Emotional Goodison send-off gives Everton hope of bright future - David Moyes

Everton manager David Moyes felt the final Goodison Park farewell offered a glimpse of what the future could be like when the love affair between fans and the club is rekindled.

Iliman Ndiaye scored the last goals in a 2-0 victory over Southampton as the ground signed off 133 years of men’s senior football.

The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock offers a chance for a reset for a club which, for a decade, has been beset by infighting between supporters and the former ownership and poor results on the pitch.

Moyes has returned for a second spell and, with new owners The Freidkin Group, who made the decision not to demolish Goodison but hand it over to the women’s team, there is a genuine feeling of optimism, while the tens of thousands of fans who swarmed the streets before the game and then filled the ground brought a different energy.

“I’m actually enjoying it,” said Moyes when asked how he was feeling.

“Some questions make me think, ‘This is difficult to take’, but there is more a feeling this might be a club which is coming back together.

“Before there was a real break-up of a sort of the love affair with the supporters, the players, the club, the owners.

“We are all trying to get back in bed together, if you know what I mean. If we can take what we had today to the new stadium, it will be something.

It was an emotional afternoon for Everton fans (Martin Rickett/PA).

“I was worried today. Everyone had been talking about this for so long.

“The scenes outside the stadium were incredible and it felt like a club which has needed some big days and some big things in the future, so let’s hope this is the start of it.

“I tried to make a point to the players that what couldn’t happen was we left here not finishing it off right.

“We did the job which we needed, we got the victory, we’ve got 45 points and the pressure was off the players because of that, but also on because of the occasion and who was sitting watching them.”

The scenes outside the stadium were incredible and it felt like a club which has needed some big days and some big things in the future, so let's hope this is the start of it - David Moyes

Bottom side Southampton suffered their 29th defeat of the season, but interim boss Simon Rusk said they were still trying their best.

“First half we struggled to get going, we knew it was going to be an intense atmosphere and the first goal is the last thing you want as team bottom of the league,” he said.

“The second half was really encouraging, I thought the players really dug in. The season has been a tough one, there is no denying that, but all we can do is keep going. We wanted to end the season with dignity.”