So, after
another Premiership win and
another clean sheet next up are close neighbours Everton FC at Goodison Park. With the festive period known for it’s hectic fixture schedule the short trip across the Park will come as a welcome break after the recent trip to Japan. Everton are struggling this season under David Moyes and may see the derby as an opportunity to kick-start their season, the same way they kick-started against Chelsea and United. Ahem.
Everton FC vs Liverpool FC
Wednesday 28th 2005
Goodison Park, Liverpool
KO 2000 Hrs GMT
Club informationFounded: 1878
Club Nickname: The Blues
Previous Names/Grounds: St Domingo FC/Anfield
Ground Capacity: 40170
Pitch Measurements: 105m x 68m
Home Kit:Royal blue shirts with white trim, white shorts, blue socks.
Away Kit:White shirts, white shorts with blue trim, black socks
Record Attendance: 78299: vs Liverpool 18/09/1948 Division 1
Record League Win: 9 - 1: vs Manchester City 03/09/1906 Division 1
Record League Loss: 4 - 10: vs Tottenham Hotspur 11/10/1958 Division 1
Record Transfer Paid: £5,750,000: Nick Barmby - Middlesbrough October 1996
Record Transfer Received: £8,000,000: Francis Jeffers - Arsenal 14 June 2001
League Scoring Record: Dixie Dean: 349 1925/37
HonoursLeague Titles Division One: 1890-91, 1914-15, 1927-28, 1931-32, 1938-39, 1962-63, 1969-70, 1984-85, 1986-87. Division Two: 1930-31
F A Cup Winners 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995
Europe Cup Winners' Cup winners 1985
League Cup Finalists 1977, 1984
HistoryEverton were founder members of the league and won it for the first time in 1891. Another four championships came before the Second World War along with 2 FA Cup wins but the post war years were fallow for the Merseysiders and they dropped into the 2nd division for 3 years in the early 1950s.
The glory days returned in the 1960s just before their neighbours Liverpool took a stranglehold on the title. This dominance infuriated Evertonians and their saviour appeared in the guise of Howard Kendall. To begin with, he appeared to be able to do nothing about the inexorable slide but after winning a cup tie at Oxford, Everton turned the corner and began to challenge Liverpool for the major honours.
1984 brought the FA Cup to Goodison Park and the following season, the league championship returned. Howard Kendall left in 1987 after another championship win and things have never been the same as Everton have once again struggled. Joe Royle's arrival as manager saw their first trophy since those days as they won the FA Cup, beating Manchester Utd 1-0 and the fans expected ex-player Joe Royle to bring the good times back again, Joe Royle made some big signings, but Everton never looked like becoming a major force, and Royle left the club in February 1997.
After a brief spell with Dave Watson in charge as the caretaker manager, Howard Kendall took on the job as manager again, but was only there for a year and was replaced by Walter Smith, who had enjoyed huge success up in Scotland with Rangers. However, he found things much more tough at Everton and after flirting with relegation a couple of times, the club changed managers yet again, bringing in David Moyes from Preston, and he made an instant impact, keeping them up in his first few months and taking them to the brink of European football in his first full season.
Recent FormDWLLL
So there I am; presented with the hard task, very hard task in fact, of getting some half decent answers from our fiercest, bitterest, hard faced Evertonian rivals. We already know about most of their on-the-field antics, but I wanted to catch the typical derby atmosphere. I logged on to one of the more well known Everton websites,
www.bluekipper.com, and asked a few of the lads on there a number of questions in the build up to the biggy – oh yes – The Goodison Derby. Ugh
About three of the lads on there replied with good honest answers; as has been the trend with the Spyin’ Kop feature this season. But most, and it was the majority, responded as expected – with the most horrible, nasty, viscous bile you could ever imagine [one replied in Norweigen, I think - WTF?!]. Some of you may suggest it’s not worth showing these comments – as a proud Scouser I disagree, people need to open their eyes and get to grips with this problem.
The Merseyside derby is no longer seen as “the friendly derby”. Good hard-working Scousers going hand in hand to the match. Maybe, but not in my lifetime. Instead we’ve been treated to Patrick Berger’s car getting done outside the Royal Oak (with his kids in the back, may I add), the disruption of the Hillsbrough minutes silence, the Salif Daio pitch runner,‘die die Nicky’ posters, ‘murderer’ banners, paint attacks on the Hillsbrough memorial and more recently the high profile Michael Shields chanting. For the first time in six years I won’t be going to Goodison this year. It’s an experience I don’t enjoy - it’s violent, threatening and above all else it’s become dangerous.
