The house converted into Goodison executive lounge
Ray bought the house opposite the stadium in 1998 after becoming fed up with the price of a box, which was due to rise to between £45,000 and £50,000."I shared a box with some friends of mine and they had put the price up to a rather large amount," said the retired building surveyor."So I had an idea that we could buy a house and basically transfer it from the box over here, get our own chef in, a waitress and a guy on the door."At the time, Ray was buying and renovating houses and bought the property for £21,000, transforming the ground floor into an executive lounge for members.
The walls of the lounge are adorned with a treasure trove of Everton and football memorabilia.On one side is Howard's Corner. An area dedicated to former Everton manager Howard Kendall, who would regularly visit the lounge."Now I have 26 members. We have a big kitty at the beginning of the year and that pays for the chef, the drinks and everything else," he said."All the members come in two hours before the game starts. There's a bar and they sit down to a very nice two-course meal cooked by a chef that has cooked for the Royal family and Tiger Woods."Then we go to the game. We have our own tickets for the game. We come back after the game for an hour [while the] traffic dies down."We commiserate or we celebrate either way and it seems to have worked for 27 years."
The Blues' final men's competitive game at their home of 133 years is set to take place on Sunday.With that in mind, Ray said the time was right for him to call it a day on the Striker's Lounge."This year is the last year unfortunately," he said.But while it will be the end of an era, Ray said he was looking forward to making more memories in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock."It looks fantastic. It's incredible. The place itself. The views. There is not a bad view in the place," he said. "The fact it's close to the pitch means the atmosphere's going to be great."
Gareth Jones, who is managing director of FullNinety Sports Management, is in the process of buying the property to continue Ray's legacy."The plan is to continue the great work that he's done," said the 47-year-old football agent.The sale is expected to complete this summer with the lounge back open ahead of the season.It will be open for hospitality before and after the men's, women's and under 21s games.He said he was also considering opening up the lounge for Reds games as well as planning to give back to the local community by offering the space to charities.
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