Energy channeled correctly: Everton stop up

Words: Gary Lambert

Images: Gary Lambert

Shot on Perutz Primera Color 100 and Kodac Vericolour III film.

The 2022-23 season will not be looked upon fondly by Evertonians to say the least. It has not been an enjoyable nine months.

There has been a lot written about what has gone wrong at the club, but it's honestly all manner of football cliché.

This was the third time in the last thirty years that Everton went into the last game of the season with the potential for going down. But, the first time where it was in our own hands – and that was the worrying thing as this team, for years, has struggled when expectation has been put on them.

I was at Goodison early on Sunday morning to collect a ticket for one of my mates, and there was a strangely serene atmosphere with only a couple of people milling about. I was terrified, but tried to focus through my camera to keep myself calm.

That disappeared when I saw the sign saying “IN”, I thought “are we going to be still in the Premier League tonight?”. And it broke me. I am not ashamed to say I cried ugly, ugly tears at that moment.

People outside Everton often fail to realise not the size, but the intensity of Everton. A lack of modern success is seen as a sign of a middling, safe option for people; a stepping stone for careers; an easy wage packet. It’s anything but that. It is all-consuming, all-demanding, and too much for a lot of people to handle.

Talented players and managers have wilted, futures have gone by the wayside, and angry fans have told people exactly what they are not doing. But when that energy is channelled correctly, it becomes something beautiful.

©Gary Lambert/ Terrace Edition. Everton FC.

Sunday was one such day. A couple of hours before kick off the atmosphere was more like the first game of a new season as people drank on the streets (to such an extent that the local A road had to be closed by police due to huge numbers) and laughed and joked with their friends.

It was as if there was an unspoken agreement that we had to at least fake confidence to push the team on. I heard one guy tell his mates “at some stage today we will be in the bottom three, Leicester or Leeds will score first, but we’ve just got to keep calm and win”. This sensible approach kept me sane through the game, I’ll be honest.

The noise during the match was violent, a brutal assault on the senses. Other clubs revel in choreography or songs tourists practice in hotel rooms, but comparing them to L4 4EL is like saying a Taylor Swift concert is just as loud as Slayer because the decibel readings were the same.

Every tackle was powered by white noise; appeals for penalties, free kicks and throw-ins came with shouts like the devil himself was demanding them; and the prolonged reaction to Doucoure’s goal produced Tinnitus.

The final whistle brought nine months of torment to a close with a roar that’s probably still tremoring through the commentators’ gantry, quickly followed by a moderate pitch invasion (and more tears from your 35mm correspondent), but this died away quickly along with the celebrations.

Evertonians took the opportunity to be angry about a board of directors who have shown cowardice instead of leadership – and then the realisation hit, that the stress of relegation had gone and almost instantly, a numbness dispersed through the stands and streets.

You can follow Gary on Twitter and Instagram: @thegarylambert

His music work can be found: @glamgigpics

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