ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley picks his top 10 matches at Goodison Park
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Mikel Arteta of Everton celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2 on aggregate against Fiorentina
Mikel Arteta of Everton celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2 on aggregate against Fiorentina
(Image: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)
Picking a top 10 matches at Goodison Park is no easy task given the volume of potential candidates to choose from, but this correspondent has given it a go. In addition to my day job as Everton reporter for the ECHO, I have written a book called Spirit of the Blues: Everton’s Most Memorable Matches and Goodison Park’s Greatest Games, which features 100 of the Blues’ fixtures from their 133 years at England’s first purpose-built football ground.
There’s still one last chapter to write following the game against Southampton this Sunday, but alongside many iconic Everton encounters, the publication also features the five World Cup matches – including the only semi-final to be played at an English club ground – the two FA Cup finals and a game that attracted a world record crowd for a women’s club game that stood for over 98 years, which is apt given Tuesday’s announcement about how Goodison will be used in the future.
However, let’s specify that this is an Everton top 10, so those particular fixtures will not be considered here.
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Goodison is still the venue that has hosted the most English top-flight matches though and while the Blues lifted their first League Championship at Anfield before Liverpool FC even existed, all their subsequent major honours have been won while at the ground. Of course, any such list is highly subjective, there can be no definitive ‘correct’ choices and people are going to feel strongly about the games you end up leaving out.
Starting from a longlist of the 99 Everton matches already included in Spirit of the Blues, I have tried to be as discerning as possible when choosing the ultimate top 10 and have attempted to give due prominence to different eras of the club’s illustrious history. Therefore, continuing our count down, which finishes on May 18 when Everton’s men’s first team play for the final time at the Grand Old Lady, here is the second of our five instalments...
Number 8
March 12, 2008: Everton 2 Fiorentina 0 AET, 2-4 on penalties
Everton’s greatest European night since Bayern Munich but although the Grand Old Lady was rocking in a manner not seen since the Blues reached the Cup-Winners’ Cup final some 23 years earlier, this proved to be a hollow victory as David Moyes’ men crashed out of the UEFA Cup following a penalty shoot-out, which in many ways summed up the disappointments of Goodison Park’s modern era.
Moyes would later exorcise his Fiorentina demons in a European final with West Ham United but this was one of his best chances to win silverware with Everton first time around and he lamented: “We battered them, the players played really well, but they have not been rewarded for it and I have to admit that is hard to take. The fans were fantastic, and they really made for a great atmosphere.”
A 16th-minute close-range effort off Andrew Johnson’s chest had set Everton on their way and it felt like the roof was about to come off Goodison when Mikel Arteta’s laser-guided missile of a strike made its way into the bottom corner of the net in front of the Gwladys Street midway through the second half. Fiorentina’s goal continued to lead a charmed life as a shot was cleared off the line while Yakubu – who would hit the post in the resultant shoot-out – was denied by a stunning double stop from the visitors’ French keeper Sebastian Frey, who would also go on to save from Phil Jagielka from 12 yards after extra-time had finished.
Given the talent in the team that Moyes had assembled over the previous six years, this edition of the UEFA Cup was a competition they could have and perhaps really should have, gone all the way in. Like in 1985 when the Blues were denied a crack at the European Cup, this was a great wasted opportunity for them, yet on this occasion they had nobody to blame but themselves.
Number 7
November 20, 1971: Everton 8 Southampton 0
Moyes’ men could do with a bit of this on Sunday when the Saints go marching in for the goodbye to Goodison as we know it. A club of many firsts both on and off the pitch throughout their history, Everton were the first team to install a scoreboard at their ground but so many goals were netted by the hosts in this game, the device could not cope.
Normally the names of the goalscorers would be displayed at Goodison Park but a lack of space ensured that on this occasion, shirt numbers had to suffice, so instead it simply read 7 9 7 9 8 9 9 7.
Michael Charters of the ECHO wrote: “The worst conditions of the season brought out the best in Everton as they ‘paralysed’ Southampton.” David Johnson fired the Blues ahead on 13 minutes with a “fierce low angled shot” while a “well-placed” effort from Joe Royle doubled their advantage.
Johnson’s pace provided the third as he beat Eric Martin “with ease from 12 yards after he raced through a gap at top speed.” Royle’s second and Everton’s fourth five minutes from half-time was a close-range effort but their fifth from Ball just before the break was more spectacular as the midfielder “raced 60 yards” before sliding the ball past Martin from the edge of the area.
On the hour mark, Royle completed his hat-trick with “a magnificent shot from 18 yards – a tremendous half volley’ while his fourth on 72 minutes was ‘a delicate glancing header.”
Despite Charters claiming that: “Everton eased off in these gruelling conditions,” Johnson’s hat-trick goal five minutes before full-time that completed the rout, was a magical moment in itself, as he added: “Martin came out of goal looking for a back pass from McGrath, but Johnson stepped between them and with the coolest flick shot that I’ve seen for years, put the ball over everyone and against the far post from where it dropped into the net.”
In terms of the margin of victory, this was as big a win as Everton have ever recorded in the league, along with the 9-1 successes over Manchester City and Plymouth Argyle at Goodison Park in 1906 and 1930 respectively, the latter of which came in the Second Division.
Spirit of the Blues is available to order now
Spirit of the Blues is available to order now
You can click here to order your copy of Spirit of the Blues