EFC: Beautiful Chaos — Terrace Edition

Words: Laura Gates

Images: Laura Gates

Even before I was born it was always going to be Everton. I had no choice in that matter.

My family is classically split down the middle between red and blue – my dad a red, my mum, my brother and I all blue. The wider family too, are all split and it makes derby day a truly sickening affair – the whole week leading up is filled with hatred and anxiety.

My mum tells me to blame my grandad, it’s character building.

Ever since I was little I have been going to the game, my first season ticket was situated in the family enclosure where my mum still sits. I have vivid memories of being thrown around the Gwladys Street as a kid with my older cousins, singing Forever Everton at every opportunity.

Everton have been, and always will be, a huge part of my life. The majority of my friendships have been forged at Goodison Park and beyond.

It’s so much more than football. It’s community, it’s the euphoria away from the actual result on the pitch. You can walk into any pub, or any part of the ground, and you’ll find someone you know.

©Laura Gates/ Terrace Edition. Everton FC.

The matchday routine for me has shifted away from being around family, although we give each other a wave from our seats. For me now, it’s all about the routine with my mates. The Denbigh disco which has become infamous on Everton Twitter.

No matter what happens on the pitch it’s always the same, the same people, the same disco. What happens at the football becomes almost insignificant.

Combining my love for photography and Everton was a happy accident, originally only ever shooting on my phone. I’d post a photo post-match on Twitter and they’d get shared far and wide which was a bit mental.

That’s when I started taking cameras with me to the game, mostly film. I love the rawness of film and how it captures Goodison Park, the visceral roar of a crowd, the emotion and the historic nature of the stadium itself.

Goodison Park is a stadium like no other, from St Luke’s church at the corner of the Gwladys, the Archibald Leitch design and the fact that we’re so ingrained into the local community.

There’s so much emotion involved in Everton matchdays yet somehow there’s still moments of quiet reflection amongst all the chaos.

And what chaos the past few years has been.