As Hill Dickinson Stadium prepares its first Merseyside Derby, we look back at Everton's most memorable home matches against Liverpool
Some memorable moments from Everton's home games in Merseyside Derbies
Some memorable moments from Everton's home games in Merseyside Derbies
View 4 Images
History is being made on Sunday as Hill Dickinson Stadium hosts its first Merseyside Derby.
For the first time in almost 132 years of going to Everton for league matches, Liverpool will not cross Stanley Park. Instead of their previous trip of a mere 800 yards at the closest point from Anfield to Goodison Park, the Reds will instead make the two-mile journey to the waterfront and the Blues’ new 52,769 capacity home.
To preview the big event, we’re looking back at 20 of Everton’s most memorable Merseyside Derbies played on home turf in a two-part special.
Given that this is being written by the ECHO’s Everton reporter telling the story of the Blues at ‘The Grand Old Lady,’ Liverpool’s 5-0 win in 1982 is not included, but for historical context, they’re not all home victories and there is even one Reds success on the list.
Here is part one...
1. THE FIRST MERSEYSIDE DERBY
October 13, 1894: Everton 3 Liverpool 0
The Merseyside derby is the fixture that can bring the greatest joy and despair to the fans in England’s most-passionate football city, and this is where it all started. Although there have been strong showings from Manchester and London in recent decades, Liverpool remains the unofficial footballing capital in the game’s homeland, holding the unique distinction of being the only city to have hosted top flight football in every single season since the Football League began.
Whatever the Blues and Reds think about their neighbours, they have spurred each other on for over 130 years now in a way that other dual-club regions have failed to do. Without Everton FC, there would be no Liverpool FC and if it wasn’t for Liverpool FC, there would have been no Goodison Park.
The Liverpool Mercury reported: “The long-looked-for meeting of these local rivals excited all the interest anticipated. A great game from a scientific point of view was not expected, but the public appetite was whetted by the fact that Everton and Liverpool were to oppose each other seriously and in full strength for the first time in their history.
“The event recalled recollections of those keen games in which Everton and Bootle some six or seven years ago used to take part; but the parallel ends with keen local rivalry. The entertainment on Saturday surpassed in attractiveness every great event that had occurred before.”
Up until this point, Goodison’s record attendance has been 30,000, but 44,000, including the Lord Mayor, packed in for this pioneering fixture, bringing in gate receipts of £1,026. However, there was only one Scouser on the pitch, Liverpool’s Harry Bradshaw, in a team otherwise composed entirely of Scots.
League leaders Everton would comfortably triumph 3-0 in the end. Glaswegian forward Tom McInnes, a recent recruit from Third Lanark, was the man who scored the first ever goal in a league derby with an 11th0minute header before fellow Scots Alex Latta (59) and John Bell (88) extended the hosts’ advantage.
2. EVERTON'S BIGGEST DERBY WIN AT GOODISON
April 9, 1909: Everton 5 Liverpool 0
This result remains Everton’s biggest victory over Liverpool at Goodison Park. The Blues would later equal the record with a 5-0 win at Anfield on 3 October 1914, en route to their second league championship in the wartime 1914/15 season, but on home turf they would never overcome their local rivals by such a scoreline again.
The Liverpool Courier reported of “Everton’s splendid victory”: “The struggles of Everton and Liverpool are always a source of unbounded interest, and on these occasions, partisanship runs exceedingly high, but when the meeting occurs on Good Friday, football excitement in the city is at an unusually high pitch. It was a game, which bristled with good points, and in which both sides were hard triers, and very often the football was of a high-class order.
“Such a wide margin as five goals to nothing with which Everton managed to win, was not generally expected, although no-one will begrudge the Blues their success, as they earned it by a style and standard of play which was superior to that of Liverpool. There was scarcely a weak spot in the home eleven, all of whom, worked together with thorough understanding, with the result that for the greater part of the game they more than held their own.”
Bertie Freeman bagged a brace on the day for Everton with their other scorers being Tim Coleman, Wattie White and debutant Bob Turner.
3. BIGGEST EVER CROWD FOR A FOOTBALL GAME IN THE CITY
September 18, 1948: Everton 1 Liverpool 1
As an historical footnote, this game was Goodison Park’s record attendance (78,299) but the fact it also proved to be the last fixture before Everton chose to replace their first official manager Theo Kelly had the greater long-term significance. Between 1935-9, teams were picked by committees but following the 1938/39 championship-winning season, secretary Kelly manoeuvred himself into the position of being Everton’s first manager.
