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EPL Jazz Barnes is Everton's Toffee Lady at the Hill Dickinson Stadium Everton FC It felt like the end of something special, the closing of a key chapter in Everton’s history. Full time in May and Everton had beaten Southampton 2-0 in the final Premier League game at Goodison Park, their home of 133 years. A move to a state-of-the-art arena on Liverpool’s waterfront awaited, ushering in a new dawn. But first, it was time for goodbyes. Advertisement The closing ceremony was a poignant celebration of the past. Dressed in old-fashioned attire, as the club’s ‘Toffee Lady’, Jazz Barnes made one final walk across the turf as a violinist played Everton’s anthem, Z Cars. At that stage, there were few dry eyes in the house — Barnes included. “I was walking on the pitch and when I waved and everyone started clapping, I couldn’t hold my tears in, ” she tells The Athletic. “When I sat down, two kids asked for a picture. I was like, ‘Just give me one minute’. “I was shaking like a leaf, but it was amazing. It was something I won’t forget. ” For those neutrals who might be confused, the Toffee Lady is one of Everton’s most cherished matchday traditions, the origins of which date to the 18th century and a woman called Molly Bushell (nee Johnson). Nicknamed Ma, she lived in the Liverpool suburb of Everton, close to where Goodison now stands. She was given a recipe by a doctor for a type of toffee that soothed sore throats. Seeing she was struggling financially, the doctor suggested she make enough to sell to his patients. Bushell’s Toffee Shop was situated not far from the Queen’s Head Hotel, where Everton were founded in 1878. The medicinal sweets became synonymous with the area, quickly earning the club the moniker The Toffees. When the business was sold to Noblett’s in 1894, a commercial artist working for the company designed a logo portraying Bushell. “The logo was always referred to as Molly Bushell, but in time was changed to Mother Noblett to be more representative of the Noblett company, ” Everton Heritage Society, which researched the tradition, wrote in a press release. “Eventually, the Nobletts encased the original toffee in a striped mint and Everton Mints were born. ” Lifelong fan Mary Morgan was the first official Toffee Lady, holding the role between 1953 and 1956. Advertisement Patricia Smith, Morgan’s daughter, told the BBC last year that her mum’s tenure as Toffee Lady “started off as a joke”. She was asked by Everton to hand out toffees at games after customising a wedding dress in a nod to clothes worn more than half a decade earlier. Smith stitched ‘Everton Supporters Federation’ onto a white pinafore, pairing it with a bonnet. Through the decades, the role involved wearing the outfit and throwing Everton mints to supporters. Barnes was the last to hold the post at the club’s former home and the first to do it at the new stadium. The tradition was not immediately carried over. Everton had been keen to continue it, but working out the logistics took time, with their early focus on managing the wider transition from Goodison to Hill Dickinson Stadium. With a vacancy to be filled, Barnes volunteered for the role. The 4-1 defeat by Newcastle United last month was the first time the Toffee Lady was seen at the new stadium. Barnes’ connection to Everton runs deep.  Following in the footsteps of her grandmother Lily, a long-time Goodison tour guide, she helped run Goodison tours and is doing the same at Hill Dickinson Stadium. “My nan used to do the tours and would say a lot about the Toffee Lady, ” she says. “So I thought she would turn in her grave if she knew I hadn’t done it! “It’s crazy, but I actually do love it. I didn’t think I would before the tours, but then I got a little bit more confidence. I never thought I’d be doing this, but now I love it. “It means everything. I just want her to be proud. ” Barnes is now a permanent fixture on matchdays and will often work alongside a younger colleague. For her, the beauty is in bringing the tradition back. “A lot of people don’t actually know why we’re called the Toffees, ” she says. “So it’s bringing it back because obviously the younger generation won’t know about it. Advertisement “It’s for them because if my nan was still here, that (the Toffee Lady) is what she’d remember. ” The role has changed subtly over the years. Health and safety regulations mean Everton Mints can no longer be thrown into the crowd and must instead be taken by supporters from a basket. Where the Toffee Lady would walk around the Goodison pitch shortly before kick-off, now the gig starts a couple of hours earlier. Barnes ventures into the fan zone outside Hill Dickinson Stadium’s East Stand before heading to the family enclosure to meet younger supporters. There, she is often asked to pose for photos. When she speaks to The Athletic, nine kilograms worth of toffees sit on her desk, ready to be handed out before a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest. “It’s amazing, a completely different experience, ” she says of her new role. “People come up to me and say, ‘Oh my God, I was a Toffee Lady 30 years ago… we just want to tell you everything about it’. “I think it’s just nice bringing something from Goodison back here. ” Patrick Boyland has been The Athletic's Everton correspondent since 2019. Prior to joining the company, he worked for ESPN, Mail Online and press agency Sportsbeat, where he covered numerous major sporting events.

Boyland's views on Everton have been sought out by local and national media, while he is also a regular on a number of podcasts focusing on the club.

Follow him on Twitter: @Paddy_Boyland