The Story of The Bullens

In recent years, the obstructed views towards the rear of the lower tier are always mentioned when people talk about the Bullens Road Stand. To the extent that they are now considered the defining feature, yet the truly fantastic views offered in most of the upper stand are rarely spoken about. These views are literally as good (and often better) than the best seats at some of the most modern stadiums in the country. Right on top of, and so close to the action.

Yes, they are cramped and the treads are wooden but, perhaps a more balanced "view" should be adopted as this faithful old servant nears her final matchdays. In its day, Goodison Park was comfortably the finest stadium in the country, bar none. This old stand is an indelible part of that and Leitch's (and my dad's) legacy.

Thanks for the article.

I agree that for all of its drawbacks (eg, the view from the back of the Lower Bullens), the stand is wonderfully tight to the pitch and offers great views of the action, especially from the Upper Bullens.

It is my favourite spot in the ground, these days. At nearly 100 years old, the stand has given great service to the Toffees. Kudos to Leitch and, just as importantly, those who built it and have maintained it.

I used to stand in The Paddock, level with the edge of the penalty area at the Gwladys Street end.

I was there with my dad for the Bayern Munich game. He used to give the linesman so much stick that he would probably be removed from the ground now.

In the modern stadiums, only the Upper Shed at Stamford Bridge offers a comparable view – close to the pitch, yet high enough to see the full pattern of play.

Only ever been in the Upper Bullens for 3 or 4 matches, and the seated area at the back of the paddock just once (a grim draw with Wimbledon). Despite the obstructed views in the lower half, it remains a beautiful stand.

The ground is becoming more interesting than the team!

I have great memories of and from various parts of the ground. My father had an involvement in the building of the current main stand, the barriers and catches to prevent people plummeting from the top balcony as part of it.

For many years though, we had season tickets in Upper Bullens, Row K and near the centre line; still as good a view as I've ever had of a football pitch... and close to the stairs as a bonus. When young, it was Gwladys Street.

The only section I've never been in is the lower paddock of the Main Stand. Maybe I should try to tick that last one off before the sad day arrives. Also wouldn't mind a trip up onto that TV gantry: unlikely. What a fabulous stadium we'll be leaving.

The 4-0 Charity Shield win over Manchester United at the start of the 1963-64 season; the manic, almost sinister, atmosphere against Leeds when the teams were taken off the pitch to cool down; the 5-2 hammering of Chelsea that pretty much clinched the League in 1969-70; perhaps the most thrilling sight for a 10-year-old boy, the Jules Rimet Trophy being carried around the pitch by Ramon Wilson and Roger Hunt.

I love that stand.

Great read about a stand I didn't really know that much about. As far as I'm aware it's the oldest stand in the PL.

Apart from a few seasons in the Main Stand family area I've mostly been on the Gwladys Street terraces and, since the '80s, the Gwladys Street Upper.

As a kid I had one season in the old standing Paddock and I think I've been in the upper balcony once.

I hope you're doing a similar piece on the Gwladys Street stand which, I understand, was delayed a couple of years because a residence refused to move!

Mind you these days, the best speck to watch is somewhere near the back of a stand with a restricted view – hopefully, that changes in the coming years and I'll regret not having a great view of the match as the Blues' play champagne footy and not the ale-house version we've become used to in recent times.

Does highlight how the teams move around as a "bunch" on the pitch though!

I done my time in the Goodison Road paddock, when a nipper's point of view was the nearside touchline, and was as good as it got due to the camber of the pitch (for years I though Johnny Morrisey was a dwarf!), before Gwladys Street became my perch as a teenager.

As a youngster, it was always about waiting for the Gwlaydys Street gates to open and get a decent spec right behind the goal just above the ledge as we all rushed in.

I never really liked the Enclosure. It was where I was for my first match at Goodison, sat on a barrier to be able to see. My son's first match was there when it was seated. Front row and because of the curve of the pitch for drainage, you couldn't see then ball when it was over by the Bullens. The Paddock is a much better view if you want to be by the pitch.

I like the Main Stand. The Top Balcony is good if you want to study the tactics and movement of the players.

The Upper Gwladys is good, but I have to say, as I've got older, the Upper Bullens has become my favourite to watch the football.

But really, I don't care where I am, as long as I am in the stadium, I don't care where I am sat.

