Goodbye Goodison, I'll Miss You

The last league Merseyside derby at the old ground evokes so many memories

GOODISON PARK was built for a different age. In the corporate era, it has outlived its usefulness. Entertainment centres are replacing football stadiums. A little more of the game’s soul will fade when Everton move into the Bramley-Moore dock.

The old ground’s final Merseyside derby takes place this weekend – unless the FA Cup throws up another shred of romance. Blue versus Red against the backdrop of Archibald Leitch’s cross-braced panels. It’s one of the finest sights in football.

For many of my generation, Goodison feels like a second home. Attendance fees were cheap until the 1990s and we would go to Anfield one week and across Stanley Park to watch Everton home games when Liverpool were on the road. That was until we were old enough to go to away fixtures. Even though I never, ever, supported Everton, the chance to watch a match could not be passed up.

Actually, that's not true. I supported Everton when they played Manchester United.

But it’s the derbies that are the most memorable experiences for me at Goodison. It’s called the ‘friendly derby’ and there is plenty of truth in that. On Merseyside, the footballing divisions are not defined by religion, districts or even family affiliation. It’s not unusual for siblings to support different teams.

Even so, there were always undercurrents of hostility that caused you to question the ‘friendly’ cliché. The city centre on derby night can be a very fractious place. Bridewells and A&E departments are kept busy in the aftermath of Everton-Liverpool games.

Nevertheless, there will be red shirts and scarfs in every stand at Goodison this weekend, even though the relationship between the two sets of fans is deteriorating by the year. Away supporters have never been confined to a single section in Merseyside matchups. Almost a third of the Kop on the main stand side tended to be blue when Everton were at Anfield and Liverpool supporters can be seen in large groups in the Street End on footage from the standing era.

That always made for a lively atmosphere. Goodison can be magnificently hostile, though indignation and anger have been the dominant Evertonian emotions for too long. Fear and disappointment hang like a pallor over the stands these days. It was not always so.

I’ve been asked a lot this week about my favourite derby. There are many that come to mind. Sitting in the front row of the newly-opened top balcony in 1973 was a harrowing experience for a 12-year-old who was scared of heights – until Emlyn Hughes scored twice in the last 10 minutes to give Liverpool a 2-0 victory. Steam rose like smoke from the Park End as fans bounced in triumph.

For the 5-0 win in 1982 I watched from the Paddock. When Ian Rush scored his fourth, someone kicked me hard on the shin. None of the blues around us would admit to doing it. I was fuming. But 42 years on, I sometimes touch the lump the blow left and smile; a souvenir of a different age.

There were defeats, too, and some of them are equally memorable. I had the misfortune to be in the Street End in 1978 when Andy King produced a magnificent effort to give Everton a 1-0 victory.

The Evertonians around me made sure I was included in their celebrations and roughed me up a little when David Johnson’s potential equaliser was disallowed for offside.

The greatest Goodison derby, though, was in September 1985. Rain poured down throughout the day and by the time I got into the Enclosure near the corner flag, everyone around was soaked through. It didn’t matter.

The two best teams in Europe were on the pitch, although Everton’s claims to be at the top table looked questionable in the first half. Kenny Dalglish gave Liverpool the lead after 21 second – causing a short, brutal fistfight in our vicinity – and the away side were 3-0 up at the half.

Howard Kendall’s champions stormed back in the second half and pegged the lead back to 3-2. Dalglish missed two golden chances to put the game to bed but Liverpool clung on to take three points in one of the most breathtaking games I’ve seen. Merseyside should have been the centre of the footballing world but this was just four months after Heysel.

Liverpool had to be exiled from European competition after violence by their supporters before the European Cup final against Juventus in Brussels led to the deaths of 39 spectators. The collective punishment on other English clubs was unfair, though, and Everton did not deserve to be banished from Europe.

Just over a year after this pulsating game, one of the most inconsequential derbies ever took place at Goodison. To try and compensate for the lack of European revenue, the footballing authorities created a new competition: the Super Cup. It was scheduled to be completed in 1985-86 but, because of fixture congestion, the final was pushed back to the new season and was played over two legs in September 1986.

A new trophy was created and, along the way, the Super Cup found itself a sponsor, Screen Sports, who provided a second piece of silverware. Everton and Liverpool were playing for two trophies that neither club cared about.

Liverpool won the first leg 3-1 and a mere 26,000 turned up at Goodison for the second game. The visiting side romped to a 4-1 victory, making it 7-2 on aggregate.

The ground emptied and the Liverpool players took their two cups over to the away fans who were enjoying any sort of win over Everton. The trophies got handed round with happy supporters hoisting them in the air.

The team went back to the dressing room and it was only when they came to leave that someone noticed that there were no cups. Both had been left with the supporters. Neither was ever seen again.

Goodison has seen it all. Professional baseball in the 1920s, Dixie Dean’s 60-goal season, Pele and Brazil in 1966, the Holy Trinity midfield of Kendall, Colin Harvey and Alan Ball, the great mid-1980s team… It will be sad to lose a place like this. The ghosts of greatness lurk in every corner.

After Saturday, Liverpool will never play there again. An age has passed. One more Goodison derby would be nice – an FA Cup quarter-final in March would be ideal at a home away from home.

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