The penultimate weekend of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign and the focus was clear for me.
For some time now, the only issue of any substances on the field has been the race for European berths.
But this was a weekend in which the spotlight was just as much about events off the pitch as on it.
Indeed, this SBOTOP scribe was hooked on how events played out at Goodison Park and the King Power Stadium.
For Sunday afternoon was a truly emotional occasion in what was Everton’s 2,789th and final game at Goodison in all competitions.
For completeness, the record is won 1,537, drawn 660 and lost 591.
As you would probably expect, Goodison was a sea of blue with thousands of fans packing the streets around the stadium from early morning just to experience the last league game at a wonderful arena.
It was reported that the team coaches also had to change their point of entry because of the crowds as Goodison Road was simply jammed, the air filled with blue smoke from flares.
Few were expecting Premier League 2025 highlights to follow on the pitch, for this was about the occasion, but the Toffees ensured the party atmosphere would not fall flat as they cruised past already relegated Southampton.
The man whose name will be forever etched in the history books is Iliman Ndiaye after a first half double which sank the Saints and ensured he was the final ever scorer at Goodison, which will next season become home to the club’s women’s team.
The match, though, was in many ways a footnote.
With Evertonians past and present remembered, a number of whom were in attendance, this was an afternoon littered with moments that carried the feeling of the club’s worldwide family, re-united once more.
Farewell Goodison and thanks for the memories.
The other occasion to catch my attention involved another relegated side but this time the focus was all on them or, more to the point, on one man.
It is hard to believe that it was only in 2010 that Halifax signed a player for £15,000 who would go onto win the Premier League (against all odds), the division’s Golden Boot, the FA Cup, play in the Champions League, for England at a World Cup and be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
That player left for Fleetwood for 10 times that amount a year later. Ten months on he joined Leicester in the Championship in a £1 million deal (a non-league record), first appearing on then manager Nigel Pearson’s radar while scoring 66 goals across 107 Stocksbridge appearances.
A friend of the Leicester manager who ran a fish and chip shop in Sheffield mentioned his name, a throwaway comment about a prolific striker in the eighth tier. Soon scouts were flocking to Fleetwood and Leicester beat off competition from Blackpool, Peterborough and Southampton to sign a 25 year-old by the name of Jamie Vardy.
On Sunday, Vardy made his 500th and final appearance for the club and responded with a 200th goal to boot.
Was there ever any doubt he would sign off in trademark style by hitting the target, the opener in a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town? Of course there wasn’t!
It was a 10th goal of the season for the 38 year-old striker in his final appearance for the club.
Kasey McAteer added a second goal but the day belonged to Vardy who, 13 years after he signed from Fleetwood, was given a guard of honour by his team-mates when substituted with 10 minutes remaining.
It remains to be seen if the story he and Leicester City delivered will ever be repeated in English football but I doubt it.
Away from the Everton and Vardy coronations, all eyes were on the race for Europe
With Aston Villa and Chelsea doing their job on Friday night against opponents with one eye on the Europa League Final, it was down to Arsenal, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest to make their mark – the former two against each other with second place up for grabs in North London.
A wonderful strike from Declan Rice 10 minutes into the second half separated the sides and means Arsenal have now secured the runners-up spot for the third successive season.
Rice’s opener was his 19th goal involvement this season in all competitions (nine goals, 10 assists).
My cautious tip to become number one this term, can they finally shake off their bridesmaids tag next term?
After setbacks at home to Brentford and Leicester,Forest knew they could not afford any more slip-ups and they responded perfectly with a fine 2-1 success at West Ham.
Morgan Gibbs-White fired in the opener after a wayward pass and Forest doubled their advantage when Nicola Milenkovic got the final touch on a dangerous Anthony Elanga free-kick.
Yet again the farcical scenes which surrounded the winning goal did nothing to win over the VAR sceptics.
Why it took around six minutes for the video assistant referee check to be completed to award the decisive second goal is beyond me.
And that farce had a knock-on effect as it led to more than a quarter of an hour of stoppage time before Forestcould celebrate a first league double over West Ham (for whom Jarrod Bowen reduced the arrears) in 41 years.
Just three seasons after being promoted to the top flight, it kept up the pressure on the top five and means it’s going down to the wire between Newcastle, Chelsea, Villa, Manchester City and Forest.
Three of those five will qualify for the Champions League and no doubt the Premier League 2025 betting odds will swing one way and then the other between now and this time next week.
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