As for the match itself, Stork speculated in the ECHO that the attendance record might be broken, observing: “Each section of the ground looked to be well and truly packed, and there were many thousands outside.”
Much was made of Everton selecting six of their 1939 title-winning side for the fixture and Stork said: “All good footballers admittedly but with a big streak of age,” adding: “The big surprise was the staying power of the old guard, they were up and down doing right to the end, playing as well as any of the younger members.”
Liverpool’s Willie Fagan broke the deadlock 10 minutes from full-time with “the ball going in off the upright.”
However, Jock Dodds earned a share of the spoils for Everton by equalising from the penalty spot four minutes later with “a pile-driver that Cyril Sidlow got his hand to,” after full-back Bill Shepherd “had took over the goalkeeper’s role and tipped Wally Boyes’ shot over the bar,” in an era when you could do that and still not be sent off.
4. FIRST UNDER FLOODLIGHTS
October 9, 1957: Everton 2 Liverpool 0
Goodison Park under the lights has often produced a special atmosphere for players and fans alike but for the first half of the ground’s existence there was no such thing. Midweek matches had to be finished before dusk – particularly tricky in winter – which obviously hampered attendances too.
However, the development of lighting technology – and gradual acceptance of the English football authorities to embrace it – would pave the way for the night-time fixtures that many prefer and of course the scope for continental competition between Europe’s leading clubs.
As Rob Sawyer explained in his illuminating article The Story of Goodison Park under Floodlights on the Everton fan website Toffeeweb, Anfield had played host to trial matches using gas-fuelled Wells Lights when Everton still played there in 1890, but while the interesting novelty drew in crowds, the light was deemed insufficient for sporting contests. Sawyer added that with the bill coming to £38,000 – just shy of £1million in today’s prices – the Blues had considered inviting an overseas opponent but with Anfield also installing floodlights (their ones only cost £12,000), a two-legged Floodlit Challenge Cup competition against Liverpool was devised.
With no league derbies since 1951 due to first Everton and then Liverpool’s spells in the Second Division, there was an appetite for the two local rivals to meet and a silver-gilt cup valued at £300 was commissioned to be contested. Both goals for Everton came from Eddie Thomas, who was a modern player in this modern match given that he was a substitute.
5. FIRST IN THE LEAGUE FOR OVER 11 YEARS
September 22, 1962: Everton 2 Liverpool 2
It’s often said that absence makes the heart grow fonder but while there was no love lost between Everton and Liverpool after some 11 years and eight months since their last league derby meeting, the respective sets of players – and their fans – relished the prospect of resuming hostilities. In the 4,264 days since Everton had triumphed at Anfield on 20 January 1951, the sides had met just once in a competitive clash, Liverpool’s shock 4-0 win at Goodison in the FA Cup fourth round on 29 January 1955.
Leslie Edwards of the ECHO chronicled the big match atmosphere and wrote: “A just verdict – but only just! That, in a sentence, sums up the memorable game at Goodison Park.
“It was hard, exciting, entertaining, noisy, tense and fluctuating but never a football classic. How could it be, with the atmosphere so charged – with dynamite?”
The deadlock was broken through Roy Vernon’s 29th-minute penalty as he coolly smashed the ball low to Jim Furnell’s left after Gerry Byrne had handled. Kevin Lewis equalised six minutes later with a hooked shot from close range but Johnny Morrissey – transferred from Liverpool to Everton just a month earlier – netted his first goal for his new club with a right-foot drive Ronnie Moran tried to swipe clear but the ball had gone over the line.
The Blues would be denied victory by a last-minute equaliser from Roger Hunt though as he pounced on Lewis’ nod down to beat Gordon West to the ball and poke home.
6. THE CITY'S GREATEST TROPHY DISPLAY
August 13, 1966: Everton 0 Liverpool 1
The city of Liverpool has accumulated 29 league championships and 13 FA Cups between its two professional clubs but never had such a glittering array of trophies been present at a single game than on this proud day. As well as the Charity Shield that was being contested, hosts Everton paraded the FA Cup that they had won in May by coming from 2-0 down to defeat manager Harry Catterick’s previous club Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 while Liverpool showed off the league Championship they had won for the second time in three seasons under Bill Shankly.
