Things will never be the same again. Yes, Everton are in for a shiny new stadium standing proudly on the banks of the Mersey, but the idea of a derby being played anywhere other than Goodison Park or Anfield is difficult to fathom.
That is why the enormity of this latest encounter cannot be underestimated. For the last time in the league, Goodison will tremble and vibrate with thunder and expectations. On these occasions, there is no place the same.
This reporter has, in various forms, attended Merseyside Derbies since the mid-1980s and these are the five best I have seen at Goodison.
Note: The list is personal, appears chronologically, and is here to evoke memories. It also acts as a reminder of how privileged the city is to capture the eyes of the world.
The idea of the Merseyside derby being played anywhere other than Goodison or Anfield is difficult to fathom.
The Toffees are playing what are now their final matches at Goodison before moving home.
A shiny new stadium standing proud on the banks of the Mersey awaits next season
EVERTON 2 LIVERPOOL 3; DIVISION ONE, SEPTEMBER 21, 1985
You never forget the first and, almost 40 years later, the events of this day are very clear. The rain on the way to the stadium, the imposing main stand that seemed to rise like a skyscraper; Kenny Dalglish scored after 21 seconds and red lights erupted in every corner.
I went with my dad (we had tickets for the top flight at the old Park End) and at half-time, when Liverpool had pulled even further away with goals from Ian Rush and Steve McMahon on their debut, I remember him smiling as if he had never before I had seen him smile.
“There will come a time in the future and hopefully Liverpool will be here and they will be three nil up again,” he told me. —Then you will understand.
However, the second half was just as dramatic. Everton responded with all their might, scoring twice, Gary Lineker hitting the crossbar and Trevor Steven causing panic every time the ball reached his sparkling feet. Both teams were the best in Europe that year. They showed the reason for that wonderful afternoon.
An Everton team, which at the time was one of the best in Europe, narrowly lost to Liverpool in September 1985.
EVERTON 2 LIVERPOOL 0; PREMIER LEAGUE, NOVEMBER 21, 1994
Losing at Goodison Park was almost commonplace for Liverpool at the start of the Premier League era: Peter Beardsley returned to frequent his old club in December 1992, Mark Ward scored from 20 yards after Bruce Grobbelaar was challenged by Steve McManaman in September 1993.
This game, however, was different. This was the night Joe Royle unleashed the War Dogs and Everton devastated Liverpool. They won 2-0, but nothing stands out more than Duncan Ferguson’s first goal for the club, the image of him heading the ball, eyes blazing, while others winced in pain is iconic.
“Bringing Big Joe back was a great moment for the club, wasn’t it?” Ferguson told me four years ago in an interview for Mail Sport. “He’s a club legend. His first game… everything went well for us. We haven’t had many nights like that, have we? So we have to enjoy them!
“Honestly, there is no better feeling than scoring a goal in a derby. Believe me. If it helps you achieve a result (winning), there is nothing like it. The fans make derbies. They give you the enjoyment of football, they make the experience .It’s the roar of the crowd, boy, isn’t it?
They roared that night, okay. Under those lights a hero was born. We saw footage again of his headbutt as he spoke.
“When you show me something like that, it makes me feel incredibly proud,” he said, smiling. “At the end of the day, I played in a derby and helped us win a derby. “Everyone should understand that, no matter what color shirt they had.”
Duncan Ferguson scored his first goal for the club as Everton devastated Liverpool in 1994.
“When you show me something like that, it makes me feel incredibly proud,” Ferguson told Mail Sport of his headed goal.
EVERTON 2 LIVERPOOL 3; PREMIER LEAGUE, APRIL 16, 2001
Five goals; two penalties, one of which Robbie Fowler missed. Duncan Ferguson running in front of the away section at Bullens Road, squeezing his bicep and pointing to his Everton tattoo. Igor Biscan rubs his head with his hands after being sent off.
Jeff Winter, the referee who was never afraid of the spotlight, made decision after decision that infuriated both sets of fans, each blast of his whistle acting like another shovelful of coal on a bonfire. It was madness, emotion and agony, everything a derby should be.
Then came Gary McAllister. Even now, thinking about it, I can see the ball bouncing from my position on Upper Bullens Road, right in front of Paul Gerrard, and realize that his free kick was going in; 16 years after Dad’s words of wisdom, I knew exactly what he meant.
EVERTON 1 LIVERPOOL 0; FA CUP FOURTH ROUND REPLAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2009
Time may play tricks on memory, but it hasn’t changed my belief that this was the best Everton team to turn up at Goodison Park since the days of Howard Kendall. David Moyes formed a young and hungry team that for a time served everyone.
I was with them every week in my old role as Liverpool Echo correspondent at Everton. I was aware of the work David did to attract players to the club and how he worked closely with the late chairman Bill Kenwright to give fans a team they could be proud of.
Moyes had been criticized before this particular match for not winning enough big games and because the stakes were too high; He’d had two good wins over Rafa Benitez at Goodison before (Lee Carsley, December 2004; Andy Johnson, September 2006), but things felt different.
The occasion was incredible. It wasn’t a classic match in terms of football played, but it was the kind of night that stopped the city in its tracks, as tension grew like ivy. Benitez wanted to go to penalties, but two unlikely heroes had other ideas: Andy van der Meyde crossed for Dan Gosling to score.
Peter Crouch once compared playing at Goodison to being in a cage fight, so tight and imposing are the stands. When the place explodes, like it did tonight, there’s no noise like it anywhere else in the country.
Gosling, a young man from Plymouth, was unaware of the enormity of what he had done and only realized a week later, when he went to the cinema in the center of Liverpool to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and found himself besieged by hunters. autographs.
Dan Gosling scored for Everton to help David Moyes’ team win the FA Cup replay
The 2009 Everton team was the best to play at Goodison Park since the days of Howard Kendall.
Everton were magnificent from start to finish, again under Moyes, beating Liverpool in 2010.
Moyes described the one-sided derby as “the best performance of my entire time here” at the time
EVERTON 2 LIVERPOOL 0; PREMIER LEAGUE, OCTOBER 17, 2010
Conversations with Moyes before the Derby tended to have a familiar tone. He always let you know that he just wanted the opportunity to put his hand on Liverpool’s shoulder and push them back. There are many objectives that an Everton coach must achieve, but the first, always, is to be the best in the city.
Moyes had been trying and trying for eight years and then, on that Sunday afternoon, he felt he had gotten there. Everton were magnificent from start to finish, trampling Liverpool with pace and power and lethal finishing from Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill.
He didn’t hesitate to call it “the best performance of my time here” and it was impossible not to argue with him. It was one of the most one-sided derbies of the last 25 years and the 2-0 score did not reflect Everton’s superiority.
‘We weren’t that bad, were we?’ Roy Hodgson, Moyes’ counterpart, asked as he emerged from a particularly hostile press conference. No, Liverpool were worse than I thought, unable to cope with the Goodison frenzy. How we will miss him when he is gone.
P/S There is no place in this famous five for the 4-4 FA Cup fifth round replay match in February 1991 or the league match that ended 0-0 in May 1989, the first match of the Liverpool after Hillsborough, simply because I wasn’t in the stadium. However, both occasions show the best of what the city represents.