After releasing her first photobook, Forever Everton: A Goodison Farewell, Toffee season ticket holder Laura Gates looks to the future as she is set to publish her second book in the final season of the Grand Old Lady.

Commence Operation Goodison Park - hailing from the iconic safety drill exercise - is to be released in May 2025 following the conclusion of Everton’s tenure at their long-term home.

The first book covers matchday antics from 2017-2024, whereas her upcoming publication solely focuses on the Toffees’ final season at Goodison.

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Gates explained her passion for photography started on family holidays and from there she would use her phone to snap pictures on a matchday.

After sharing her images on social media, she took confidence from the large-scale praise by fellow blues and set up a website to make prints for Evertonians.

She said: “I get requests from all over social media to meet before the game so I can photograph supporters and their families.

“With Goodison in her last few months, it’s capturing those memories they can reflect on.

“One of the big projects I did was around the turnstiles.

“The amount who reached out to me about them, which are essentially just doors, but for a lot of people it’s generations of Evertonians carrying on traditions and memories.”

After making prints for supporters to purchase, Gates saw fit to document the final memories of Goodison in two books in what she has described a ‘labour of love.’

Commenting on the significance of documenting the Goodison in her last season, she said: “I can’t really describe it because this is something I really love doing and it makes me lost for words sometimes.

“If I can evoke a memory through one of my photos, that’s the main goal for me.

“I’m grateful for being able to provide those memories for people because that’s something really special.

“There’s no ground quite like Goodison really, so helping to provide those memories is an incredible feeling.

“You see that countdown on the screen every game, so I’m just trying to capture as much as I can, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself either, I’m there to watch the football, I still want to be in the moment supporting Everton.”

With her next book focusing on the final season, it is safe to say this has not been the season of dreams to document.

The club sees itself in the pits of another relegation battle and mid-season managerial change, but Gates asserts this has only benefited the book.

With the return of Moyes lifting spirits, the 28-year-old said: “It’s like full circle for me.

“Most of my life supporting Everton has been under David Moyes.

“For the Villa game I’ve got a photo of Moyes in the dugout with Gwladys Street in the background, and that just feels like Everton for me.

“It’s sentimental that he will be the manager that sees out Everton at Goodison Park, there may be people who don’t agree he should have been the manager, but there’s definitely a more positive atmosphere to the photos.”

With the inclusion of Leighton Baines to Moyes’ coaching staff, and the call up of Seamus Coleman as an interim head coach for the third round FA Cup tie against Peterborough United, Gates asserts the additional sentiment this carries for her book.

She said: “I’ve got a couple of pictures of them on the touchline and it feels like the book has pictures of true Everton heroes.

“Those images of Baines, Coleman and Moyes, it’s pretty unreal seeing that in 2025.”

As Everton embark on a new dawn at Bramley Moore Dock, Gates is keeping an open mind on the possibility of a third book.

She said: “I’ve not thought too much about it because I don’t know where I’m going to be sitting as I haven’t sorted my ticket yet. I’d just say watch this space.

“As long as I’m enjoying what I’m doing and that passion is still there, it will be something I want to do.”