Anyway, back with the task in hand, here’s my questions and a couple of half-decent answers. I’ll warn you in advance I’ve left the more vile replies to the end of the article.
So…
1) Derby day at Goodison... the atmosphere has certainly changed over the last few years - why do you think that is? Welshy: The Derby has changed for the worse, you're right, I personally think it has something to do with the fact we've been on the receiving end of poor results in past years and one or two 'injustices' (in our eyes, not yours), in particular the Hutchison 'goal' when Poll never blew up and the McAllister free kick which although technically not an injustice fucked a lot, A LOT, of Evertonian heads up.
phil_efc: To me the atmosphere hasn't changed as I'm only 19, it's always been like that
RWL: Sky. I blame sky for everything, i hate bastards! Early kick offs are shite, apart from the game at Goodison last year I cant remember 1 early kick off with a good atmosphere
2) Speaking of the Red Shite, how did you feel on May 25th 2005? Welshy: 25th May. For me, personally, it was devastating. The loving brother and son I am should have felt alright about it with my dad and little brother and sister both being Liverpool fans, but to claim that you deserved that win after playing only 6 minutes of football frankly grates at the very essence of football. If everything would've gone to plan that day then AC Milan wouldn't have crumbled in that second half and gone on to rightly become Champions of Europe for a 7th time. As it happens, they didn't, and I for one will always remember THAT day as the day one of the greatest teams in Europe showed it has no spine whatsoever. A dark day for football if you want a short answer.
phil_efc: I felt perfectly healthy on May 25th thanks
EvertonChris: Jeg er student. Jeg liker Norsk over alt. Jeg er ikke fra Norge men jeg vil gjerne besøke Norge
RWL: Absolutely disgusted. Couldn’t believe it. One of the worst nights of my life. Delighted at half time, jumping around. Come the end I was devastated. Ill never forget it. I wrote a little story about my feelings on that night for a Liverpool message board. But they lost all their posts so I cant get it back.
3) And then on May 26th 2005, when 1,000,000 lined the streets of Liverpool to welcome home the Five Times Champions of Europe? Welshy: One million? At the last count, the population of this city (source UK Census - June 2005) was, to the nearest thousand, 468,000. How this was then doubled and another 64,000 were added onto the total, I will never know. Now, fair enough, that last sentence I'll admit, does sound like that of what you would prefer to call us ' A Bitter Blue', however, if you can show me the person who, even in a helicopter, painstakingly counted each and every last person on that bus-route then I will gladly accept that as fact
phil_efc: Again the next day I was perfectly healthy, although slightly nervous as I had to do a presentation in uni.
EvertonChris: Unnskyld, har du noe a spise? Jeg er kjempe sulten, jeg spise nesten alle tinger. Jeg liker syltetøy, ost (geitost), brød, is creme, krumkake, og mange andre tinger
RWL: Almost as bad as the night before. The realisation really hit me. The worst bit was when a red I know was moaning about having to stand there for hours. Fucking hell I’d hate to have to do that to see the blues parade that trophy!
kev50: I had mixed feelings re May, obviously part of me was horrified that we had been upstaged, yet again. But I couldn't help feeling a little proud as well at the sheer indomitability of the Scouse spirit. It pleased me as well to imagine the horrified reaction down the East Lancs.
4) This People's Club business, you don't really believe that - do you? I often see Priory Road littered with coaches from all over Wales on any EFC matchday?Welshy: The People's Club. I, for one, don't believe this to the letter, but I do feel that we are the more localised support of the two teams in our city. That's not to say that we have the 'better' fan base, it's just the general consensus amongst the people of the city and football fans as a whole that the 'People' of Liverpool follow Everton.
phil_efc: I don't walk past Priory Rd on matchday so I would'nt know
EvertonChris: Oracle-sjef og gründer Larry Ellison er rik, men vil nok kjenne det når han må punge ut med 800 millioner kroner.
RWL: Yes because Moyles said so and what he says is gospel! Really I think its just a marketing strategy now but the board are too inept to do anything with it.
