Before we left for Everton it was the sad day of Terry Yorath’s funeral, and my thoughts are with his family and friends today. Personally, I was able to stand outside the church to pay my respects to one of our legends who was part of the greatest team ever under Don Revie and then watch the service from the church hall. Rest in Peace Terry your family did you proud and what an amazing rendition of Jerusalem by your granddaughter Lois. The Welsh choir who had travelled here from Cardiff were excellent too, and Danny boy was very moving with the cameras on the coffin before finishing with “You’ll never walk alone” for both Terry and those who died in the Bradford Fire disaster. I’d already been blubbing all the way through the service, but that had me in bits. 

It’s been a busy week for me as I was invited to London to Sky Sports News Studios as one of the Starting XI for Leeds United for Fanalysis where I took part in a couple of sessions with some fans from other clubs. Although I was very nervous beforehand, everything went smoothly and thank you for the opportunity which was appreciated.

As I left the ground to get on the coach, I was asked if I’d got my phone with me for my digital ticket which thankfully I did have. I did manage to leave my charger behind but luckily it was only a short trip to Everton. They say things come in threes though because about 45 minutes after we’d left the pub stop, I’d taken some paracetamol with a drink of water I had with me to suddenly find a sharp piece of glass in my mouth. It’s a mystery where it came from though. Thirdly I lost my drinks bottle at the ground!

It was disappointing to arrive at the ground to find there was no provision for disabled fans to get to the stand without a long walk from the coaches. That is one thing they have got wrong though plus there are only a few exits. With it being a new ground to add to the list, I was impressed with it to be honest. It was good to see all the flags behind the goal, and it gave an insight into the size of what our new Kop would look like in the future. One thing it did make me think about was the corners are enclosed which I felt was a better use of the space rather than the design we have. I know the West Stand will be the first to be done but, filling the corners in gives more seats. I want to say thank you to the Everton stewards today who were very friendly but also very good. One of my old Selby branch members who I hadn’t seen for a long time, had travelled over from Belgium with his son but was outside the turnstiles as he wanted one of the Billy Bremner badges. One of the stewards took me outside to meet him and then took me back into the ground so thank you. As I was waiting at the turnstiles, I noticed there were some issues with tickets not scanning which was frustrating for some of our fans. 

Team: Darlow, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson, Gruev, Struijk, Justin, Stach, Bornauw.

Subs: Tanaka for Gruev (66), Okafor for Aaronson (85), Longstaff for Stach (85), Buonanotte making his Premier League debut for Bornauw (85).

Subs not used: Perri, Byram, Piroe, Nmecha Gnonto.

Leeds drew the game 1-1 with Justin scoring (28).



Attendance: 51,979, 3,001 Leeds fans.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

Booked: Stach, Gruev, Buonanotte (for kicking the ball away not long after coming onto the pitch).

Goodison Park on the whole wasn’t a good ground for us so I was hoping the new ground would change our luck. We started off on the backfoot but gradually started to get on top. Calvert-Lewin put their keeper under pressure and Struijk saw his shot go over the crossbar. An excellent piece of football saw us take the lead. Good play between Stach and Bogle saw Stach run down the wing and send his cross into the middle. Calvert-Lewin missed the ball and as it headed to Aaronson, he left it for Justin running into the box to hit the ball into the net to take the lead. We should have increased our lead when Aaronson and Bogle combined only to see Calvert-Lewin’s shot come back off the upright. Darlow made a great save to keep them from scoring as we went into half time still in the lead.

Everton made some changes at half time and straight away we started to play deeper. I still maintain our best form of defence is attack and it proved to be, as everyone around us could see an equaliser coming. I wanted Farke to change things and eventually he brought Tanaka on, but we continued to play deep so when they got an equaliser it wasn’t unexpected, but it felt preventable. Their goal gave Everton hope as they could have taken the lead but luckily for us the ball hit the crossbar and was cleared. We finally got an attack on the break with Okafor making a good run passing the ball to Longstaff on the wing, but there was no last-minute winner here today as the ball was blasted over the top.

It was disappointing not to get a win, but I’ll take the draw as it is still a point away from home. As we were waiting to get out of the stand, the Everton stewards took pity on Nikki and me as we were taken out through the Everton disabled area. As one of the stewards admired my Leeds earrings, it brought memories of a trip to Goodison Park in the seventies back for me. Everton fans had run out of the Gladys Street End across the pitch to the stand at the opposite end where us Leeds fans were. Standing at the kiosk below the stand at half time, we were surrounded by Everton fans and there was a lad there with a black patch over one eye, who admired my Leeds earrings that day too.

I can’t believe that our next game on Saturday against Arsenal will be the last day of January as once again time passes quickly. Just remember Leeds, they are only another team and don’t look at them in awe and give them respect as we did down at the Emirates Stadium. Get stuck into them and don’t give them a minute’s peace as we need to win our home games.           

See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together!