David Moyes was happy to fan the flames when he first arrived at Everton in March 2002.
‘I am joining the people’s football club. The majority of people you meet on the street are Everton fans,’ he said. Whether a genuinely held belief or not, he knew what he was doing.
Like this season, he arrived to a furnace of pressure and emotion. On his first day, he got lost on the way to their Finch Farm training centre, and when he arrived, Paul Gascoigne was demanding to leave. Fortunately the Scot was better at navigating the relegation battle, picking up 13 points in nine games.
He rebuilt the club over 11 years, a legacy no Toffees manager since has matched, but he could never quite crack the nut across the city. In his 25 Merseyside derbies in that first stint, Moyes only won four. The fixture became a tale of frustration – there was a last-gasp FA Cup semi-final heartbreak in 2012, a constant stream of red cards, 13 defeats in all.
Even the joys were stifled to an extent. When Dan Gosling scored a dramatic late winner in 2009, ITV cut away to an ad break. Would you like to buy some Tic Tacs?
But despite a shaky away record – they never won at Anfield – Goodison Park became something of a fortress and the cauldron of many a great game.
David Moyes will oversee his 26th Merseyside derby tonight and is looking for his fifth win
He said Everton were the ‘people’s football club’ when he joined in 2022, setting the tone for an epic rivalry
Moyes has experienced the highs and the lows, with crushing defeats and stunning wins
Tonight marks the 120th and final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Storm Darragh did its best to stop it, and had the fixture delayed from December, but the maelstrom on the pitch could be even more extreme knowing Moyes’ history with Liverpool.
His first Merseyside derby came at Anfield in December 2002 and ended 0-0, but set the tone for truculent affairs to come.
Steven Gerrard was retrospectively banned for three games after what was described as a ‘blood-curdling’ foul on Gary Naysmith, his studs-up, two-footed lunge late on connecting with the Scot’s knee and thing.
Needless to say, the next game at Goodison in April 2003 hit sizzling temperatures. Liverpool won 2-1 but had to come through the wars. Both David Weir and Naysmith were red carded. Everton considered a lifetime ban for one Toffees fan who stormed the pitch and threw a scarf at Salif Diao, which sounds rather quaint 22 years on.
In Moyes’ first 25 games against Liverpool, there were no less than 14 red cards, 10 for Everton (though Jack Rodwell’s was rescinded). On three occasions, they were slashed to nine men for their unsavoury play.
Perhaps that’s no surprise given that the fixture overall has the most red cards of any Premier league fixture with 23.
Those early years brought some immeasurable highs. At Goodison in December 2004, Lee Carsley left Chris Kirkland statuesque as he smashed home a 20-yard piledriver to seal a 1-0 win. That result left Everton 12 points ahead of their city rivals and second in the league table. The only enjoyable aspect of the day for Liverpool fans was a half-time penalty shoot-out between Santas.
Moyes was ecstatic. ‘We have got to be in with a shout of the title, haven’t we?’ he said afterwards. In the end they finished fourth, enough for a Champions League third qualifying round place, though Villarreal killed their dreams the following summer.
Tempers flared in April 2003 at Goodison Park, and Salif Diao ended up with the dreaded scarf treatment
Lee Carsley scored a stunning long-range effort for one of Moyes’ four wins in December 2004
Pepe Reina practically handed the ball to Andy Johnson as Everton won 3-0 in September 2006
Then, in September 2006, Everton battered Liverpool 3-0 at home. Moyes had secured them their biggest derby win in 42 years. Tim Cahill scored one of his five goals in the fixture while Andy Johnson bagged twice.
Johnson could scarcely believe his luck when, for the final goal, Pepe Reina practically placed the ball on his head in one of the most bizarre goals fans could see.
Moyes rarely gave Liverpool an easy game in Walton, that historic stadium teeming with life in the stands and buzzing with intensity on the turf.
That said, the Reds had the upper hand. He has won four of his 12 games against Liverpool at Goodison, drawing one, but losing seven.
In September 2008, Liverpool were unplayable as they ran out 2-0 winners. Fernando Torres scored twice to give Liverpool their best-ever Premier League start at the time and Reina didn’t have to make a save.
