G130 years ago, Oodison Park hosted the first derby between Everton and Liverpool – there was no Merseyside precedent back then – when the hosts triumphed 3-0 on October 13, 1894. Saturday’s game will be the last barring an FA Cup clash, with Everton moving to a magnificent new stadium on Bramley Moore docks next season. There have been 119 derbies at Goodison. The local rivals have won 41 each. Ahead of the final league derby at the historic old stadium, we select six of the most memorable encounters.

March 11, 1967 Everton – Liverpool 1-0

The season opened with the Charity Shield at Goodison, where Ray Wilson and Roger Hunt paraded the World Cup trophy they had won that summer before kick-off. Behind his England team-mates, Ron Yeats held up Liverpool’s Championship trophy and Brian Labone held up Everton’s FA Cup. The city was therefore in turmoil when the teams met in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Demand for tickets was so great that Liverpool made the then overwhelming decision to set up eight huge screens at Anfield and broadcast the live broadcast of the game from Goodison. With 65,000 spectators at Goodison and a further 40,000 spectators at Anfield, it was the largest attendance at a single FA Cup game outside of a final. Alan Ball cemented his blossoming love affair with Everton by scoring the winning goal.

November 6, 1982 Everton – Liverpool 0-5

A derby so nightmarish for Everton and so perfect for Liverpool that to this day the Kop sings about the destruction caused by Ian Rush at his boyhood club. Rush scored one, Rush scored two, Rush scored three and Rush scored four as he condemned Everton to their heaviest derby defeat at Goodison. And that only tells part of the story. Howard Kendall had given his Everton debut to Glenn Keeley, who had been sent on loan a week earlier in response to defensive deficiencies. Keeley had not played all season due to a stalemate with Blackburn and was unaware of the newly introduced rule of players being sent off for professional fouls. Liverpool were dominant and won 1-0 when Keeley brought down Kenny Dalglish, who was charging towards goal, in the 37th minute. “I was honestly expecting to get signed,” he admitted many years later, “and when I got sent off it was a shock.” Rush went on a rampage in the second half and Keeley never played for Everton again and shell-shocked goalkeeper Neville Southall was subsequently loaned to Port Vale to recuperate.

May 3, 1989 Everton – Liverpool 0-0

A football game that meant little, but a Merseyside derby that meant everything. Eighteen days after the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool played their first competitive game at emotionally raw Goodison. The whole city was desperate, but that night was united not only by grief, but also by solidarity and respect. “The Kop thanks you all. We never walked alone,” read a banner at the Liverpool end. Fans carried 95 intertwined Liverpool and Everton scarves across the pitch before kick-off in memory of those unlawfully killed at Hillsborough. Now there would be 97. The thunderous chant of “Merseyside, Merseyside” that preceded the minute’s silence and the explosive roar that followed the silence will never be forgotten by those present. As the late, great David Lacey wrote in his match report in the Guardian: “Football was a trivial cause of the deaths of 95 people, but football will help the city live with its suffering.” As the fans held a chain of 95 blue ones knotted together and red scarves, it was clear that the crowd of almost 46,000 people had come not just to remember those who had died, but to remind each other that football and Merseyside are inseparable.”

February 20, 1991 Everton 4-4 Liverpool

A classic FA Cup tie that had a lasting impact on Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish’s team were top of the league ahead of their fifth round replay but were showing signs of ageing. Four times they led and four times Everton equalized, with Tony Cottee equalizing in the 89th minute and six minutes from the end of extra time following errors from Liverpool. Dalglish later claimed that one of the reasons was his hesitation in delaying the decision to send Jan Molby into defence. However, this was a sign of a deeper problem. “Game of a lifetime” was the headline in the Liverpool Echo. It was no exaggeration, but the story would be eclipsed less than 48 hours later when Liverpool called a press conference on Friday morning. Dalglish had resigned. The trauma of managing Liverpool during the Hillsborough disaster, including attending as many funerals as possible, had inevitably taken a heavy toll on the club legend. The venue for the second replay was determined by a coin toss. Liverpool, led by interim coach Ronnie Moran, were beaten 1-0 at Goodison.

April 16, 2001 Everton – Liverpool 2-3

Liverpool have a habit of giving their local rivals late trouble and ahead of Sadio Mané and Divock Origi, 36-year-old Gary McAllister was seen from almost 40 yards. Gérard Houllier’s team needed to win at Goodison to keep their chances of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time after missing out on a top-three place in their previous games. And Liverpool hadn’t won at Goodison for eleven years. It was a horrific event inside and outside the stadium, the evening kick-off on an Easter Monday didn’t help. There were 12 yellow cards, two directed at Igor Biscan, and Liverpool’s 10 players canceled out a missed penalty from Robbie Fowler and a late equalizer from David Unsworth when they were awarded a free kick 44 yards from goal in the 93rd minute became. McAllister fought his way to a few yards and while everyone at Goodison expected him to shoot at the far post, the clever veteran fired a daring free-kick into Paul Gerrard’s near post. With renewed confidence, Liverpool achieved the cup treble and relegated Leeds to third place.

April 24, 2024 Everton – Liverpool 2-0

The recent Merseyside derby was also one of the Royal Blues’ most celebrated. Everton had not won a derby at Goodison for 14 years. Jürgen Klopp had never lost at Goodison. Sean Dyche’s side fought to avoid relegation. Liverpool were fighting for the title. What unfolded was, according to the outgoing Liverpool manager, “terrible to watch” and unrecognizable to Everton fans as their side performed with an intensity and quality that had been largely missing in another difficult season. Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the goals that sparked shouts of: “You lost the league at Goodison Park.” The old place really shook that night as the Evertonians turned it into a bear pit. It may be run down, littered with obstructed views and shocking facilities, but it will be sorely missed when you’re gone.