Paul Scholes is one of the greatest one-club men in football history, with the iconic midfielder spending his entire career playing for Manchester United. As a Red Devils legend, the Salford-born technician spent his 19-year career regarding Liverpool and Manchester City as the enemy.
As the two biggest clubs in English football, Man Utd and Liverpool are perhaps the division's greatest rivals. Scholes was vital in Sir Alex Ferguson's side knocking Liverpool 'right off their f*****g perch'. As such, he always felt 'hated' whenever visiting the Merseysiders' famous Anfield stadium.
Many football icons have hailed the ground as one of the best on the planet, with the atmosphere praised as one of the finest around. However, Scholes has claimed to have never felt intimidated when making the short trip from Manchester to face the Reds.
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Scholes 'Never' Intimidated by Liverpool's Anfield
'Goodison Park had the better atmosphere'
Instead, the retired England international felt that there was a better atmosphere just across Stanley Park. Everton's historic Goodison Park officially closes its doors as far as the men's game is concerned after the 2024/25 Premier League season, and it will be greatly missed by fans and ex-players. Scholes has previously said about the ground (per Everton News):
"I never found Anfield intimidating. Goodison Park had the better atmosphere."
Going into more detail about his admiration for the 40k-seater venue ahead of the Toffees' final-ever home game at the stadium, Scholes added: "Everton was always a tricky game for us. I always thought that playing at home against a David Moyes team, who were so organised all the time, was so difficult.
"It was a really good place to play football, and that old-fashioned stadium is starting to fizzle out a little bit now, but its time has come to an end. I’m sure the Everton fans will be sad about it, but they also have to be excited that they’re heading somewhere new."
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While he did admit the atmosphere at Anfield was 'very loud', the midfielder-turned-pundit explained the difference between the grounds: "It was totally different to Anfield although they both had very loud atmospheres. But I never felt there was a problem with Everton fans. With the Liverpool supporters, you felt there was a nastiness to it because they hate us. Most teams hated us because we were winning all the time, but you never really felt hatred at Everton and maybe that’s because both teams didn’t like Liverpool."