Moyes sometimes felt luck was against them. He complained about James Beattie’s ruled-out goal in a 3-1 loss in December 2005, but in truth they had just come up against a good Liverpool side.
Everton didn’t help themselves, with Mikel Arteta and Phil Neville getting sent off. It was a similar story in the reverse fixture at Anfield in March 2006. Neville scored an own goal and Andy van der Meyde was given his marching orders, as was Gerrard.
But Liverpool showed their superior quality thanks to Luis Garcia’s masterful lob and Harry Kewell’s screamer, extending their winning run to nine games.
Moyes saw his stars sent off 10 times in 25 games, though Jack Rodwell’s red was rescinded
Dan Gosling scored a late extra-time winner in 2009 but the ITV cameras cut away
Gerrard was a constant scourge against Moyes, bagging seven against his first-era Everton team.
The Scouser stole the show two days before Moyes’ 10-year anniversary at Goodison with a hat-trick at Anfield in March 2012.
A month later, Liverpool twisted the knife as they ended Everton’s FA Cup hopes at In front of 87,00 fans at Wembley, Andy Carroll scored a late header practically with his ponytail to send Liverpool into the final with a 2-1 win, leaving Toffees’ fans hands stuck to their faces like treacle.
The derby is never over until it’s over – just ask Divok Origi. You can ask Dan Gosling, too, who in 2009 etched himself into Everton folklore with a winner two minutes from the end of extra-time in an FA Cup fourth-round replay. Not bad for a 19-year-old.
Unfortunately, ITV missed the goal. The channel cut away to a scheduled ad break, showing a commercial for Tic Tacs.
It then starts a very serious ad for Action for Children, but the bosses decided to truncate this to return to the action at Goodison, where Gosling was buried beneath a pile of his team-mates. Luckily fans could see the replay.
The clubs have traced highs and lows together. Kenny Dalglish returned to the Anfield dugout for the first time in 20 years in January 2011 and they played out a 2-2 thriler which left both of them just four points above the relegation zone.
It’s almost unthinkable to imagine Liverpool in such a position after 22 games nowadays, but that was a different time.
Luis Suarez mocked Moyes in 2012 after the Everton boss accused him of diving too much
Moyes could never hack Anfield, failing to win in any of his 13 attempts there as Toffees boss
Andy Carroll broke Everton hearts in 2012 when he scored the winner in the FA Cup semi-finals
Moyes’ most recent Merseyside derby at Goodison Park came in October 2012, a 2-2 draw. It was acrimonious from before the first whistle.
The Scot warned in the build-up to the game that Luis Suarez could drive people away from the sport with his diving and histrionics.
‘It will turn supporters away from it if they think players are conning their way to results. People like to see things done correctly,’ he said.
How did the Uruguayan respond? Celebrating his goal with a dive in front of Moyes after putting Liverpool 2-0 up.
But the Toffees boss had the last laugh as his side came from behind, and Suarez’s late winner was incorrectly ruled out.
You could make the case that there used to be more jeopardy for the derbies, back when the teams were closer in the table, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Everton fans sang ‘you lost the league at Goodison Park’ last season after poutting the Reds to the sword 2-0, all but ending Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of a fairytale ending to his tenure.
Ahead of tonight’s game, the 24th Merseyside derby, Moyes has suggested it will not be filled with the same fire and thunder as on previous occasions. Maybe he has mellowed after all.
Steven Gerrard was a consistent scourge against Everton and put seven past Moyes’ teams, including a 2012 hat-trick
Fernando Torres also had joy against Moyes’ first Everton, scoring twice in September 2008
Moyes will take charge of his 26th merseyside derby and the last one at Goodison Park tonight
‘When it was Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard [playing for Liverpool], it was a case of who was going to kick who first really. That’s how it went. [I have] big memories from that,’ he said.
‘I don’t think the games are now played in such a fashion where you can be like that, I think the referees are different, but it’s a great derby.
‘It has been a brilliant game over the years and there are many, many people that have enjoyed these games.
‘They have been fantastic since I’ve come back. Goodison has always had a really difficult, intimidating atmosphere and is a difficult place to play. I’ve had some great nights here as a manager and I hope I’ve got some more still to come.
‘The supporters have always played a huge part. They’ve had a difficult period but hopefully they can see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.’
