Trouble flared during the 1891-92 season when the landlord of Anfield Road, John Houlding, more than doubled the rent paid to him by the club for the use of the ground, raised from £100 per year to £250. Houlding, who already held the sole rights to supply any required refreshments, felt that as the club were attracting greater support and with larger gate receipts being received he had a right to more remunerations. Some members, led by George Mahon, Dr. James Clement Baxter and W.R. Clayton, were not happy with the rent increase or the grip Houlding had on the club and decided to look for a new ground. At a special general meeting held on 25th January 1892 at the College in Shaw Street a proposal was put forward to form the club into a limited company, this would allow funds to be raised for a ground move but was defeated by Houlding and his followers. Some of the committee members were not happy about losing money already invested in the Anfield ground but the move away from Anfield was now inevitable and when Mahon referred to the a new ground as ‘in his pocket’ Everton’s tenure at their third home was all but over.
The land in question was Mere Green Field which was situated on Goodison Road, a half mile from Anfield and was no more than an overgrown wasteland. Mahon had secured an option on the land, but a significant amount of money would be required to acquire the ground. A resolution was finally passed to form the club into a limited company named “Everton Football Club Limited”, with initial capital of £500 in £1 shares. With the split in the committee complete, Houlding served notice on the club to leave the ground and upon receipt solicitors were instructed to arrange for a lease of the Goodison Road ground. Houlding tried to keep the name Everton and to form a new team under its name but the FA ruled that the name should stay with the original group. So he suggested that the name of his new club should be Liverpool, this was accepted and the birth of what was to be Liverpool’s second major club was competed
The summer of 1892 was to be a worry to Mr. Mahon and a gamble by himself and the remainder of the committee that had joined him in leavingt Anfield. Firstly there was the issue of how to raise the funds required to build the new ground and secondly to complete the building work in time for the next season. Mere Green field was acquired thanks to a mortgage of £8,090 (which was paid in full during the 1904-05 season) and the amount needed to turn what was no more than a wilderness into a ground capable of staging top class football, was in the region of £4,000. The money was raised with the help of an interest free loan of £1,000 from Dr. Baxter and through the issuing of £2,500 worth £1 shares.
A map showing the area called Mere Green that was to become Everton's new home.
Work was started on 7 th June 1892 and firstly the area had to be cleared, drainage laid, leveled and then re-turfed, this was completed by a Mr. Barton at a cost of £550. Local builders, Kelly Brothers form Walton, were instructed to complete the remainder of the work and have the ground ready for the beginning of the 1892-93 season. Unbelievably the new ground, consisting of two uncovered stands each accommodating 4,000 and a covered stand for 3,000, was completed on time.
A drawing of Goodison Park as it looked when Everton moved from their previous ground, Anfield, in 1892.
A board of directors had now replaced the committee in the running Everton’s affairs and it was fitting the George Mahon should be elected the club’s first chairman. One of the first decisions by the new board was the renaming of the ground to Goodison Park. Everton’s new home was opened on 24th August 1892 by FA officials Lord Kinnaird (left) and Frederick Wall, despite the capacity of the ground being 11,000 it was reported that in the region of 12,000 people turned out to witness the occasion. The first game took place nine days after the opening with Bolton Wanderers accepting an invitation to play a friendly at the new ground, George Mahon kicked off the game and Everton got off to a winning start at their new home with a 4-2 victory.