5) The "Show Us Yer Tatt's" page, bit gay innit? http://www.bluekipper.com/tatts/index.html Welshy: The 'Show Us Yer Tatts' page. Let's put it this way, I'd rather spend £70 on having my beloved club's crest etched onto my arm than make a banner quoting a movie or the like. Bit gay those banners and flags aren't they?
phil_efc: Gayer than all them banners on the Kop???
EvertonChris: Men regningen blir høyere. I tillegg til de 100 millioner dollar som skal gå til veldedige formål, får advokatene som saksøkte Ellison 22 millioner dollar.
RWL: Never looked at it! I don’t look at the blue kipper site, just the forum.
6) Getting back to the match in hand, care to share us you favourite derby moment over recent years?Welshy: My favourite Derby moment over recent years, bearing in mind I've only been going the match for 12/13 years would have to be Kevin Campbell scoring the only goal at Anfield in the 1999/2000 season (correct me if I'm wrong), I miss the days when we could go 1-0 up in a Derby and hold on all the way through. A close second would be Duncan scoring only a couple of years ago and showing his 'gay' tattoo to your lot.
phil_efc: Anytime we win is always a great derby moment
EvertonChris: Bråket fortsetter for Wikipedia. Forleden kunne brukerne lese at Wikipedias grunnlegger Jimmy Wales var skutt og drept
RWL: Not that many in my lifetime! My first trip to Anfield has to be my favourite derby. The Andrei Kanchelskis double in 1995/6. Fantastic day, started off what would be the best season kanchelskis would have in his career. Also last year at home deserves a mention! First win since 1999, took us into 2nd and something like 13 points ahead of you. Really was a special atmosphere.
Paulie_Walnuts: Personally, mine was when me, and thousands of others, all started to boo the minutes silence for Hillsbrough, was a good laugh that. They look on the faces of the woolybacks in the Bullens was classic.
7) Derby day is renown world-wide, an intense environment with an excellent atmosphere. Tell us some of your most popular (derby day) songs. Welshy: Unfortunately, with the advent of 'Murderers' and '39 Italians' (which I try to refrain from singing along to as per the above...) coupled with the nonsense you lot think up (and some of it IS nonsense, admit it!) appearing over the past few years, a Derby isn't exactly the place for a good song anymore. If I had to choose, I'd go with that old favourite from a couple of years ago 'Die Die Nicky Nicky Die', never failed to get me off my seat.
phil_efc: Any EFC song sung
EvertonChris: Rogers Cadenhead har nemlig etterforsket og funnet ut at Wales har endret sin egen biografi hele 18 ganger
Efcrobmc: Oh we hate Bill Shankly and we hate St. John, but most of all we hate big Ron, and we'll hang the Kopites 1 by 1 on the banks of the royal blue Mersey, and so on...
RWL: Its a grand old team.....(of course!). We hate bill shankly and we hate st john......(of course!) . Everton! Everton! Everton! Other than songs for Moyes they are about the only 3 songs we have now!
Kev50: Re chants re Hillsborough and murderers, these people are just complete fuckwits. It's a form of cancer when you start attacking your own like that. It's a real pity about the atmosphere, I was always very proud of the way friends could go the game side by side.
8.) On the pitch....David Moyles. S'appnin lads? 4th Place and all that last season, why's it gone so horribly wrong? Welshy: It's not gone horribly wrong. It's gone absolutely tits up. The defence, with the exception of Joseph Yobo seems to lack confidence after they've conceded, and I'm including our goalkeepers in that. The midfield, Mikel Arteta and Andy Van Der Meyde aside, continues to under-perform, especially Tim Cahill who seems to have gone off the boil in a big way since he coincidentally got a new contract, Simon Davies is finally showing form but it's worrying to think it may be too late. Our 'strikeforce' if you can call it that has been beaten into being the worst component of our, last season, sometimes unbeatable machine by the defence but only just. Although James Beattie and James McFadden have begun to play well together, they're still not producing a good enough return and something, hopefully drastic, must be done to address this in January.
phil_efc: Kroldrup can't head the ball
EvertonChris: En tysk mann som har lastet ned barneporno gikk selv til politiet etter at han mottok en e-post fra dataormen Sober
RWL: The players thought they were better than they are and tried that little bit less, makes a huge difference in this league. They haven’t recovered from Villarreal defeat and the way it happened. Bent is playing awfully and he was a huge reason in why 4-5-1 worked. Weir is that bit slower and it shows. Cahill doesn’t look the same.
