There’s always something special about Liverpool versus Everton, no matter what the competition or where we stand in the table relative to each other. As long as we are both in the Premier League, then we’re guaranteed two matches a season against our neighbours, and in some seasons we are lucky enough to face them in one or the other of the domestic cups as well. In recent years, we’ve definitely had the better of them, although they’ll certainly point out the two or three times that they’ve managed to get the better of us. They’ll also remember in great detail the most recent time that they finished above us in the league, which was at the end of the 2004-05 season, with us finishing fifth, leading to that annoying habit of referring to our manager as “Rafa Beneath-us.” But, we could let them have their fun, knowing that we had a certain piece of silverware added to our already bulging trophy room, while they’ve had nothing to add to theirs since their FA Cup win in 1995 (1-0 over Manchester United, one of the few occasions where I’ve been openly cheering for the Blues).
Perhaps the biggest ever difference in fortunes for the Blue and the Red halves of Merseyside occurred in 1954. At the end of that season, Liverpool were relegated to the Second Division after finishing dead last in 22nd place. Meanwhile, to make matters worse for the Reds, there were celebrations across Stanley Park as Everton passed us in the opposite direction after gaining promotion to the First Division following their second place finish in Division Two. It would be a few years before the rivalry resumed, with Liverpool beginning their years of domination in the early ‘60’s and continuing for several decades.
The upcoming match at Goodison has to be seen as crucial in so many ways. We need the points desperately, but then again so do they. We have to turn around the early poor form which has dropped us into the bottom places of the table, but then again so do they. We’re both on six points from seven games, which is definitely not good enough or acceptable for either side. The biggest difference between us for this match could be a simple matter of confidence. They managed to win finally, scoring two in their last match which was away at St. Andrews – a place where we could only manage a frustrating scoreless draw a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, we are coming off a humiliating home loss to newly promoted Blackpool, which has to be the lowest point of the season so far for us. Those two contrasting results must be giving them a boost ahead of the match, and of course they’ll be thinking of and carefully reviewing all of their other past victories over us with the belief that they can take us again this time around.
We’ve travelled across the park 104 times with the Blues having a slightly better record at Goodison with 39 wins to our 37. They can certainly take some comfort in that, but as we all know only too well, history and statistics don’t mean a damn thing on the day, and so as always everything is up for grabs. It could well be the turning point of the season for one of us, either for better or for worse, and neither side will be thinking about past performances.
In all the years that both clubs have been competing against each other, we’ve had some fantastic tussles with the Blues, with two of the most memorable being the FA Cup finals of 1986 and 1989. Ian Rush must have been their worst nightmare with him scoring four goals in those two finals, and who can forget his four goals in the 5-0 humiliation at Goodison in 1982? Liverpool went on to win the League that year, but strangely could only manage a 0-0 result at Anfield in March. We’ve also had a number of memorable come-from-behind wins, including the 1970 thriller with Shankly’s new-look Liverpool coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Two of the goals in that match came from new players Heighway and Toshack, as Liverpool began the decade as they meant to continue. Then of course there was the famous Gary McAllister 44 yard free-kick in the dying moments to take all three points in 2001, making it a truly memorable season in so many ways.
Those were just two of the most exciting Merseyside derbies, to go along with the rest of the wins, but of course we should also remember that we haven’t always had it so easy. Out of all of the losses to our local rivals, many of them have been ones that we’d rather forget. It’s never easy to admit defeat, but it’s sometimes useful to remember that we have to have the right mentality or we can be easily caught out. So, as a reminder that we can’t be too careful, here’s my list of Our Worst Five Merseyside Derbies.
5. Everton 3-0 Liverpool, First Division, October 13th 1894
4. Everton 1-0 Liverpool, FA Cup, March 11th 1967
The mid-sixties were an amazing time for all of Merseyside. Both clubs had their share of success, and of course the terms “Merseybeat” and “Scouse Humour” were becoming well known all over the world. Liverpool had won the FA Cup in 1965, in between League Championships in 1964 and 1966. Everton won the FA Cup in 1966, and had been League Champions before Liverpool in 1963. The 1966-67 season began with the Charity Shield being contested between Everton as FA Cup winners and Liverpool as League Champions, at Goodison. That particular match was also memorable for Roger Hunt and Ray Wilson coming out with the 1966 World Cup trophy between them, as two of the players who had helped England win the World Cup earlier that summer.
By the spring of 1967, Liverpool and Everton had already played each other twice in the League, and once in the Charity Shield, with one win each and one draw. Then, the FA Cup Fifth Round tie pitted the two Merseyside giants against each other in what was described as the equivalent of a world championship. As Bill Shankly remarked at the time, it’s doubtful if this would ever happen again, with the Champions versus the Cup holders in a city as fanatical as Liverpool. The match, to be played at Goodison, was sold out in no time and so closed circuit television screens were erected at Anfield. Separate programs were printed and sold at each ground, and a total of 105,000 saw the match decided by a single goal, scored by Alan Ball (later to be a Vancouver Whitecap), to put Liverpool out of the cup. The feeling of loss was all the greater after such a build-up, but at least we’ve had plenty of revenge since then.
