Season › 2016-17 › News Everton announce friendly curtain-raiser at Goodison , 9 July, 15comments | Jump to most recent Everton will play RCD Espanyol at home in their final friendly before the 2016-17 season kicks off a week later. The Blues will play the Spanish side on 6th August with a 3pm kick-off. Tickets will be priced at £20 for adults and £10 for concessions for all supporters. An on-sale date will be confirmed on Monday (11th July). Reader Comments (15) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Michael Penley 1 Posted 09/07/2016 at 17:30:08 Who? Mike Allison 2 Posted 09/07/2016 at 17:37:48 Is that the arrogant dismissal of a fine football club that it looks like Michael? Or have I read you wrong? Brendan Fox 3 Posted 09/07/2016 at 17:41:29 Michael do you know how to use google? Espanyol as in the 2nd team in Barcelona who are in La Liga.Good curtain raiser to open the season at Goodison. Don Alexander 4 Posted 09/07/2016 at 17:43:48 Since the inception of the Premier League the standing of Espanyol in Spain is about the same as ours is in England. Nuff said, y hola amigos! Alan Humphreys 5 Posted 09/07/2016 at 19:36:56 Let's hope it's better than last year's pre-season game against Villarreal. Real pre-cursor for the season to come, that one – we were utter shite and Rooney was "our" best player in that game. Andrew Keatley 6 Posted 09/07/2016 at 20:18:28 I am slightly bemused by the lack of ambition in our pre-season fixtures. Espanyol are obviously a great club, with a decent side, but I wonder what other opportunities are out there. Pre-season for the 2013-14 season saw us involved in a four team tournament with Real Madrid, Juventus and LA Galaxy; that precipitated our best season in years. Now I'm sure that the relative success of that season had more to it than just decent pre-season games, but the fact that we aren't lining up mini-tournaments of similar standing doesn't inspire me with confidence. Mike Owen 7 Posted 09/07/2016 at 20:21:56 I'm made up.Cut a long story short. I went on my first visit to the city of Barcelona in, I think, May 2005. Visited Camp Nou, Was surrounded by other tourists. I thought this is like visiting the city on the Mersey for the first time and "doing" the "Anfield experience", putting more money in their coffers. Where's the other club?The next night Espanyol had their last game of the season, at home. A win put them in Europe. Great atmosphere, they did it, jubilation, pitch invasion. Kindred spirits, I thought.Have since followed their fortunes from afar, although went to Hampden for UEFA final a year or two later when Espanyol, ahem, lost on penalties.Last May I paid my first visit to their "new" stadium. Right out on the edge of town. I desperately hope we don't do the same.They have the same issue as us. Their arch-rival has had more success in the TV era, becoming better known around the world, and, to cap it all, their arch-rival has the same name as the city.Espanyol have perhaps put more thought into addressing this. It seems they call themselves The Marvellous Minority.I 'm not saying we should call ourselves that, but I'd like us to address the issue. As, has been said on here before, it is amazing how many people don't know where Everton is.I know a few other Evertonians have taken an interest in Espanyol. Anyone interested in linking up? Michael Penley 9 Posted 10/07/2016 at 05:37:25 Mike - Certainly not, I just hadn't heard of them. I don't follow La Liga. I imagine that someone who didn't follow the EPL wouldn't know who Middlesbrough or Watford were either. Mike Allison 10 Posted 10/07/2016 at 08:51:55 Okay Michael, I just read you wrong, although I'm a little surprised you've not heard of them.As the unfortunately named Mike Owen above says, they are a club with a few parallels with our own. Saurabh Mhatre 11 Posted 10/07/2016 at 08:58:49 I agree we should be little more ambitious. And Mike (#9) – are you comparing us with Watford or Middlesbrough? We are always better than them. Paul Burns 12 Posted 10/07/2016 at 11:44:29 Espanyol are not a great club, they've never won the Spanish league.Their standing is nothing compared to ours, the days of underestimating the size, power and history of Everton FC to the advantage of people with no ambition (Kenwright) are over. Eric Myles 13 Posted 10/07/2016 at 12:15:14 Mike (#7) "Espanyol have perhaps put more thought into addressing this. It seems they call themselves The Marvellous Minority. I 'm not saying we should call ourselves that, but I'd like us to address the issue."Wasn't "The People's Club" addressing the issue in the same way? Ciaran Duff 14 Posted 10/07/2016 at 14:15:05 Andrew (#6) – I am guessing that the low-key pre-season is in part due to the Euros. Clubs won't want to be travelling very far and won't have all players back til late in pre-season. Mike Allison 15 Posted 10/07/2016 at 14:30:50 The Spanish league isn't like ours, it's been far more dominated by just two clubs throughout its history.I only said they have "a few parallels" with us. Chris James 16 Posted 10/07/2016 at 22:31:14 Seems like fair opposition to me. A decent La Liga side that we can actually beat. What's the point of getting beaten by one of the world's top teams from a different league a week before the season?This is fitness and confidence surely? 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