In addition to all that silverware, there was also a small but extremely value prize made of gold-plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli – an intense deep blue semi-precious stone – the Jules Rimet Trophy (original World Cup). This came courtesy of Everton left-back Ray Wilson and Liverpool forward Hunt, who both played for England in the 4-2 extra-time win over West Germany in the World Cup final just a fortnight earlier, while Hunt’s Anfield team-mates Gerry Byrne and Ian Callaghan were also members of Alf Ramsey’s squad.
England World Cup winners, Roger Hunt of Liverpool and Ray Wilson of Everton, carry the trophy around Goodison Park ahead of the 1966 Charity Shield, followed by their club colleagues with captains Ron Yeats and Brian Labone holding the League Championship and FA Cup respectively
England World Cup winners, Roger Hunt of Liverpool and Ray Wilson of Everton, carry the trophy around Goodison Park ahead of the 1966 Charity Shield, followed by their club colleagues with captains Ron Yeats and Brian Labone holding the League Championship and FA Cup respectively
View 4 Images
England World Cup winners, Roger Hunt of Liverpool and Ray Wilson of Everton, carry the trophy around Goodison Park ahead of the 1966 Charity Shield, followed by their club colleagues with captains Ron Yeats and Brian Labone holding the League Championship and FA Cup respectively(Image: Photo by Peter Sheppard/Mirrorpix/Getty Image)
On this occasion, the pre-match parade proved a greater spectacle than the match itself. Edwards of the ECHO wrote: “For me the game did not even come alive.
“It never produced the sparkling, sustained moves one anticipated from teams which had won the League Championship and the FA Cup. Maybe the World Cup had sated one’s appetite? It was for many of the 63,000 present, more an occasion to remember for the appearance in the lap of honour, of the three trophies in the collection of which this city has had such a hand.
“The sight of Roger Hunt and Ray Wilson, sharing a grip of the World Cup with Brian Labone and Ron Yeats, a few paces behind, carrying their trophies, was as unforgettable as any great moment, including Dixie’s sixtieth, at Goodison Park.”
Although Hunt had watched on while fellow England frontman Geoff Hurst had helped himself to a hat-trick at Wembley two weeks earlier, the Liverpool forward netted the only goal of the game on nine minutes. Galvanised into action, Harry Catterick would add another World Cup winner to his ranks just a couple of days later in the shape of Wembley man-of-the-match Alan Ball for an English record fee of £110,000 from Blackpool.
7. 105,000 FANS WATCH ON BOTH SIDES OF STANLEY PARK
March 11, 1967: Everton 1 Liverpool 0
Thanks to large screens being installed at Anfield to relay the action from Goodison Park, a record-breaking 105,000 fans watched Everton triumph against Liverpool in this historic FA Cup fifth-round tie. Pathé News produced a short film on how the experiment by ABC Television of relaying the live footage between the two grounds either side of Stanley Park was deemed a success.
Their engineers fought against 45mph gales to erect eight 30ft by 40ft screens around Anfield, costing £500 each, with tickets for a 40,149 crowd at the Reds home selling out within 36 hours of going on sale.
Other than one of the screens being lifted for a few seconds by a gust of wind, the action from Goodison, where 64,851, including Howard Kendall who had joined the Blues the previous day, watched Alan Ball net the winner on the stroke of half-time, was viewed clearly, even if the outcome didn’t please Kopites.
One well-told tale from the day surrounds celebrity Liverpool fan Jimmy Tarbuck trudging out of Anfield after the full-time whistle with the usual gap-toothed grin wiped off his face by the result, only to be told by a fellow comedian: “Don’t worry Jimmy – it’s only a film!”
8. ANDY IS OUR KING TO SCRATCH SEVEN-YEAR ITCH
October 28, 1978: Everton 1 Liverpool 0
Everton scratched the seven-year itch after going 15 Merseyside derbies without victory before their number seven Andy King netted a memorable match-winner against Liverpool. Luton-born King, who was a real fan favourite with the Goodison crowd, infamously had an attempted touchline interview with Grandstand abruptly cut short by a policeman who insisted that both he and the reporter: “Get off the pitch”, but once he did get to speak after the crowd had gone home, remarked: “It is beyond a dream.”
The Blues hadn’t beaten the Reds since David Johnson – a man who would go on to net winners for both sides in Merseyside derbies – scored in a 1-0 victory at Goodison on 13 November 1971.