3. Everton 1-0 Liverpool, Premier League, December 11th, 2004
Liverpool reached a peak under Gerard Houllier in the summer of 2001, winning five trophies in a period of six months. It was not such a great time after that, with a gradual decline in fortunes beginning to worry us all. In the summer of 2004, the club and Monsieur Houllier parted company, and in came new manager Rafa Benitez. There was no doubt that the new manager knew how to win, but one of his first big tests came with the Premier League match against Everton at Goodison. This was to be the 200th Merseyside derby, and Rafa’s first, and should have been his first victory over his new rivals. As always, it was a tight match with plenty of physical tackles, and with Liverpool looking more likely to come out as winners. That was until two thirds of the way through when Everton scored. At least that brought the match to life, with Liverpool pushing hard for an equaliser, but it was not to be their day. The season ended with glory for Liverpool, winning their fifth European Cup, but finishing behind Everton in fifth place in the League. Everton were granted a third qualifying round place in the Champions League, while Liverpool had to apply for permission to defend their European title. If that match had finished with a Liverpool victory instead, the final league positions would have been reversed, there would have been no need for that special permission from UEFA, and no taunts of “Rafa Beneathus” from the Blues. At least we had the pleasure the following season of seeing the blues knocked out of both European competitions in short order, and then at times struggling to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
2. Everton 3-0 Liverpool, Premier League, September 9th, 2006
Liverpool were defending FA Cup Champions, and Charity Shield winners over League Champions Chelsea, following an impressive 2005-06 season. We were unlucky not to take second place in the league, finishing a single point behind Manchester United, and 32 points ahead of Everton who had finished a dismal season in 11th place. Added to that, Liverpool had lost only once to Everton in the last eight seasons (see above), so it should be pretty much a foregone conclusion. Only the most faithful of the Evertonians would have given the Blues any chance in this one, but it was one of those days when everything seems to go wrong and against the odds. Liverpool were a goal down in less than half an hour, but so what? We had fought back against bigger deficits than that and so were not too worried. Then, when Everton scored a second, it didn’t look too much like it was going to be a day to remember for the Reds, and by the end of the match it became a farce. A long hopeful volley in the last minute of the match was seriously misjudged by Reina, who almost fell backwards with it into his own goal. Instead of that embarrassment, he tried to palm the ball away from him, only for it to go straight to the head of Andy Johnson who nodded in his second of the day. The final score of 3-0 was the third ever biggest win for Everton, and their biggest since their 4-0 victory way back in 1964! In that season of forty odd years ago, we had the pleasure of winning the League in spite of the big loss to the blues, taking the title directly from them. In this particular case it was part of a poor run of form for Liverpool as we struggled for consistency. Still, by the end of the season we finished in third place again, 10 points clear of the blues, and finished off with a trip to Athens for the European Cup Final, all of which can be enjoyed on a disc of the season in review. Meanwhile, the blues enjoyed watching that one match over and over on a specially released DVD to commemorate the rarity of the occasion, and to celebrate the one and only significant success of their season. Sad, isn’t it?
1. Everton 4-4 Liverpool, FA Cup, February 20th, 1991
The rivalry between the two Merseyside clubs was becoming intense as the 1980?s came to a close, and so when Liverpool and Everton were drawn to play each other in the fifth round of the FA Cup in early 1991 it was billed as another “Clash of the Titans.” Liverpool were defending League Champions, and had beaten the blues in the FA Cup final of 1989. Liverpool had already beaten Everton 3-1 in the League on the 9th of February, with the Cup match to come just eight days later on the 17th. It’s never possible to predict the outcome of a cup fixture based on a league match, no matter how close together they are played, and it was not really so much of a surprise that Everton managed to hold on for a 0-0 result forcing a replay at Goodison. That replay, coming only three days later on the 20th, also resulted in a draw, but it was far from a boring 0-0 result. Liverpool took the lead no less than four times, only to see Everton claw their way back and equalise each time. The draw forced a second replay, also to be played at Goodison. That 4-4 draw is remembered not only as possibly the most exciting FA Cup match in the history of the competition so far (at least to the neutrals watching), but also as the last Liverpool match to be played under the management of Kenny Dalglish. The pressure of the job was becoming too much for him, and that replay turned out to be the final straw. His surprise resignation was announced two days later, and Liverpool were left in the hands of caretaker-manager Ronnie Moran. In spite of Ronnie’s best efforts, all of Liverpool’s promise in the early going came to an end, first with a loss to Luton in the League and then a loss to Everton in that second replay.
So there’s my five choices for the five worst ever Merseyside derbies. Obviously a list such as this is going to be compiled very much from my personal opinion, and no doubt everyone will have their own personal awful memories. These are not the only candidates for worst; they are just the ones that I’ve chosen for their significance, at least as far as I see it. There’s no special order to the bottom four of the list, they are simply taken chronologically from earliest to more recent. The one exception is the number one choice, which is not only out of sequence but not even a loss. That one result would turn out to be a major turning point in the history of Liverpool F.C., and one that many would say we’ve still never fully recovered from. But that’s a discussion that’s better left for another time.
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