It could have been any other Wednesday. Goodison Road was quiet, save for some children heading into the nursery in St Luke's church hall.
Gwladys Street was sleepy, except for the workmen applying fresh blue paint to the walls of the stand that carries the same name.
This gentle scene, though, was at odds with events at Everton Football Club. Fifteen miles away at their Finch Farm training base, Rafa Benitez was signing a three-year contract and becoming the first man since William Edward Barclay in the 1890s to manage Liverpool and Everton.