Back in 1971, Everton were level with Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal at the top of the English football food chain with seven titles apiece but in the subsequent years their local rivals had dominated both at home and abroad with Phil Thompson admitting he was “as sick as a parrot” to relinquish the seven-year unbeaten record in the fixture.
Andy King's sensational volley against Liverpool in October 1978 will forever be one of Everton's most iconic goals
Andy King's sensational volley against Liverpool in October 1978 will forever be one of Everton's most iconic goals
View 4 Images
Despite the one-sided nature of derbies over several seasons, both teams went into this top-of-the-table fixture in fine form with Liverpool at the summit and Everton undefeated. King’s match-winner was a sweet half-volley from inside the ‘D’ after Martin Dobson had nodded down Mike Pejic’s lofted ball into the box.
Writing in the ECHO, Charles Lambert explained just how much the result meant to long-suffering Evertonians: “Very rarely over the last few years have Liverpool been the bridesmaids rather than the bride, but that was their lot at Goodison Park. Seven years is an awfully long time for a club in such a football-mad area as Merseyside to wait for a victory over their rivals.”
9. CLARKE DENIES LIVERPOOL 'TEAM OF THE CENTURY' TAG
March 20, 1988: Everton 1 Liverpool 0
Jubilant Evertonians were certainly Singing the Blues this night after Wayne Clarke’s goal prevented Liverpool from setting a new top-flight unbeaten record.
Everton supporters of course love to belt out their own version of Guy Mitchell’s 1956 Number One hit song with adapted lyrics whenever their own team triumph and their neighbours are beaten and it’s all the more sweeter for them if those two permutations are achieved from the same fixture.
Back in 1988, Liverpool were attempting to become the first team to go 30 games unbeaten from the start of a First Division season. They’d already equalled Leeds United’s 29-match run from 1973/74, prompting The Mirror to proclaim that if they avoided defeat at Goodison Park then they would be ‘the team of the century.’
For match-winner Clarke, family pride was also at stake ensuring the victory was celebrated with as much relish in West Yorkshire as it was among the blue half of Merseyside. The Everton striker was the youngest of five brothers to play professional football, alongside Frank, Derek, Kelvin and of course Allan, who was part of that great Leeds United side under Don Revie, and present at Goodison for this game.
Wayne Clarke recalled: “I was pleased Allan was there; I was pleased to score of course but more pleased, really, for him. We hadn’t talked before about the game or the record at all during the week but when I met him beforehand, he said he wanted two things from me – a car park ticket and the winning goal.”
10. MERSEYSIDE UNITES TO HONOUR HILLSBOROUGH DEAD
3 May 3, 1989: Everton 0 Liverpool 0
After the greatest ever loss of life at a European football ground, it seemed fitting that Liverpool made their return to competitive action against Everton. On April 15, 1989, 94 fans died in a human crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the Leppings Lane End of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium.
This figure had increased to 95 by the time the Reds took to the Goodison Park turf and for many years was 96 before going up to 97 when Andrew Devine died in 2021. Ahead of the derby game, a line of linked Everton and Liverpool scarves tied together surrounded the pitch and Ken Rogers of the ECHO vividly depicted the events before kick-off.
He wrote: “A giant banner from the Stanley Park stand carried a simple but moving message from Kenny Dalglish’s army: ‘The Kop Thanks You All. We Never Walked Alone.’
A line of linked Liverpool and Everton scarves is taken around Goodison Park before the Reds' first match following Hillsborough, 3 May 1989
A line of linked Liverpool and Everton scarves is taken around Goodison Park before the Reds' first match following Hillsborough, 3 May 1989
View 4 Images
“And then chairmen John Smith and Philip Carter, followed by managers Dalglish and Colin Harvey, led their teams out onto the pitch. Goodison erupted.
“Within seconds, a hush fell across the stadium when Everton announced: ‘Your loss is ours too. We will observe a minute’s silence”.’
Of the match itself, Rogers wrote: “Liverpool and Everton paid their respects with pride, passion and total commitment. It was the ultimate tribute to the 95 fans who died so tragically at Hillsborough.
“The 140th league derby finished goalless, but it was a riveting, fiercely competitive affair that confirmed what we have known for years… that Merseyside is the undisputed soccer capital of Great Britain – always has been, always will be.”