Goodison Park hosted the first derby between Verton and Liverpool 130 years ago – there was no “Merseyside” prefix at that time – with the hosts triumphing 3-0 on October 13, 1894. Saturday’s game will be the last since the meeting in the FA Cup, with Verton relocating to the magnificent. new stadium at Bramley Moore next season. There were derbies at Goodison. local rivals won 41 each. Ahead of Derby’s final league match at the historic old venue, we pick six memorable matches.
11 March 1967 Verton 1-0 Liverpool
The season opened with the Charity Shield at Goodison, where forwards Ray Wilson and Roger Hunt prepared for the World Cup they won in the summer. After his English teammates, Ron Yeats held Liverpool’s League Cup trophy and Everton’s Brian Labone held the FA Cup. City were then furious when the teams were drawn in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The demand for tickets was so high that Liverpool took the mind-blowing plan of erecting eight giant screens inside Anfield. and broadcast live coverage links to Goodison. With 65,000 inside Goodison and over 40,000 watching at Anfield, it was the biggest audience for the only FA Cup tie outside the final. Alan Ball cemented a blossoming love affair with Verton by scoring a winner.
6 November 1982 Verton 0-5 Liverpool
A derby and nightmarish for Verton and so perfect for Liverpool that the Kop still sings about the destruction of Ian Rush at his boyhood club to this day. Rush scored one, Rush scored two, Rush scored three and Rush scored four as Verton were condemned to their worst derby defeat at Goodison. And this only tells part of the story. Howard Kendall handed Everton debut to Glenn Keeley, signed on loan a week ago in response to a lack of defense. Keeley did not play full time due to his stoppage with Blackburn and was unaware of the recently introduced rule that players would be sent to professional wings. Liverpool dominated and took a 1-0 lead when Keeley pulled off Kenny Dalglish’s run on goal in the 37th minute. “I waited a long time to get the book,” he admitted many years later, “so when it was released, it came as a shock.” After the chaos broke out in the second half, Keeley never played for Verton again and his teammate, Neville Southall, was loaned out to Port Vale to recover afterwards.
3 May 1989 Verton 0-0 Liverpool
A football game that meant little but the Merseyside derby that meant everything. Eighteen days after the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool played their first competitive match at a raw emotional Goodison. the whole city is in despair, but they have joined the night not in sorrow, but in agreement and reverence. “Thank you all from the Kop. We never walked alone,” the sign in the Liverpool end read. Fans carried 95 woven Liverpool and Everton armbands around the pitch before kick-off in memory of those who were unlawfully killed at Hillsburgh. It would now be 97. Chants of “Merseyside, Merseyside” thundered. The minute’s silence that preceded it, and the explosive noise that followed the silence, will never be forgotten by those present. “It was a light cause for 95 people to die, but the city will learn to live with its grief. When the chain beads of 95 blue and red ribbons were linked together, it was clear that the crowd of nearly 46 thousand had come not only to remember the lost, but to remind each other. football and Merseyside are inseparable.
20 February 1991 Verton 4-4 Liverpool
A classic FA Cup tie that had long-lasting repercussions for Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish’s team were top of the league going into the fifth round of the rematch but showing signs of ageing. They led four times and drew level with Verton four times, with Tony Cottee equalizing in the 89th minute and six minutes from time’s last-minute error from Liverpool. Dalglish would later claim one of those doubts from himself when he decided to put Jan Molby in defense. It was, however, a sign of deeper-rooted problems. The headline was in the Liverpool Echo. It was not hyperbole, but the story would be blacked out less than 48 hours later, when Liverpool convened a press conference on Friday morning. Dalglish resigned. The trauma of managing Liverpool through the Hillsborough disaster, including attending as many funerals as possible, had taken an inevitable and heavy toll on the club’s legend. The course of the second replay was decided by a coin toss. Liverpool, led by manager Ronnie Moran, were beaten 1-0 at Goodison.
16 April 2001 Verton 2-3 Liverpool
Liverpool have been inflicting late blows on their local rivals and ahead of Sadio Mané and Divock Origi was 36-year-old Gary McAllister from nearly 40 yards. Gerard Houllier’s team needed a win at Goodison to preserve their chances of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, having dropped out of the top three in previous games. And Liverpool haven’t won at Goodison for 11 years. It was a nasty occasion inside and outside the ground, not helped by the evening kick-off on Easter Monday. There were two books in the direction of Igor Biscan, and 10 men Liverpool were awarded a penalty miss by Robbie Fowler and late David Unsworth equalized with a free kick 44 yards from goal in the 93rd minute. McAllister stole a few yards and, with everyone inside Goodison waiting for him to be delivered at the bottom post, the crafty veteran snatched a daring free-kick inside Paul Gerrard’s near post. Liverpool, fired with confidence, went on to complete the cup treble, and the mud led to the third.
24 April 2024 Verton 2-0 Liverpool
The more recent Merseyside Derby was also one of the most famous convictions of the royal blue. Everton had not tasted a derby victory at Goodison for 14 years. Jürgen Klopp never lost at Goodison. Sean Dyche’s team were fighting to avoid relegation. They were challenging for the title at Liverpool. What he described as “horrific to watch” according to Liverpool’s outgoing manager and unknown to Verton fans, his machine performed with a intensity and quality that had been largely absent in the rest of the troubled campaign. Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored goals that sparked chants: “You lost the league at Goodison Park.” The old place really rocked that night as the Evertonians turned into a bear pit. He is decrepit, literate, embarrassed, and has terrible abilities, but he will be sorely missed when he is gone.