Kenshin
Player Valuation: £40m
Ahead of the Merseyside derby on April 1st I thought it would be interesting to look back over the years and just to see how this rivalry has come about beyond simply sharing a city. For a long time now and for a generation of fans the Rivalry has lost all of its meaning among the many defeats and general success of ‘them lot’ so this is for you, a history of the greatest club in the world and their rivalry with their neighbours.
First of all this is the longest running top flight Derby in Football to date, the game has been played since 1962-3 when Liverpool were promoted back up again to the top flight. The game has been generally been called the Merseyside Derby since around 1955 onwards, or at least coined that name. This is the derby that used to be called the ‘friendly derby’ simply for the reason that so many families supported both clubs, and often stood side by side in the terraces without trouble. Going back to the 1984 league cup final, Wembley was known to be completely mixed with the fans chanting ‘are you watching Manchester’, all despite the end result of the game. So it raises the question, why the hate? Generations ago stood side by side so what changed?
Liverpool was formed after a ground dispute between the board and a man named John Houlding. The story tends to be political; the board members who were part of the Liberal party seemed to be always at odds with Houlding’s conservative interests. Eventually they decided to vacate the site of Anfield and move over to Goodison Park, on the other side of Stanley Park. In retaliation, Houlding decided to form his own club, from which point the club was formed. Funny that 120 years later we could have been sat at Anfield ourselves and Liverpool would not have even existed, but we would not have been the club we love today if not for that.
Over the years following the birth of our rivals, it was tended to be thought of political views led to allegiance as opposed to the family ties of today’s generations of supporters. Up until 1932 both clubs shared the same match day program, with no real rivalry beyond getting one over the other on match days. Leading into the 1950’s, Everton were known as the Catholic club after signing several Irish Catholic players such as Peter Farrell and Jimmy O’Neil, so as a result Liverpool became known as the Protestant club. In fact Liverpool did not sign a ‘catholic’ player until 1979 in Ronnie Whelan. However despite all this, religion never played a part in any rivalry as it did in places such as Glasgow, for the better I would say.
The next 30 years set the precedent for the rivalry today. We were better known as the Mersey millionaires, and had our great team of Ball/Kendall/Royle and the like where they got Shankley and had their first real run at sustained success. Moving into the 70’s and largely Everton underachieved during that time, especially with players like Latchford scoring 30 a year, but no trophies to show for it after 1970. Liverpool had moved onto Bob Paisley and won some more stuff, not important that. Even through this time the friendly nature of the game was maintained, with no real evident ‘bitter blue’ tags as much as just a city of football still. Both clubs largely dominated this era, and it led into the 1980’s and the eventual turn of the Derby. There is no exact point, but the European Cup final is deemed to be the trigger to what we now know today as the rivalry between the clubs. Everton fans held Liverpool fans to account over what happened and the subsequent repercussions that Everton suffered. During the 80’s it became common sightings for Everton and Liverpool to be battling it out with one another for a trophy or title, but 1985 really was the turning point for both Everton and the Derby in general. Everton’s last league title was in 87, Liverpool in 90 and after that ushered in the modern era of the game. This was the real moment the rivalry was born, from Sky coverage and the polarising points both clubs went to as a result. Everton become the under dogs, the relegation battlers whereas Liverpool always got the media spotlight on them, what has changed? The rivalry really kicked off, the most red cards in a fixture, it stopped being labelled the friendly derby, and hostilities have run up between the two sides. Recent years has seen a bit of a divide come between the fans due to differentiating seasons but come derby day both sets of fans/families/clubs care about only one thing, a win over their rivals.
On to the statistics part. Before Sky formed football the derby was won 48 times to Liverpool’s 54. Since 1992, Everton have only won the derby 9 times, to their 21. In total, this will be the 228th Merseyside Derby in all competition. Everton have not won the game in 7 years, and have not won at Anfield since 2000. A win is long overdue and we can only hope we break both of those runs on 1st April. The longest Derby unbeaten run, Everton between 1941-1952. The most red carded players? Phil Neville and Steven Gerrard two each. The most Derby appearances is held by the legend of Neville Southall where the highest goal scorer is Ian Rush. William C Cuff holds the record for the most wins as manager, beating Liverpool a total of 16 times back in 1901-1918. Finally two players have scored for both teams in the Derby, Peter Beardsley and David Johnson.
And final bit of Trivia for those too young to know. Back in 1966, Everton played Liverpool in the charity shield game at Goodison Park. Before the game, Liverpool paraded their league title alongside Everton’s FA cup with Roger Hunt and Ray Wilson completing the parade with the World cup they had just won.
