Farewell Goodison Park: The best Premier League moments at Everton's stadium

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As Everton prepare to play at Goodison Park for the last time, against Southampton this Sunday, Adrian Kajumba selects some memorable Premier League matches and standout moments at the Toffees' iconic home.

Great escapes at Goodison Park

Some of the most memorable Goodison Park occasions in Premier League history have involved Everton dramatically rescuing themselves from the jaws of relegation.

The Toffees were on the brink for the first time in 1993/94 when, after falling into the bottom three following the penultimate round of fixtures, they went 2-0 down against Wimbledon on the final day.

But two Graham Stuart goals either side of Barry Horne's screamer secured a sensational 3-2 turnaround win and retained Everton's top-flight status.

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A young Wayne Rooney was among the celebrating fans who spilled onto the pitch with a mixture of joy and relief following the final whistle.

It was not the last time that Everton’s survival went to their last, nerve-shredding home match with Goodison witnessing similar outpourings of emotions at full-time..

In 1997/98, supporters were on the pitch again after Gareth Farrelly’s goal and a 1-1 last-day draw against Coventry City helped Everton remain in the Premier League.

In 2021/22, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late winner capped another dramatic comeback from 2-0 down to seal a 3-2 win against Crystal Palace that kept Everton up and sparked more bedlam around the ground.

A year later, a thumping Abdoulaye Doucoure strike settled another tense final-day fixture, sealing a 1-0 win against AFC Bournemouth to guarantee Everton’s safety.

'Remember the name, Wayne Rooney!'

Goodison Park will forever be remembered as the ground where one of the great football careers was launched.

A star was born on the October day in 2002 when Rooney let fly from 30 yards against Arsenal and bent a sumptuous strike into the net via the underside of the bar, a goal he has since described as his favourite at Goodison.

Rampaging striker Rooney had already displayed his precocious talent as he rose through Everton’s academy and burst onto the first-team scene as a totally-unfazed teenager.

But he made the whole football world stand up and take note with his first-ever Premier League goal, a stunning effort that emphatically beat England legend David Seaman to seal Everton's 2-1 win, ending Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten run. It made Rooney the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer at the time, aged just 16 and 359 days.

"Remember the name, Wayne Rooney!" commentator Clive Tyldesley screamed unforgettably.

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It became impossible not to remember it as Rooney went on to carve his name into football’s history books in the years that followed, before returning to finish his Premier League career with one more season at Everton.

He was older, wiser but still with magic in his boots. A prime example of that came on the November 2017 night at Goodison when Rooney, then 32, scored his first Everton hat-trick, completing his treble with an incredible goal from inside his own half.

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Ferguson's headers - against Ferguson's United

A Duncan Ferguson header from a set-piece at the Gwladys Street End, to earn a 1-0 win against Alex Ferguson's Manchester United team?

Everton fans had seen that once before but there were no complaints when it happened a second time.

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A decade after powering an Andy Hinchcliffe corner into the net to earn Everton a one-goal victory over the Red Devils, history repeated itself in April 2005 when "Big Dunc" scored with a header from Mikel Arteta’s free-kick.

"It was nice to get that 10 years later, towards the back end of my career," said the striker, whose second headed winner, one of manager David Moyes' standout Goodison memories, secured Everton’s first Premier League win against Man Utd since he netted the first one.

"The roof came off, it [the ground] was shaking," added Ferguson. "That was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever felt in this ground. Whoever was there will probably tell you the same."

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As well as being etched in the memory for the electric atmosphere, the game was also one of Everton’s key wins on their way to achieving their highest Premier League finish in fourth place and UEFA Champions League football.

The job was completed, also at Goodison, a few weeks later when goals from David Weir and Tim Cahill against Newcastle United sealed Everton’s place in Europe’s top club competition.

Everton's record derby win

The Toffees enjoyed their biggest Premier League win against Liverpool (3-0) in September 2006, when the calamitous nature of the visitors’ performance made it that much sweeter.

Liverpool’s lopsided defence left three Everton players at the back post and Cahill slid in to score the first goal.

A mix-up at the back was then compounded by a Jamie Carragher mistake that let Andy Johnson in to double Everton’s lead.

But the worst, from a Liverpool perspective, was still to come in stoppage time. Their goalkeeper Pepe Reina made a real mess of dealing with Lee Carsley’s long-range shot.

And, as he tried to salvage the situation after pushing the ball up and back towards his own goal, Reina could only comically spill the ball right onto Johnson’s head and he nodded in number three.

Having not seen their side score three goals in a derby since 1966, this was a genuinely glorious Goodison day to savour for Everton supporters.