Kev50: re us this season, I'm starting to have the horrible feeling that it may have all been based on a house of cards, and when I think that all the Rooney money has been spent on the crippled and the crap, well.... it's difficult to find the words
9) I've got to mention it, haven't I? 85. Your thoughts? And for the record, it was never a pen. Welshy: 85', I wasn't there, was maybe only a year old. Apologies.
phil_efc: I wasn't born in 85 so no comment
EvertonChris: Hackerkrig mellom Chile og Peru
RWL: All I’m going to say about 85 is we were the best team in the world! And it was the year that our decline started for one major reason!
10) And finally, dare to predict a score, go ed'. Welshy: Prediction for it then, I'm going to stick my neck out and say 1-0 to us, hopefully we can assert ourselves better than we have in the past couple of home games and get a goal and more importantly, defend a lead.
phil_efc: 1-1
EvertonChris: Chile og Peru krangler om fiskerettigheter og nasjonaldrinker. Nå har landenes hackere også kastet seg inn i konflikten.
RWL: 0-0. Can’t see us scoring against you but i have a feeling we wont lose. I would wish you good luck but I wouldn’t mean it so I won’t!
Well in.
Merseyside Yoonited.
11) Any other comments?Children – you may want to look away now. Maltonblue:
I hope you have a good lawyer; someone will accuse you of being a murderer shortly.
Just Mick Madar:
Fuck off.
Mr. Armchair:
At Christmas do you hope FC turns you into an Everton fan?
Evertonscouser:
Drar tilbake til Norge rød shite. In your own language for your convenience
BigBlueChris:
Is there a wall that you haven't pushed over yet, I’m sure there are some Italians who would love to be buried under some brick’s? Dirty Kopite scumbag fuck off back to Oslo.
FAT STAN 2005:
That Merseyside Yoonited comment a load of a fuckin’ gay and needs to be sorted out. Kopites are gobshites, end of.
Branna:
Fuck off you murdering bastard.
AlwaysaBlue:
Don’t remember this shite being on here when we were above you last season. Sing when your winning comes to mind. How many points behind Chelsea is it?
superblue_6:
Kopites are murdering scumbags, always have been and always will!!!!!
ryan-efc:
Fucking Redshite murdering twat, best derby day songs will be the Shields ones and I hope Graeme Sankey is on the pitch before kick off
bluey-LS:
Merseyside Yoonited?? Fuck off. You should have noticed this is an Everton Forum Only so do one. Why don’t you go and pick up a pavement slab, and slam some poor fucker over the head with it, or even better go and push a wall you, murdering c*nt. I hope the moderators have banned that murdering twat off the forum!
Daviethomas:
Take a deep breath and get over it, you must be fucking joking.
Those bastards tried to blame everybody but themselves for Heysel – that’s right the taboo subject that nobody should mention, well it fucking sickens me that the famous kop are the best supporters in the land, the same kop that ripped up all the seats at Millwall and caused murder and yet they escape any punishment.
So fuck off and go and support the fucking horrible c*nts.
Jell:
Yeah they are the best team in Europe, yet were only 5th best in Prem? And went out the cup to a no mark side, so therefore they are best in Europe also...........not even in the top 10 best teams in Europe. The shite were moaning about the Sao Paulo game.....forgive me if I’m wrong but wasn’t that game an exact reversal of every knock out game in champ league last year? 3 goals Juve had wrongly disallowed against you wasn’t it? you are doing ok for a side that in the last 5/6 years has spent as much as Chelsea............
CommentSo, there you go. Massive well in to the lads who responded in the manner it was meant in, and to the ones who never - well, it's hardly a surpise anymore is it? A few of the lads on here suggested I leave out the remarks at the end of the article. I disagree. I personally think it’s about time a lot of Liverpool fans woke up to the issue, these c*nts don’t just hate us – they detest us. It’s a sorry state of affairs. Scousers are known world-wide as some of the funniest, honourable, most loyal people on this isle, and if we can’t get on with each other then what’s the fucking point? The friendly Merseyside derby. "Ahhh, y’know mate, hand-in-hand". Don’t think so. It’s violent, aggressive, bitter and intimidating – it’s turned into a farce, just like any other small time tin-pot derby up and down the country. But fuck them, I’ve had enough of people on here, internet fans with lovely rose tinted glasses, fuck the lorrov them, if that’s the way they want it then sound. Happy-fuckin-days. Another 3 points and another nail in the Merseyside Derby coffin.
Well in
CM
