Bring your banners. Bring your flags. Bring your voices.
As fans, that’s what we can do.
You may have seen on social media that, we as a Forum, are working alongside other fan groups, supporters’ clubs and individual fans with the aim of creating an atmosphere to pull us all together on matchday.
This weekend we are organising a welcome for the players when the coach pulls up at Goodison for the game against Chelsea (gathering on Goodison Road and City Road from noon).
Nobody is happy with the position we are in - but one thing that unites every Evertonian is that we all want the best for the Blues.
Right now, what is best is everyone pulling together, being united and doing all we can to help get the points we need on the board.
All we can do is try everything in our power to make a difference, to give the players confidence and to try to make Goodison the cauldron-like fortress we know gives us an advantage.
That is why we are calling on anyone going the game to join us on Goodison Road to greet the coach.
We want Frank and the team to feel our support - we want noise, colour, banners, and we want to create an atmosphere that carries on through the turnstiles and into the stands. We want to show the players we are all right behind them.
Sodexo are again putting on offers for fans arriving early so, if you can't make the coach welcome at noon, we are encouraging everyone to at least try to get in the stadium earlier than they usually would and help ramp up the atmosphere before kick-off.
Before the Leeds game in February, a number of Evertonians representing different parts of our fanbase got together. We're a mixed group of fans, with different opinions on almost everything to do with Everton but we all recognised that something had to be done about the atmosphere and making sure it didn’t dip.
We have worked with the club’s receptive Fan Engagement team on creating the banners you'll have seen pre-match, the flag hand outs, the music played before kick-off - anything we can think of that can help. And we believe that it has worked so far. The performances and results against Leeds, Newcastle and Man United have shown that. Managers and players of other clubs have talked about how 'horrible' and ‘intimidating’ Goodison can be.
As Leeds United's Dan James said after our 3-0 home win against them in February, "When the crowd got behind them they looked like a great team. We just didn't deal with it well. The crowd really worked in their favour."
It feels like everyone on the outside - other clubs, other fans, pundits, the media – is enjoying seeing a Club of our size in the position we are in.
If it's us against the world, that's fine. Let's have a siege mentality for these final games - because it's that sort of spirit that can and will get us out of this. And we know there is no group of fans and no city in the world that could do it better.
So join us at noon on Goodison Road this Sunday. If you've got a banner or a flag, bring it along. If you've not, make one. If you've taken a flag home after a recent match, make sure you bring it back for Sunday for you or someone else.
Together we can make Goodison a really difficult and intimidating place for Chelsea. For Brentford. For Palace. That's what we can do as we play our part as fans.
For more info about Sunday and activity at future games, let us know on Twitter @EFC_FansForum or DM or email Stadium@evertonfansforum.com if you have any ideas or suggestions for future matches. All thoughts are welcome!
Everton Fans’ Forum