Show of solidarity for Hillsborough victims' families

As has happened on numerous occasions since the fateful day in 1989, Merseyside allegiances were put to one side in September 2012 when Everton paid a pre-match tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy.

A week after an independent panel cleared Liverpool fans of blame for the events that unfolded during their FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, Everton hosted Newcastle.

Two mascots, a girl in an Everton number nine shirt and a boy in a Liverpool number six shirt, led the two teams out before they were joined by both sets of players in the centre circle.

The moving song "He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother" rang around the ground, as the names of the (then) 96 victims were displayed on the big screens while spontaneous applause broke out on the pitch and in the stands, as Everton displayed support for their neighbours in a poignant and powerful show of solidarity.

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre thanked Everton for their gesture, saying: "At times like this, football rivalries take a back seat - something that makes this city unique and I think supporters of both clubs can be immensely proud of the way they have conducted themselves over the past days, weeks and years since the tragedy."

Emotional occasions for Moyes

The afternoon of 12 May 2013 was an emotional one for all connected with the club when, after 11 years in charge of Everton, Moyes said farewell to Goodison Park with a 2-0 win against West Ham United.

Even the man himself, who had been selected to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as Man Utd manager, could no longer hold back the tears.

However, it later transpired this was not a "goodbye" but just a "see you later."

Almost 12 years after leaving, and following spells at Real Sociedad, Sunderland and West Ham (twice) after leaving Man Utd, Moyes returned in January 2025 when Everton needed a saviour to keep them in the Premier League.

The scenes were similarly emotional, but for happier reasons this time, when Moyes stepped out of the tunnel and onto the pitch to soak up the acclaim from Everton’s supporters ahead of the first game of his second spell as manager against Aston Villa.

That first night back at Goodison Park did not go quite to plan, as Villa won 1-0, but most of the rest of his second spell has done.

Moyes transformed Everton’s season and steered them to safety, ensuring they will begin the new era in their Bramley-Moore Dock home as a Premier League club.

Coleman's rare goal v Leeds

Seamus Coleman is one of Everton’s modern-day legends, so the day he enjoyed one of his standout Toffees moments will live long in the memory.

The Irish right-back became one of the club's best signings after they paid just £60,000 for his transfer from Sligo Rovers in 2009, but he was not on the scoresheet very often.

Yet his fans’ favourite status meant there would have been few more popular scorers than Coleman when he netted against Leeds United in February 2023.

It was not just the fact that he rarely found the net that made the goal so special but the unique nature of it.

Coleman caught out Illan Meslier with a shot from the narrowest of angles that bent into the net, flying into a part of the goal that the Leeds goalkeeper had left unguarded because he had anticipated a cross, just as the Everton full-back suspected he might.

"I could do that 20 or 30 more times, whatever, and I wouldn’t hit it that sweet," Coleman said.

But he did on this occasion to score a memorable Goodison goal.

Klopp's derby farewell to forget

The first "final Merseyside derby" to make this list took place in Everton’s penultimate season at Goodison - the last derby as Liverpool manager for Jurgen Klopp.

During Klopp’s nine years in charge at Anfield, not only did he restore Liverpool to former glories, he also helped them underline their superiority over Everton.

Klopp had lost just one his previous 18 derbies and had never suffered defeat at Goodison Park prior to his final trip into enemy territory.

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But Everton at least enjoyed the satisfaction of ruining Klopp’s last taste of this fixture, ending their wait for a first home derby win since 2010 in the process.

What might have been Klopp’s big night turned into Everton’s as Sean Dyche's fired-up side produced a performance that the occasion required on a stirring Goodison night. Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Calvert-Lewin gave the Toffees a deserved 2-0 win that all but ended Liverpool’s 2023/24 title challenge.

Dramatic finale in last home Merseyside derby 2025

After 133 years, Goodison Park deserved to go out in style with an unforgettable last men’s Merseyside derby.

In the absence of a victorious send-off, Everton got arguably the next best thing - a stoppage-time equaliser that came so late, the 2-2 draw to frustrate title-chasing Liverpool felt almost as good as a win.

What was due to be a Saturday lunchtime game in December ended up taking place on a Wednesday night in February after Storm Darragh forced the original game’s postponement.

The rescheduled match taking place under the Goodison lights increased the sense of occasion and the finish to the game would not have looked out of place in a film.

Liverpool fought back from a goal down to lead 2-1 and were within touching distance of a party-pooping win.

But defender James Tarkowski smashed in a brilliant 98th-minute, volleyed equaliser to spark wild scenes around the ground and secure his place in history as the last goalscorer in a men’s Merseyside derby at Goodison.

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Red cards shown to Curtis Jones, Doucoure and Liverpool head coach Arne Slot after the final whistle only added to the dramatic conclusion.

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