As dusk fell on Goodison Park on Friday, the Gwladys Street was bustling. In the lengthening shadows the 1878s were out in force, decorating the old blue seats with flags and banners.
Their work will once again turn the Grand Old Lady into a theatre of passion as Z-Cars whistles from the tunnel and the players emerge on Saturday afternoon.
It will be a spectacle to savour, and those present to take it in will be privileged to taste devour the experience.
READ MORE: Jarrad Branthwaite reveals new stadium ambition as David Moyes details talks after Everton snub
READ MORE: David Moyes issues update on Everton summer transfer plans after Kevin Thelwell departure
All of a sudden there are vanishingly few games left at Everton’s historic home. The chalking off of home ties has not been lost on supporters - the farewell to Goodison has already had special moments. But too many happy away ends characterised the opening months of the season.
Those results led to the sickening menace of a fourth consecutive relegation battle through Christmas and the fear of being dragged back into it was a drag on the feel-good inspired by David Moyes as he led Everton through a successful, though gruelling, end to winter.
Even when the threat of trouble began to dissolve, emotions ran high as Liverpool then Manchester United paid their final visit to this part of L4.
The happy chaos of late January and February was a ride that was stressful despite the positive it built. I remember looking at the players in those final minutes against United and thinking they looked exhausted. While the late penalty controversy was infuriating, I felt sympathy rather than anger or frustration as a deserved win slipped through tired fingers.
Four days later, in the late February chill at Brentford, I too felt knackered by the intensity of the previous weeks.
The time since then has offered an opportunity for respite and reflection, the only interruption that tough-to-watch game at Wolves last weekend. And in that time, some of my attention turned back to Goodison.
There are many lovely side effects of the upturn in form that has seen Moyes’ Everton move far beyond any realistic fear of the bottom three. A spring without sleepless nights fretting over the future of this great club is one.
Another is that, as I wrote earlier this week, it is giving Moyes the headspace to start thinking about the future - including how to manage his side’s transition to their new home.
This is something that concerns him and he is starting to think about things like bounce games and training sessions on the banks of the Mersey before this campaign is over, in order to help those players who do survive the summer squad changes to acclimatise in advance.
One of the biggest positive consequences is that we should all now have the opportunity to really make the most of the final months of Goodison - starting with the visit of West Ham United.
Yes, this game does matter, but savouring this historic venue does too. I messaged a reporter friend of mine this week to say how pleased I was that his side was doing so well.
His response was to reciprocate his happiness that Everton, too, now look to be a club genuinely on the up. He also pointed me to a future in the new home and how it will be one with better working conditions than the current press box.
He is right - the cramped rows and wooden seats of the Goodison media area are tough to navigate and, such is the lack of wriggle room, on night like the derby journalists often have to take it in terms to type on their laptops to save a fight between elbows.
But I love it too. And from that awkwardness to the pillars that will block my view of the Park End, I will be doing my best to take it all in over the coming weeks. I hope you can too.
