Revealed: Scorer of the primary ever aim at Everton’s new stadium is a LIVERPOOL fan… because the Wigan teenager taunts Toffees supporters with celebration after netting in U18s check occasion
Everton opened their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium to their supporters on Monday night – but the evening was, at least in part, ruined by a Liverpool fan.
The Toffees will wave goodbye to Goodison Park at the end of this season as they swap homes for the ‘Everton Stadium’ at the Bramley-Moore site, a £550million ground that will hold 52,888 fans for what will almost certainly be, once again, Premier League football next season.
Everton will put on several matches and events at the Bramley-Moore Dock site early on this year and that began on Monday with the Everton Under 18 side taking part in a friendly against Wigan’s youth team.
Tickets were priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions. The second test event will see 25,000 be allowed in for an Under 21s friendly in just over a month’s time.
Everton are not permitted to play competitive fixtures at the stadium yet. The test events – a third one will likely take place at near-full capacity later in the season – will allow the club to get the required licence and safety certificates.
The Premier League U18 side were hoping to kick things off with a win but got off to the worst possible start – when Harrison Rimmer, a Liverpool fan, scored the first goal and celebrated by taunting the home faithful.
The scorer of the first-ever goal at Everton’s new stadium is a Liverpool fan and mocked the Toffees upon scoring
The site at Bramley-Moore Dock hosted a tester event with 10,000 fans on Monday evening
Harrison Rimmer, who scored the opening goal, held up six fingers to represent Liverpool’s six European trophies
It was a neat finish from Rimmer, who received the ball on the edge of the box before turning and letting fly.
His effort beat Toffees goalkeeper Seve Patrick at his near post, triggering wild celebrations from the visiting players.
Perhaps none more so, though, than from Rimmer himself, who grew up a Liverpool fan and wasn’t about to waste his opportunity.
As he celebrated, cameras showed the teenager holding up six fingers to the crowd, in reference to the six European championships rivals Liverpool have won.
‘That young man there, Harrison Rimmer, has just had a moment he will remember for the rest of his life,’ the commentator said on Everton’s YouTube channel, which was live streaming the game to around 200,000 viewers live.
On Wigan’s official website, Rimmer is described as ‘a tough-tackling midfielder who can also operate at right back,’ having been with the club since the age of 11.
‘He has a real appetite to compete in both training and matches and is good both technically and physically,’ the description continued.
The mocking came just days after Everton had secured a dramatic draw in the final-ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Everton’s Under 18s were the first side the play at the stadium, taking on Wigan’s U18 side
The doors to the new stadium opened for the first time ahead of the team’s move next season
10,000 fans of the 52,888 capacity were sat in the south stand to watch the ongoing game
Rimmer continued the message on social media too, sharing a post of the goal and writing: ‘Rattled,’ accompanied by a shrugging emoji.
The Under 18s were managed by former Everton and England left back Leighton Baines, who played 420 Toffees games across 13 seasons. Since he left to join David Moyes‘ first team coaching staff, Keith Southern has taken over. Everton considered having a women’s fixture open the stadium but the schedule made this difficult.
An X account for the stadium shared footage from an interview with two fans, with one explaining how they felt ‘excited like a kid at Christmas’.
‘I’ll be devastated to leave Goodison, but this is something else, this,’ the added from inside the ground.
Footage was also shared of fans sat inside the new South Stand, as the club encouraged supporters to send in their photos and videos from the event.
Everton have been at Goodison Park for nearly 134 years but decided to leave in 2017, with Bramley-Moore Dock the preferred site for the new ground.
Construction began in July 2021, and the ground was declared structurally complete after the final concrete terracing panel was put in in February last year.
The contractor handed over the stadium in December, and Everton will now begin playing games in order to obtain the relevant licensing.
Rimmer continued to mock Everton on social media after the game, suggesting they were ‘rattled’ by his goal
Two more test events are set to be played at the ground before its first official first team game
By kick off against Wigan, the ground was not even one fifth full, but fans sat in the South Stand to watch the friendly game.
Some Liverpool fans, meanwhile, took joy in the goal – and celebration – as they continued the mocking on social media.
One fan wrote on X: ‘More goals scored by a red in the new stadium than trophies won in 30 years.
Another posted: ‘Sign him.’
