Goodison’s future is a football story

A home rather than an occasional visit

Everton’s April 2026 announcement of academy trials at Goodison describes the women’s move as permanent and links it to the men’s departure for Hill Dickinson Stadium. The difference between a home and a one-off showcase is substantial. Regular use allows the same entrance, view and matchday habits to become familiar. The fixtures start to give the building a repeating rhythm again. Everton’s academy announcement

It is tempting to discuss this only through the relief of keeping Goodison in use. That is part of its significance, but it should not make the women’s team a supporting character in the men’s farewell. Their performances, players and supporters deserve coverage that follows the competition itself. A stadium story becomes healthier when it leads people towards the football taking place there.

For someone returning after years of men’s matches, the surroundings may be familiar while the team and routines need learning. For a first-time visitor, the order can be reversed: a new football interest can become a route into the ground’s older history. Neither supporter needs to borrow another person’s memories to belong.

The next players belong in the picture

The 2026 trials announcement invited players aged 14 to 18 as part of plans to expand Everton’s girls’ academy. It set out a route towards the Professional Game Academy and, potentially, the senior side. Those trials were dated events, not a standing invitation; their value here is as evidence of the developmental work taking place alongside the move. The club’s player-pathway account

A prominent venue can make that pathway easier to imagine, but the building alone cannot produce a team. Coaching, opportunities, recruitment and the everyday experience of players still matter. Following those subjects would tell us more about the project than repeatedly calling the stadium iconic. The useful question is what its continued use makes possible.

A building with a working week

In June 2025, Everton Football College announced that its flagship college would relocate to Goodison from September, through The People’s Learning Trust. The college’s own account placed education beside the women’s team as part of the ground’s future. That broadens the meaning of keeping a stadium active: the building can have a purpose beyond the hours around a fixture. Everton Football College’s announcement

The club’s 2025/26 Fan Engagement Plan also records the Everton Women Supporters’ Club’s involvement in discussions about the move and the matchday experience. It describes representation within the fan-engagement structure. This is a useful reminder that decisions about a ground should be informed by the people who use it, including those whose experience differs from the longest-established men’s crowd. Everton’s supporter-engagement plan

Follow the present

If this history makes you want to attend, start with Everton’s current women’s fixtures and match information. Check the actual date, venue, ticket arrangements and accessibility information for the game you choose. An old stadium memory is not a reliable guide to today’s entry arrangements. Everton Women’s fixtures

Then keep your own record of the visit: the football, the people and the details that changed your understanding of the place. Goodison’s earlier history does not need to be diminished for new memories to count. Its continuing value lies in people having reasons to come back, and in the women’s team being watched as the team whose home it now is.

Keep reading on Bramley Moore

• What ended on the men’s final league day
• How Goodison grew around football

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