Farewell, Goodison Park: Everton wins the last game at its home of 133 years

Everton bade an emotional farewell to Goodison Park, its home of 133 years, with a 2-0 win over Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday in front of dozens of the club’s greatest players and a tearful, scarf-waving crowd.

Iliman Ndiaye will go down as Everton's final scorer in its atmospheric, long-time ground, with the Senegal forward grabbing both goals in the first half and walking off with the match ball on an occasion that turned into a party for the team's fans.

“Very special,” Ndiaye said. “I wanted to give them something today.”

Everton will move from one of English soccer’s classic stadiums to a 53,000-seat waterfront arena at nearby Bramley-Moore Dock for the start of next season. Goodison Park was going to be demolished but, after a feasibility study, will continue to operate instead in the women’s game as the new home of Everton Women from next season.

Plumes of blue smoke filled the air around the streets outside Goodison as fans gathered before kickoff. Inside, Wayne Rooney and Tim Cahill were among about 80 former Everton players invited to attend the game at the ground some refer to as the “Grand Old Lady.”

Some supporters were in tears and many swung their scarves above the heads as the club’s adopted pre-match anthem — the theme from Z-Cars, a British TV series from across the 1960s and 1970s — played around Goodison to greet the teams emerging from the tunnel to a sea of blue.

The party really got going in the 2,791st Everton game at Goodison when Ndiaye curled a left-foot shot into the bottom corner in the sixth minute. He rounded Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in the second minute of first-half stoppage time for his second and what Everton said was the 5,372nd goal at the ground.

Veteran right back Seamus Coleman, the club captain, had led Everton out for the game but he picked up a thigh injury and was substituted off in the 18th minute to applause.

Fans hugged each other and choked back tears after the final whistle.

“We’ll go down in history as the last team to win at Goodison,” Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said. "That’s what the manager asked of us today.

“We’ve got a challenge ahead of us but let's enjoy this moment.”

And Everton did, holding an “End of an Era” show after the game featuring, among other things, video messages on the big screen from the likes of former manager Carlo Ancelotti and former player Mikel Arteta.

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Everton's Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Southampton at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday May 18, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Everton fans let off flares before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Southampton, the last to be played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Everton fans let off flares before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Southampton, the last to be played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Everton fans make their way to the stadium before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Southampton, the last to be played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Everton's Iliman Ndiaye, left, celebrates scoring with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Ashley Young, right, during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Southampton at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday May 18, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)