Prior to that, when younger, I had a ground season ticket for Gwladys Street and always got there early to claim a spec on the upper side in the corner near to Goodison Road – basically the same area as the old caged Boys Pen but on the opposite side?

I always remember being joined there by a large group of slightly inebriated Ribble bus drivers still in part uniform shortly before kick-off!

Thanks for another great read.

I started my journey being sat on the bars in Goodison Road then the Boys Pen, then Gwladys Street, ultimately being a season ticket holder in the Main Stand then the Park End.

I only had a few occasions in Lower Bullens but, for some reason, that side of the ground never appealed to me.

Those of my generation will have also watched games from every possible position. I started my journey in the Boys Pen, when it was in the Gwladys Street end of the Paddock. The Paddock was what is now called the Lower Bullens and it was a standing only position at the time. The same can be said of Gwladys Street, seats above and standing only on the terraces.

In 1971 the Goodison Road "1909" stand, was replaced by today's Main Stand, the Goodison Road terraces housed the a vast number of fans. The Park End was like Gwladys Street, seats above and standing below.

Quite a number of fans used to wait until the toss-up and they would head to the half of the ground that Everton were attacking, and at half time they would head to the other end of the ground, something that the Paddock fans couldn't do. I have no doubt that, if you were my age, you would have accompanied me on the journey.

I'll second that about Stamford Bridge. Having sat in the upper and lower sections several times, the upper one is really good in terms of view, steepness and closeness to the pitch.

The first time I entered the Top Balcony as a child, I was in awe. It was like I was watching something from afar, although you can still follow. But it doesn't compare to the modern Newcastle away section. You can barely follow the match, it's that far away. Maybe that's just me? They shouldn't be allowed to get away with that. And for many, it is a hell of a workout to walk all of those stairs to get there.

John Senior, I would stand or sit anywhere in Goodison Park.

Painful as it is to admit, Stamford Bridge is a safe bet for a good view.

Of the London grounds, Fulham is about the last one that still has a Goodison feel about it – plus their supporters always strike me as proper fans who enjoy their football.

Jay & John Mac Snr - can you recall any experiences in the Boys Pen you may have shared with the greatest living Evertonian? (No, I don't mean Colin Harvey!)

Time to digest and reflect, and take nothing for granted.

“What's Our Name?”

I do remember one time a bike was found and a cardboard cut out of Elvis and Tommy Steele…

But, apart from that, the only greatest living Evertonian I met in the Boys Pen is me.

Andy #13, I can't see why they can't allocate seats at Bramley-Moore Dock on a like-for-like basis in relation to seats at Goodison Park, given the greater capacity at the new stadium.

I did mention it to the Everton marketing guy last week when he phoned me asking if I was interested in a "Premium Experience" seat at BMD, including meals / drinks. "From £3,250 - £7,250 + VAT per seat, per season".

Mrs Stephens smiled in that withering way of hers.

Maybe she was thinking “For that price, we can bring the whole family, buy seats for the neighbors too. Just £100k or so…”

On London grounds.

Arsenal is a pain in the arse and Tottenham similar because of the way they funnel you to and from the tube stations. Maybe that's because I travel on the tube. Chelsea is great considering Stamford Bridge was practically a greyhound racing tack with one big stand when we last won the league.

Fulham is a great day out, as is Brentford and, unlike other London clubs, you are welcome in the pubs around the stadium. Unlike at Chelsea where even with your best Dick van Dyke accent, you're not getting in.

West Ham is odd. The supporters are fine outside the ground, but I don't like that stadium, however impressive it looks.

Any others close to a graveyard?

Watford, Vicarage Road is near a graveyard.

At the FA Cup match when Phil Neville scored the winning penalty, I only had one ticket, so gave it to my son. I went off to find somewhere I could get into, which involved about a mile walk before I was accepted (ie, no doormen). I sat with a few Chelsea supporters watching it on TV and left with the score still at 1 - 0 to Chelsea and walked through that graveyard on my way to pick my son up after the match.

I heard the Baines equaliser. I knew we had equalised without the aid of my smartphone because I know the sound of an Everton crowd. So I stopped.

Then as the penalties started, I paced around the graveyard. I could tell who had scored and missed by the noise from the stadium.

I confess (forgive me God) to standing in front of the grave of a couple buried together and talking to them, asking for their blessing.

True pathetic story of a grown man! Maybe a mad man. Everton make you mad.

