This Day in History: 2022-11-10

Nr. 341

GOODISON PARK GETS ALL WARM UNDERFOOT (1958)

In May I958 Everton became the first English club to embrace under-soil heating when it was installed at Goodison Park. The hope was that it would help to remove snow and ice, which could often force the cancellation of games during the winter. The under-soil heating was provided by a series of electric wires, but there was a problem because the drains couldn’t cope with a lot of water and thus there was presumably a danger of electrocution. In I960 it was replaced by a new system and then eventually replaced again with a series of hot water pipes.

The reasoning behind Everton’s decision was that matches were all too often called off because of a frozen pitch during the British winter.