All that is left to say is Come on you blues and let’s be the pride of Merseyside yet again.
First of all this is the longest running top flight Derby in Football to date, the game has been played since 1962-3 when Liverpool were promoted back up again to the top flight. The game has been generally been called the Merseyside Derby since around 1955 onwards, or at least coined that name. This is the derby that used to be called the ‘friendly derby’ simply for the reason that so many families supported both clubs, and often stood side by side in the terraces without trouble. Going back to the 1984 league cup final, Wembley was known to be completely mixed with the fans chanting ‘are you watching Manchester’, all despite the end result of the game. So it raises the question, why the hate? Generations ago stood side by side so what changed?
Liverpool was formed after a ground dispute between the board and a man named John Houlding. The story tends to be political; the board members who were part of the Liberal party seemed to be always at odds with Houlding’s conservative interests. Eventually they decided to vacate the site of Anfield and move over to Goodison Park, on the other side of Stanley Park. In retaliation, Houlding decided to form his own club, from which point the club was formed. Funny that 120 years later we could have been sat at Anfield ourselves and Liverpool would not have even existed, but we would not have been the club we love today if not for that.
Over the years following the birth of our rivals, it was tended to be thought of political views led to allegiance as opposed to the family ties of today’s generations of supporters. Up until 1932 both clubs shared the same match day program, with no real rivalry beyond getting one over the other on match days. Leading into the 1950’s, Everton were known as the Catholic club after signing several Irish Catholic players such as Peter Farrell and Jimmy O’Neil, so as a result Liverpool became known as the Protestant club. In fact Liverpool did not sign a ‘catholic’ player until 1979 in Ronnie Whelan. However despite all this, religion never played a part in any rivalry as it did in places such as Glasgow, for the better I would say.
The next 30 years set the precedent for the rivalry today. We were better known as the Mersey millionaires, and had our great team of Ball/Kendall/Royle and the like where they got Shankley and had their first real run at sustained success. Moving into the 70’s and largely Everton underachieved during that time, especially with players like Latchford scoring 30 a year, but no trophies to show for it after 1970. Liverpool had moved onto Bob Paisley and won some more stuff, not important that. Even through this time the friendly nature of the game was maintained, with no real evident ‘bitter blue’ tags as much as just a city of football still. Both clubs largely dominated this era, and it led into the 1980’s and the eventual turn of the Derby. There is no exact point, but the European Cup final is deemed to be the trigger to what we now know today as the rivalry between the clubs. Everton fans held Liverpool fans to account over what happened and the subsequent repercussions that Everton suffered. During the 80’s it became common sightings for Everton and Liverpool to be battling it out with one another for a trophy or title, but 1985 really was the turning point for both Everton and the Derby in general. Everton’s last league title was in 87, Liverpool in 90 and after that ushered in the modern era of the game. This was the real moment the rivalry was born, from Sky coverage and the polarising points both clubs went to as a result. Everton become the under dogs, the relegation battlers whereas Liverpool always got the media spotlight on them, what has changed? The rivalry really kicked off, the most red cards in a fixture, it stopped being labelled the friendly derby, and hostilities have run up between the two sides. Recent years has seen a bit of a divide come between the fans due to differentiating seasons but come derby day both sets of fans/families/clubs care about only one thing, a win over their rivals.
On to the statistics part. Before Sky formed football the derby was won 48 times to Liverpool’s 54. Since 1992, Everton have only won the derby 9 times, to their 21. In total, this will be the 228th Merseyside Derby in all competition. Everton have not won the game in 7 years, and have not won at Anfield since 2000. A win is long overdue and we can only hope we break both of those runs on 1st April. The longest Derby unbeaten run, Everton between 1941-1952. The most red carded players? Phil Neville and Steven Gerrard two each. The most Derby appearances is held by the legend of Neville Southall where the highest goal scorer is Ian Rush. William C Cuff holds the record for the most wins as manager, beating Liverpool a total of 16 times back in 1901-1918. Finally two players have scored for both teams in the Derby, Peter Beardsley and David Johnson.
And final bit of Trivia for those too young to know. Back in 1966, Everton played Liverpool in the charity shield game at Goodison Park. Before the game, Liverpool paraded their league title alongside Everton’s FA cup with Roger Hunt and Ray Wilson completing the parade with the World cup they had just won.
All that is left to say is Come on you blues and let’s be the pride of Merseyside yet again.
