HERE WE GO: Everton legend has his say on new stadium as big names attend first game

Everton legend has his say on new stadium as big names attend first game
Several big names were spotted in the crowd for the historic first game at the new Everton Stadium
Sport
Chris Beesley Everton reporter
05:00, 19 Feb 2025

Some 10,000 lucky spectators were present to watch the historic inaugural game at Everton Stadium on Monday night. But among the crowd were some famous faces.

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And Here’s a rundown of prominent individuals who were spotted attending the first test event at the Mersey waterfront venue that will hold 52,888 when officially open…

Ture Blue Alan Irvine has now served Everton in four separate capacities. The 66-year-old has been back at the club since returning as David Moyes’ assistant manager last month.

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Prior to that, Irvine was a player for the Blues between 1981-84 before returning to Goodison under Moyes to serve as assistant manager when his fellow Glaswegian was first in charge before coming back as the head of the academy

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Had Moyes not returned as manager, Leighton Baines, who the Scot made Everton’s most-expensive defender when he signed him for £6million in 2007, would have had the honour of being in charge of the first Blues team to play at the new stadium. The 40-year-old from Kirkby was the head coach of Everton’s Under-18s team until Moyes came back and he was promoted to first-team duties with Keith Southern taking on his previous role.

A former Liverpool midfielder, Charlie Adam will be eager to play up his Blue credentials after crossing Stanley Park with his appointment to Moyes’ staff. The Dundee-born ex-Fleetwood Town manager is now Everton’s set-piece coach.

Everton legend Peter Reid, who was part of the club’s most-successful side that won the League Championship and European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1985, also lifting another title in 1987 and FA Cup in 1984 was also present. The 68-year-old from Huyton shared a video from the corner of the South Stand with the caption “Not bad TBF” complete with a blue love heart emoji on X.

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Having played 433 matches for Everton, Leon Osman made it into the club’s all-time top 10 for most appearances, level with the great Dixie Dean. The 43-year-old attended the game with his sons.

One of Joe Royle’s midfield ‘Dogs of War’ alongside Barry Horne and John Ebbrell, Joe Parkinson was part of Everton’s last trophy-winning side as they defeated his boyhood club Manchester United 1-0 in the 1995 FA Cup final. Forced to retire from the game through injury aged just 28, he is now a regular behind the scenes at Goodison Park on matchdays.

Local lad Ronny Goodlass is a lifelong Evertonian who once scored for the Blues from the halfway line against West Ham United. The 71-year-old, who now heads his own charity called Health Through Sport, took to social media to write the following on X: “Great to see the first test event at our new Stadium. Congratulations to all concerned for making this happen after 4 years of hard work and great vision to get this magnificent stadium built. A great achievement & a stadium to be proud of.”

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Tony Bellew was spotted having his photograph taken with fellow Everton fans. The 42-year-old was WBC cruiserweight champion between 2016-17 having won the vacant title with victory over Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park.

And there were also two representatives of Everton’s owners, The Friedkin Group, at the game but their names have not been confirmed.

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