Duncan Ferguson netted a last-minute penalty equaliser in the final game of his career to earn Everton a 2-2 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on May 7, 2006
Duncan Ferguson celebrates his equaliser with a fan during the match between Everton and West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park on May 7, 2006
Duncan Ferguson celebrates his equaliser with a fan during the match between Everton and West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park on May 7, 2006
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Everton delivered an emotional farewell to one of their most popular heroes of the Premier League era 20 years ago today in a chaotic but celebratory manner that felt fitting.
After Duncan Ferguson had first burst onto the scene at Goodison Park almost a dozen years earlier, breaking his scoring duck for the Blues in an iconic 2-0 Merseyside derby win, manager Joe Royle had claimed the Stirling-born player could go on to become the club’s biggest terrace idol since another aerially dominant centre-forward Dixie Dean.
Although ‘Big Dunc’ would never hit the heights of the prolific Dean – in 11 seasons across two spells with Everton, he’d only hit double figures twice – he remained hugely popular with the fanbase and by the time he finished, his 60 Premier League goals were a club record, which has since been eclipsed by Romelu Lukaku (68).
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Ferguson’s final season with the Blues would be a battle for the team and player alike. Having finished fourth in the previous campaign under David Moyes – still the club’s highest Premier League position – Everton went into the Champions League but were controversially knocked out of the competition by Villarreal in the final qualification round when Ferguson’s headed goal in Spain was inexplicably ruled out by Pierluigi Collina, who had come out of retirement to take charge of the game.
Rocked by this crushing blow, the team suffered a double European exit at the first time of asking as they were thrashed by Dinamo Bucharest in the UEFA Cup and they would lose 10 out of their first 12 matches and 16 out of 24 before the turn of the calendar year.
A revival in the second half of the season saw the Blues recover to finish 11th – they would then subsequently finish in the top eight on seven consecutive occasions before Moyes left – but Ferguson went into both his final game and final minute of his career without a goal for the entire campaign. Everton’s opponents on May 7, 2006, were a West Bromwich Albion outfit who had already been relegated.
However, Bryan Robson’s side stunned Goodison by going into a 2-0 lead through Zoltan Gera (14) and Williams Martinez (47). A rip-roaring fightback in the latter stages would see the Blues secure a share of the spoils in dramatic fashion, though.
With just six minutes left on the clock, 18-year-old substitute Victor Anichebe showed great strength for a youngster to turn Martinez and fire in his first Everton goal. But then Ferguson would book-end the occasion with what would be his final strike with 90 minutes on the clock.
Martinez’s descent from hero to villain was complete as he brought down Mikel Arteta in the area and referee Alan Wiley pointed to the spot. Back wearing the captain’s armband for the day, the 34-year-old former skipper stepped up with his initial left-foot effort palmed away by Polish keeper Tomasz Kuszczak, but he scuffed in the rebound on his weaker right foot.
Duncan Ferguson fires home the rebound for the equalising goal for Everton against West Bromwich Albion on May 7, 2006
Duncan Ferguson fires home the rebound for the equalising goal for Everton against West Bromwich Albion on May 7, 2006(Image: Andrew Teebay)
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David Prentice wrote in the ECHO: “They came to honour departing heroes. An emotional tribute before kick-off ensured that Goodison paid its final respects to the last of the Corinthians (This was the first home game since the death of Everton legend and one club man Brian Labone aged 66 on April 24).
“Then Duncan Ferguson’s 92nd minute penalty kick ensured that a modern crowd idol was sent off in style, too. It was typical Ferguson, really.
“He gave a sense of meaning to a last match which looked like dying on its feet – and he gave supporters something to celebrate when all hope looked lost. Eleven-and-a-half years after the Tartan totem bulleted a soaring header into the Gwladys Street net for his first Everton goal, Big Dunc squeezed a rebound from a penalty-kick under Tomasz Kuszczak for his 72nd, bringing the curtain down on an eventful career.
“Whisper it quietly, there was even a tear in his eye as Everton’s Braveheart escorted his children around the pitch on a lap of appreciation. That strike changed the atmosphere completely inside Goodison.”
Duncan Ferguson took his children on the lap of honour after the final whistle following Everton's 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the final game of his career on May 7, 2006
Duncan Ferguson took his children on the lap of honour after the final whistle following Everton's 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the final game of his career on May 7, 2006(Image: Andrew Teebay)
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Manager Moyes revealed that Ferguson wasn’t actually in great shape to take the penalty and he missed the moment that his player’s penalty rebound hit the net. He said: “Duncan was the penalty taker here before James Beattie and he said the reason he wasn’t going to take it was because he had cramp in both calves.
“He felt he wouldn’t be right to take it, and when he hit the ball, I saw the keeper save it but then couldn’t see what happened after that. We had a laugh about it afterwards – but I think it was right that Duncan took it.”
West Brom’s Steve Watson, who played alongside Ferguson at Everton for five years between 2000-05, also paid his own tribute to his former team-mate. He said: “I certainly preferred playing with him.
“He is a talisman for Everton, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is an Evertonian and has done fantastic over the years.
“Duncan is a big, old-fashioned type of centre-forward and people found it very difficult to play against him. It was bad news for us that he scored at the end but from an Everton point of view, it was fitting.
“I have played against him enough times to know how difficult he is to mark. On his game, I’ve heard world class centre-backs say he was unplayable.
“You could not get near him at times, he was so strong and so physical. He is like Alan Shearer in that he enjoys the physical side of the game and making life difficult for centre-halves, he’ll be a big miss.”