’ve done this season.
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