The whole world saw how great Everton supporters were at the end of last season, dragging the players and the manager over the line in our team’s battle to keep us in this fantastic Premier League. The plaudits were richly deserved but let’s keep it that way as it wasn’t good to see people on the pitch after the Dynamo Kyiv game and I was glad that the fans who had stayed behind voiced their opinions to tell them to get off.
I didn’t have a problem with the outpouring of emotion and relief from the fans after the Crystal Palace game when Everton stayed up, the club means so much to so many people, it’s their community, it’s their lifeline. Frank Lampard was dancing and singing in the directors’ box and they were the kind of scenes I’d never seen before at Goodison Park, even on the two occasions we avoided relegation on the last day when I was a youngster.
However, for whatever reason, Everton seem to be the whipping boys with the Premier League whenever something happens. The champions Manchester City – another of my former clubs – had a pitch invasion when they clinched the title but all the hype seems to surround ourselves.
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It puts the players in a difficult position. As a player, you like to give your shirt away but you want to do it in your own way and not feel threatened into doing it because someone has ran on to the pitch because you’re afraid of saying no.
You’ve got to be brave enough to say ‘I’ll give my shirt away when I feel it’s right.’ The FA are ready to take a stance on this. We’ve already been fined as a club and we could even lose points in the future because of this kind of behaviour.
The players will give you as much of their time as they can both before and after the game when it comes to trying to get autographs and stuff like that, there’s never been an issue. That’s one of the good things about being an Everton player, the fans can get close to them and there will be opportunities to go through the correct channels when it comes to taking photographs and stuff like that.
It’s time for all the fans to start showing a bit of common sense to respect the players, respect the ground staff, respect the stewards, respect the rules and most of all, respect Everton Football Club. We’re not the only club – there was a child on the pitch at the Community Shield – but let’s set an example.
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