Away from Graveyards, I find Brighton a tricky one to get to if you are travelling by train because of where they have built it. There is a nearby station, but the stadium is way outside of Brighton and causes a bottleneck as you approach the station to get back into the town centre. Even the Brighton fans, as much as they are happy with their current situation and their impressive new stadium, complain about the location.

First World problems I guess.

I've been in the Bullens many times over the years and think the front of the upper deck is as good a view as anyone would want.

I always like the Leitch design, as did my mates in Portsmouth. I think Spurs had the same too. I like the lovely old timber. Slow-grown and of a quality that today would be impossible to get.

Once we leave, the place will be even more special.

My first time in Bullens Road (lower) was in November 1971 in the David Johnson derby win; I was with me dad.

I was a starry-eyed 9-year-old and made up to be close to Alan Ball! Who was sold a few weeks later! Bloody Everton!

These days, my very rare trips to Goodison would be in the Top Balcony, where I love the overview of the pitch.

London? You can't beat the old Brentford ground, with a Fullers pub on each corner. I would often go to London games with mates who support the London team, so it was often a good craic. Always liked the view at West Ham in every end, except the away one!

COYMB.

With an attendance record like that, it's very rare I can get tickets among the traveling blues when I can get to away games. I find it far easier to get hold of tickets among the home fans.

I've been in a lot of stands around the country. Nearly all of them more comfortable than the Upper Bullens, but none of them come close to matching the feeling of entering the old lady's iconic stand. It absolutely reeks of the beautiful game and all its finest traditions.

I only have to look at the images in your article Rob and I can actually taste and smell my first game. Hot dogs. Pipe tobacco. Bovril, expectation and that shaking floor

I think we are currently completely sold out until Sheffield United away.

I'm keeping an eye on Doncaster tickets. The League Cup is going to happen one day.

Our away support has always been fanatical. But in years gone by, there was always a ticket going because somebody couldnt make it. Nowadays, when somebody has to miss a game, there are three or four people desperate to get their hands the spare ticket. I often wonder how many tickets we could actually sell if there were no visitor restrictions.

Anyone living in Liverpool with his mates and his ear close to the ground has an obvious advantage, but the demand now is greater than it ever was.

Thats the thing I don't get. The worse our team gets, the greater the desire to follow them. There are no cliffs over which the travelling Evertonian will not follow his team. These are the people who have earned their place at the front of the pecking order.

Okay it's harder to get away tickets, but we none of us would want it any other way.

We drew with Blackburn Rovers, 2-2, with a future blue in their ranks, Roy Vernon. I was hooked, line and sinker. Floodlights on the lush green turf, the blue and white painted stands glistening. It was the beginning of a love affair that endured despite boarding school distance, studies abroad and now the vicissitudes of old age.

After dad's premature death 2 years later, I wasn't allowed (by mum) to go to games on my own. Tranmere was permitted! My last game with dad was in the old Main Stand in 1960 I think, beating Spurs 3-0 as Carey started to develop a team with Moores money.

January 1961 v Sheffield Utd in the FA Cup Third Round – Park End stand and a 1-0 defeat. After that, my next permitted visits were in the old Goodison Road enclosure, witnessing Helenio Herrera Inter Milan team in 1963, 0-0, and earlier in the year the wonder goal by Alex Young from Vernon's free-kick to beat Spurs and virtually claim the Championship.

The Paddock became my home in the '70s but sadly little stands out in the memory. My first season ticket was on Row B opposite the half-way line in the Upper Bullens in 1983 sensing that Howard Kendall was building a side to be reckoned with. My adjacent seating companion would arrive in his seat at 2:59 armed with two pints of beer and an ever expanding girth. I only lasted the season but what an amazing spec.

Studies and duties meant I could only admire the 1985 victories from afar. Later years saw season tickets in the Main Stand and the Alex Young lounge, a sign of middle-class success.

It's been a wonderful experience to have lived in all the nooks and crannies of this old stadium with special memories of heroes and villains. These days, living at a distance, it's so difficult to get a ticket and rock up as one once did.

I'm hoping to visit and enjoy the new stadium, check out my purchased brick, and see some good football once again. One lives in hope.

I was home on leave in December 1958 and saw the Boxing Day game when Dave Hickson scored the winner (1-0) against Bolton Wanderers in front of 61,692. and to tell you the truth I can't recall my first floodlit game. I was demobbed in August 1959, so it would be a short time after that.