Following the announcement that the final Premier League Merseyside derby at Goodison Park will be televised, Mersey Sport Live looks at the top five derbies hosted at the iconic ground.
This season’s Goodison fixture between the men’s teams will take place on Saturday December 10 at 12:30pm.
It is likely to be the final time Everton and Liverpool will meet at the historic ground, unless the two sides are drawn there in the FA Cup.
Everton will move to their new home at Bramley-Moore Dock on Liverpool waterfront at the start of the 2025/26 season.
The match will mark the 121st * so-called friendly derby at the Grand Old Lady, which has hosted more top-flight matches than any other club in the country.
The two rivals have resided on either side of Stanley Park since 1892, when conflict on the Everton board led John Houlding to create Liverpool FC.
*including League, FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield and Super Cup games
Everton v. Liverpool over the years
The rivalry between the two sides has brought fans some of their best and worst football memories.
Each side has dominated the rivalry at different points in history. The graph below details the number of wins each side has taken in both stadiums in the Merseyside derby since it began in 1894.
Here are the top five moments from the Merseyside derbies at Goodison, starting with the first official meeting between the two sides:
Everton 3-0 Liverpool – 13 October 1894
The official birth of the Merseyside derby, 130 years ago. This match displayed Dick Molyneux’s side’s dominance in the Football League First Division at the time, in a season where Liverpool found themselves getting relegated.
The local rivals played in front of over 40,000 fans, where goals from Tom McInnes, Alex Latta and Jack Bell secured the win for the Blues.
They have since met 244 times. Liverpool have won 99 of those, with Everton taking away 68 victories so far. The two sides have drawn a total of 77 times.
Everton 0-5 Liverpool – 6 November 1982
“Rush scored one! Rush scored two! Rush scored three and Rush scored four!”
That was the new verse added to the iconic song ‘Poor Scouser Tommy’ after this eye-watering display from Bob Paisley’s Liverpool.
A 21-year-old Ian Rush was the star of the show, scoring four goals to leave the Toffees ‘feeling blue’. Mark Lawrenson was the only other name on the scoresheet.
To make it even better for the Reds, they went on to win the league that season. This match went down in history as one of the best Merseyside derby wins for the Kopites.
Everton 3-0 Liverpool – 9 September 2006
This crushing Everton victory was their biggest Merseyside derby win in 42 years, and Goodison Park was electric.
First half goals from Tim Cahill and Andrew Johnson put the Toffees 2-0 up at the break, and Johnson headed in a brace in injury time to seal the 3-0 victory.
It was an awful day for Rafael Benitez’s side, with a combination of poor defending, goalkeeper errors and injuries.
Everton 2-3 Liverpool – 16 April 2001
This triumph for the Reds was just one of their notable successes in the 2000/01 treble-winning season.
Liverpool went ahead twice with goals from Emile Heskey and Markus Babbel, but Everton equalised on both occasions courtesy of Duncan Ferguson and a David Unsworth spot kick.
It was in the final seconds of injury time that Gary McAllister’s free kick from more than 30 yards out curled past Paul Gerrard to give his side a late winner.
Gerard Houllier led his team to lift three trophies in that season: the League Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the FA Cup.
Everton 3-3 Liverpool 23 – November 2013
This six-goal thriller is well-remembered as a relentless battle, with each side taking away a point as Everton dented Liverpool’s title hopes.
The away end erupted as Philippe Coutinho gave the Reds an early lead, but Kevin Mirallas promptly found the equaliser.
Suarez put his side ahead again in the first half, and in true Merseyside derby fashion, was on the receiving end of a poor tackle from Mirallas who was lucky to stay on the pitch.
A fiery Romelu Lukaku finally found the net in the second half, before heading it in for the brace with eight minutes remaining, but substitute Daniel Sturridge headed in Steven Gerrard’s free kick in the final minute of normal time.
Featured Image by Holly Crebbin
Data Visualisation by Holly Crebbin
