Goodbye Goodison: Everton prepare for emotional farewell to "Grand Old Lady"

Dave Bond, the manager of iconic Everton pub The Winslow Hotel, has been a supporter of the Merseyside club since his mum dug out an old long-wave radio from the attic of their home in County Clare, Ireland that broadcast the team's matches. 

His interest in Everton had already been sparked by a book on the team and their great 1920s and 30s forward Dixie Dean.

"The signal was ever so faint, but as a nine-year-old boy I could pick up commentary of the games," Bond told Reuters. "And that was the start of my love affair with Everton, I had my ear to that radio for a good few years."

Bond and thousands of other supporters will bid an emotional farewell on Sunday when Everton host already-relegated Southampton in the club's final Premier League game ever to be staged at Goodison Park, their home for more than a century.

It will be a day to celebrate the "Grand Old Lady," but one many fans have been dreading.

"I don't have time to process the emotions, because it's everything," said Bond. "There is no precedent, it's 133 years of match-day history.

"The Winslow is six years older than Goodison (across the road) and was trading when the first ball was kicked in 1892 and will be when the last is kicked this Sunday."   

While the men's side are heading for pastures new, Everton announced on Tuesday that the women's team will make Goodison their permanent home from next season.

MEMORY LANE

The old park - inaugurated the same day as Glasgow's Celtic Park when they opened as the world's first purpose-built soccer stadiums - was a cutting-edge development that set the trend for other English football grounds but it is now something of an anachronism alongside the world's modern venues.

While Everton's glittering new 52,888-capacity stadium