“I never saw such a crowd. As early as one o’clock all streets, for miles around, leading to Goodison Park began to be thronged with men, women, and boys, all tramping to one place.” So read John Humphries’ report in the North Wales Chronicle after the first-ever Merseyside derby took place.
“As far away as the Pier Head every tramcar was loaded with excited intending spectators of the game, and these, together with a heterogeneous assemblage of omnibuses, wagonettes, drays, pony carts, hansom cabs, fourwheelers and every imaginable description of wheeled vehicle, formed a huge procession stretching (to take one route alone) from the bottom of Scotland Road right up to the ground.”
Everton, founding members of the Football League and First Division title winners just three years earlier, went into the match against Liverpool as huge favourites and duly won against the freshly-promoted new boys.
The Toffees believed they were the true club of the city, having been formed 14 years before their new foes. Liverpool had been born out of Everton’s acrimonious departure from their old home of Anfield, but it was the elder statesmen who ran out 3-0 winners at Goodison Park. They have rarely had it their way since.
It was to be the first clash of many, many battles. October 13, 1894 was the day the Merseyside derby was born and ever since then, families have been split and loyalties divided: Red versus Blue.
Astonishingly, during this first meeting - played in front of a crowd of 44,000 - Everton played in red as they would only settle on their famous blue a year later, while Liverpool wore pale blue and white halves. How times change.
On the anniversary, a century-and-a-quarter on, The Sportsman looks back on one of the fiercest, most historic and passionate rivalries in world football…
Hailing from statistically the most successful football city in England, Liverpool and Everton boast a combined 28 league titles and 13 FA Cups. While they have never met outside of the top flight in league competition, the 1980s truly belonged to Merseyside with the pair dominating English football.
But it is those in the red half of Merseyside who currently hold the bragging rights for victories between the two sides.
Having faced each other 242 times, the Reds boast 98 wins while Everton have got the better of their enemy on 67 occasions. They’ve drawn 74 times.
Ian Rush, a Liverpool striker and boyhood Evertonian, is the all-time top scorer in Mersey derby history with 25 strikes to his name.
Having famously appeared in an Everton shirt in an iconic April Fools’ front cover transfer prank by Shoot Magazine, Rush had many Toffees wishing he’d made the switch in real life given how much he became a constant thorn in their side.
He even scored four goals in FA Cup finals against the Blues, netting twice in the 1986 3-1 Wembley win over Everton before repeating the dose as a substitute in the 3-2 victory in the 1989 final.
Next on the goalscoring list is Everton hero Dixie Dean with 19. Alex ‘Sandy’ Young is third with his 12 goals at the start of the 1900s, followed by Liverpool talisman Steven Gerrard with 10.
Separated only by Stanley Park, the match is known as ‘The Friendly Derby’, though supporters of both sides might tell you the reality is somewhat different, and the red card count is suggests they may be right.
Since the inception of the Premier League no fixture has seen more dismissals, with 22 sendings-off in total. Captains Gerrard and Phil Neville were each given their marching orders twice in derby fixtures.
In the modern era, it’s been an unhappy, dreaded, Groundhog Day sort of fixture for the Blues. Everton did not win a single game at Anfield for the first 21 years of this century. They snapped that streak with a 2-0 away win in February 2021 - the last victory before that coming courtesy of a Kevin Campbell strike in September 1999.
The Toffees will be desperate for a victory today, to nip any thoughts of such a long wait for another away derby win in the bud.
