Merseyside poised for final derby at Goodison Park

LONDON : The last-ever FA Cup tie at Goodison Park proved to be the dampest of squibs on Saturday and Everton fans will demand something of a higher order for what will be an emotional last Merseyside derby at the famous old ground on Wednesday night.

Everton stumbled to a 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth, their gloom lifted only by Liverpool's subsequent shock 1-0 loss at Plymouth Argyle, and though Everton will now focus their attention on avoiding relegation and Liverpool will seek to widen their lead at the top, Wednesday's game will exist in its own world away from the Premier League table.

The fixture was due to be played in December but postponed due to Storm Darragh and so, instead of a Saturday lunchtime kickoff, it gets the midweek evening prime-time slot such an historic match surely deserves.

This will be the 245th meeting in all competitions between the largely friendly rivals divided by less than a mile of Stanley Park, making it the most played fixture in English football.

The first was in 1894, two years after Everton left Anfield following a row over rent.

While the new club of Liverpool FC was formed at the old ground, Everton built what was then the best ground in England, and so began 131 years of fixtures there that will end when Everton move to their new home next season.

In that time at Goodison, in all competitions the teams have 41 wins each, with 37 draws, though those figures have been taking on a reddish hue in recent decades.

When Everton won 1-0 at Goodison in 1978 it ended a record seven-year, 15-game winless spell against their greatest rivals. Goalscorer Andy King was famously told to "get off the pitch" while being "gently ushered" by a policeman, interrupting his TV interview moments after fulltime as the fans celebrated furiously.

They would never have believed that that dire run would be surpassed by the shocking 23 games Everton went without success from 2011-2021, and they have managed only two wins since then - including April's 2-0 success at Goodison in the most recent derby.

Everton have won only two of their last 27 Premier League games against Liverpool, drawing 13, and nine of the last 12 at Goodison have been draws.

The Toffees need to go back to their title-winning season of 1984-85 for the last time they won consecutive league derbies and the last time before that was in 1964-65.

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Whatever the teams' respective form, however, it is always a special fixture for the city and it is no surprise that Goodison's record attendance of 78,299 came in a derby, in 1948.

Ten years later, it became the first ground in Britain to install undersoil heating, with another claim to fame being the first pitchside dugouts in England, installed in 1931.

Its Archibald Leitch stands are recognised around the world, while the home fans' favourite Gwladys Street End was named after Howard Kendall in 2016 in recognition of the club's manager during their glory years of the mid-1980s.

Goodison Park has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England and also has a rich history of other big matches. It hosted the FA Cup final in 1894, has had myriad semi-finals and was a venue for the 1966 World Cup.

It also hosted 10 England internationals, including in 1949 when Ireland became the first team outside the home nations to beat England at home.

But it is the derby that the ground will be remembered for and in David Moyes, long-suffering Everton fans can roll back, if not quite to the golden years, at least the decent ones.

Since returning last month, Moyes has overseen three successive league wins and though he accepts his team are still light years away from their red rivals, he is relishing the challenge of closing the gap, as he did the first time around.

"I always go back to my last two years where we finished above Liverpool in the league twice (2012 and 2013)," said Moyes, who did so despite having a dire record in derbies.

"The gap between the two teams at the moment has probably been as big as it has been for a long time, So it’s something I have to bridge, and start bringing the two clubs closer together."