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Another great forumer I’ve been able to meet face to face at long last through the FAB desk. I’ll miss St Luke’s but if it works out we’ll be in Murphys Distillery next season. Previous Message
Hi all,
I wanted to post to let you all know how my final (and first for Mya) trip to Goodison went last Saturday.
Thanks so much to Beechside who managed to get us 2 tickets in the main stand (and lent me £25 when I couldn't find a cash point!!) - it was really appreciated and it was lovely to meet you, Mya has put her game badge onto her school blazer! Was nice to meet Delaware too, awesome fellas.
Pablo (very, very) kindly volunteered to be our guide for the day and (after weeks of planning and phone calls to arrange it all) picked us up at about 11 from our Hotel near West Derby, near where I grew up. He took us to St Ruperts Tower, which I remember from when I was a kid but had forgotten how truly tiny it is. Had a look around Everton before heading over to Bramley Moore. Honestly, it was like having a professional tour guide with all the info flying around.
If you haven't been in the flesh yet then you are in for a shock - it's absolutely massive, I couldn't actually quite believe just how big it is (talking about Bramley Moore here...). Not just the stadium but the whole area, it's huge. Genuinely taken aback by it, can't wait to get in there.
From there we nipped into Sans Cafe, which is round the corner to Bramley Moore, to say hello to my mates mum who has ran it for decades, I used to stay over there as a kid every 2 weeks or so for years and have great memories of it. Anyway, I told them I was an old mate of Marks as I wasn't expecting him to be there and lo and behold, sat behind me was Mark with his 3 kids - not seen him since 1995. He was completely shocked, Mya said if we filmed it and put it on Tik Tok it would go viral, but I wouldn't know about that!! Anyway, that was awesome and very wholesome.
After that we went around the ground, had a Scouse pie (recommended) went into St Lukes and had a look at some merch and the art display downstairs, the place is steeped in history - Mya picked up the FA Cup! Shook hands with Derek Mountfield and saw Paul Power in the street, which was nice. Saw Peter Reid too, which I know for some of you will be like "so what" but for me that was a big deal, some hero worship was going on!! Has he shrunk or am I just massive?(don't answer that).
Pablo had arranged for us to get some signed shirts so we went into the ground and were presented them by Snodin and Stewart, they were absolutely amazing and made us feel so welcome. It felt like a real honour and Mya was just really taken aback by it all. the club know how to look after their fans with this sort of stuff. Mya got a signed Branthwaite shirt and they gave a signed Pickford shirt to Liv. Don't mind me fellas, I'll be ok . It was a real honour and what a memory for Mya.
Then it was onto the game, which was exciting but not a classic - didn't matter, we had an amazing time and it would not have been anywhere near as good or special if Pablo hadn't spent literally all day showing us around, introducing us to people, organising the shirt presentation etc. Big shout out to the guy sat next to Mya who, although extremely friendly, broadened Mya's vocabulary in various ways I can't repeat here, all I can say is Jack Harrison must have thick skin.
Pablo even dropped us back at our hotel afterwards which is completely out of your way, I can't express enough how brilliant you were mate, thank you so much. You also bought the girls a shirt each out of your own pocket and again, I can't express how brilliant that was. With all the other stuff she got given that day she had 2 full carrier bags! Happy is an understatement!
Some pics below - look out for the post!! Was elated just to be there tbh and if anything the post and I became friends before the end. Hung about for 20 mins to soak it all in one last time. Big thanks to what the FAB do there, it's great to see the fans represented by people who really care.
Hopefully get to Bramley Moore next year and see a few more of you.
Thanks again - Aaron, Mya and Liv xx
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