Anfield and Goodison
A Brief History of the Grounds
A further spur to development at Goodison was the gradual upgrading of the Anfield Road ground. Liverpool FC were catching up with their neighbours.
It is a surprising fact that, from 1884 to 1892, Everton FC played at Anfield Road (as the 1891 OS map, left, shows).
A dispute within the Everton committee led the majority to leave Anfield and build the new Goodison ground on the other side of Stanley Park.
Throughout the 1890s, Everton had the biggest crowds in the Football League and the Goodison ground was improved with new stands on all sides.
When Everton left, the Anfield ground owner, John Houlding (left, as Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1898), established a new football club to use his ground's facilities - the new club was Liverpool FC !
The new Goodison Park was the best football stadium in England and was selected as the venue for the 1894 FA Cup Final.
Not to be outdone, in 1909 Everton also hired Leitch to design an enormous new double-decker grandstand on Goodison Road. Leitch liked the city so much he moved to Liverpool from Glasgow and became consultant to many other major football clubs.
In 1928, the then open Spion Kop was covered with a huge and distinctive roof. This lasted until 1994 when it was demolished (left) and replaced by a new all seat stand as a result of the Taylor Report's recommendations following the Hillsborough disaster.
In 1906, Liverpool hired the Scottish civil engineer, Archibald Leitch (left), to completely re-design Anfield. The ground was enlarged with a big new grandstand and a raised earth bank - quickly nicknamed 'Spion Kop' after the Boer War battle. Leitch's plan is on the right.
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Leitch also designed the new Bullens Road stand in 1928 and Glwadys Street in 1938. Everton became the first club to have double-deck stands on all sides.
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