Five iconic Merseyside derbies at Goodison Park as Everton and Liverpool prepare for last ever clash at Grand Old Lady

THE Grand Old Lady will tonight open her door to the neighbours from across Stanley Park for one last time. Emotions always run high in Merseyside derbies and the welcome usually does not extend beyond the front step. In the Premier League era alone — since September 1992 — the fixture has seen 23 red cards. So much for the “friendly derby” as it became known for a while. This one will mean so much more.

Not just to Liverpool and boss Arne Slot, who will be making his first and only visit to Goodison Park. The stadium was the scene, 131 years ago, of the first-ever meeting between Everton and the Reds. That game, on October 13, 1894 finished in a 3-0 win for the hosts. And how Toffees fans would love to stick it on their local rivals like that again before next season’s move to Bramley-Moore Dock. Victory would go a long way to suggesting that boss David Moyes’ second coming will result in salvation and a guarantee that the club’s fabulous new £800million home will open to Premier League football next season.

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS. It would also dent Slot’s bid to complete his debut campaign as Reds manager with the title. And he will know that no matter the Toffees’ troubles, the Grand Old Lady can be a terrible hostess. Predecessor Jurgen Klopp found that out on his final visit, in fact. The German had not lost there over nine years but — on April 24, 2024 — Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jarrad Branthwaite scored as Everton won 2-0 in a first Goodison victory over their rivals since 2010.

It was the death knell to Klopp’s hopes of departing Anfield with a second Premier League success as part of a run of one win in four games that saw the Reds ultimately finish third last term. This match — rescheduled having fallen victim to Storm Darragh in December — will be the 120th derby at Goodison, with the sides incredibly tied on 41 wins each and 37 draws. Slot’s juggernaut fell in a Home Park ditch, losing Sunday’s FA Cup fourth-round clash to Plymouth.

But victory here would take Liverpool nine points clear in the Prem and on an open road to title triumph. Here is a look back at some of the most memorable get-togethers staged by the Grand Old Lady. This FA Cup clash pitted the holders, Everton, against the reigning league champions and produced such a demand for tickets that it was also shown on giant screens at Anfield. There were  40,000 watching it across the park while 65,000 crammed into Goodison — creating the biggest single audience for an FA Cup tie outside the final.

England and Toffees legend Alan Ball scored the winning goal. Fans in the Kop still sing about how Ian Rush savaged his boyhood club in what was Everton’s heaviest-ever derby defeat at Goodison. But they could also chant the name of Glenn Keeley, who had joined Everton on loan from Blackburn the previous week due to defensive injuries. He had barely played thanks to a contract stand-off at Ewood Park.

And he later admitted that a new law that players would automatically be sent off for professional fouls had by–passed him. Liverpool were already a Rush strike ahead when Keeley hauled down Kenny Dalglish darting through in the 37th minute and was forced into the long walk. Rush then ran riot to finish the match with four goals and Keeley never played for Everton again. While legendary goalkeeper Neville Southall was in such a state of shock he was loaned to Port Vale to recover.

Goodison will likely be as raucous as ever tonight but there will be plenty there who look back at the saddest Merseyside derby. The game was Liverpool’s first league game after the Hillsborough disaster 18 days earlier. Fans carried 95 intertwined Liverpool and Everton scarves in memory of those who died, that tragic figure rising to 97. The entire city was united in raw grief and despair yet the 46,000 present broke into a deafening chant of “Merseyside, Merseyside” following the minute’s silence – perhaps the most unforgettable moment of them all in Goodison’s 132-year history.

The Liverpool Echo headlined this clash the “match of a lifetime”. And Everton went behind four times, with Tony Cottee scoring his second of the game right at the end of extra-time to salvage a draw. But the aftermath brought even bigger drama, as Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish sensationally resigned 48 hours later — unable any more to carry the toll and trauma of the Hillsborough disaster, having been to as many funerals as he could.

The Reds were the First Division champions and again top of the table going into this FA Cup fifth-round replay but Dalglish’s sudden departure arguably cost them a second successive title defence — and began a 30-year wait for another one. The venue for the second replay — imagine that these days — was also Goodison, decided on the toss of a coin. And under caretaker-manager Ronnie Moran, Liverpool lost 1-0.