The saying that football is more than just a game is heard in a number of scenarios but none more so than when Liverpool and Everton face-off.
England’s longest running top-flight derby is more than a battle between red and blue, it’s a game that divides families and puts a halt to everything in Liverpool for ninety minutes – at least, it certainly used to.
It’s a game that since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, has seen the most red cards out of any other game, meaning it’s safely considered as one of the most heated affairs on the English football calendar.
How was the rivalry formed?
The whole derby was arguably invented by Lord Mayor of Liverpool John Houlding in the late 1800’s as originally, Everton played their games at Anfield. After club members became angry at him for increasing the interest rates on the loan he gave to the club, it became too costly to properly function.
On 15th March 1892, the decision was made that Everton would move away from Anfield to the north side of Stanley Park, where Goodison Park is situated.
Consequently when John Houlding was left with an empty ground with no team to come and play there, he created his own side called Everton Athletic, which was swiftly changed to Liverpool F.C. after the FA wouldn’t allow two teams to have the same name.
Between the 1950’s and 1960’s, the derby transformed into a battle between Catholics and Protestants due to Everton having a number of successful Irish players as well as their manager Jimmy O’Neill being from Ireland.
The rivalry was fiercely contested on and off the pitch in later years and the Heysel disaster marked a turn for the worst in football and in the rivalry between Liverpool and Everton as well.
Everton won the First Division title in 1985 and hence would have played in Europe – if it wasn’t for the five-year ban all English clubs would incur because of the disaster.
After the ban was lifted because of the Liverpool fans charging and consequently crushing Juventus fans, Everton’s golden age was gone.
The rivalry though, was completely forgotten about briefly, on 15th April 1989. 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster and the two clubs rallied together, specifically when all were involved in the boycotting of The Sun for wrongful publication.
The newspaper claimed that fans were to blame for the disaster, hence why it’s never been seen in Liverpool since and will forever be frowned upon on Merseyside.
Despite all the tension and rivalry between the two sides, football is put into perspective when a disaster like that happens.
Unlike most UK derbies, in the city of Liverpool, on every single street, you will see families whose allegiances are mixed.
Bragging rights and boasting will often take place but violence is rare between these two clubs nowadays, which differentiates itself from a number of more intense English rivalries.
Alongside the historic reasoning, part of the rivalry is due to the close proximity between the two clubs. Goodison Park and Anfield are situated no less than 0.59 miles away from each other and that also led to the creation of a spin-off name – the “Family Derby”.
This is due to their closeness and the fact that both clubs have huge sets of family supporters following them.
Head to Head
Nowadays, life is a lot easier if you’re a Liverpool fan.
As well as a superior head-to-head record against Everton, under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp, the Reds have surged to a League Cup final, Europa League final and Champions League final, all in the past three years.
Everton meanwhile, continue to battle for a place in the Europa League but simply haven’t enjoyed the success that Liverpool have done recently.
The battle between these two famous clubs goes back many years. The two sides have played each other 233 times and Liverpool have come out winners on 93 occasions, compared to Everton’s 66. With 77 being draws else well, it certainly highlights what a competitive game the Merseyside derby normally pans out to be.
Where does it rank in our top ten?
As voted by our twitter followers, the Merseyside derby sits in eighth place. Despite how tempers often tend to boil over on the pitch, the family derby is one without violence off the pitch, which therefore makes its low place understandable.
What are your thoughts on the Merseyside Derby… Let us know!
footballrivalries.video.blog 