The Merseyside derby was played on Wednesday (24th), between the two leading clubs in the region, Everton and Liverpool, England. Everton thumped Liverpool 2-0. Branthwaite 27' : Calvert-Lewin 58' HT 1-0
It is the longest running top-flight derby in England and has been played continuously since the 1962-3 season. Part of the rivalry is due to the two clubs' home grounds having less than a mile between them and being within sight of each other across Stanley park, with Everton at Goodison Park and Liverpool at Anfield It is traditionally referred to as the "friendly derby" because of the large number of families in the city with both Everton and Liverpool supporters and it was one of the few that did not enforce total fan segregation. The 1984 Football League Cup Final at Wembley was nicknamed the "friendly final" due to almost all sections of the ground being mixed and supporters of both teams banding together to chant "Merseyside". The 1986 FA Cup Final witnessed similar scenes of solidarity. Since the mid-1980s, the rivalry has intensified on and off the field, and has seen more red cards given than any other game since the creation of the Premier League.
Everton FC was founded in 1878 and from 1884 played its home matches at Anfield, which was owned by club chairman John Houlding. Politics and disputes over money meant that Houlding was increasingly at odds with other members of the Everton board. Friction arose between the retention of an autocratic ownership structure versus the creation of a more democratic one which closely mapped the sociopolitical divide. The result was that the Everton directors vacated Anfield in 1892 and purchased a new ground at Goodison Park on the other side of Stanley Park. Houlding responded by creating a new club, Liverpool FC, to use Anfield.
The professional football clubs of the 1890s attracted much interest among the public, both on and off the field. The 1867 Reform Act had given what would become football-attending masses the opportunity to vote in the local and national elections. Everton and Liverpool attendances would reach around 10–15,000 in a local authority ward with a population of 23,000. Local politicians saw involvement in the two football clubs as an opportunity to gain media exposure to the local electorate. Irish roots and religion are also sometimes considered as theories for the split on the grounds that Houlding was a prominent Orange Order member, while Everton's new chairman George Mahon was a rival Liberal Home Rule-advocating MP. Orangemen are strongly Unionist, whereas someone favouring home rule for Ireland was in favour of some degree of separation of the whole island of Ireland from the UK. The city of Liverpool has more Irish blood than any other city in the UK, with the possible exception of Glasgow, and division between Protestant and Catholic groups in Ireland closely matched the division between Unionism and Republicanism in Liverpool. However, at the time of the split, James Clement Baxter was the only Catholic among the Everton committee members whereas the rest were Protestants. The Friendly Derby!!
There are a number of reasons for the "Friendly Derby" name. Both of the clubs' home grounds are situated in the north of the city and are very close to each other (just under a mile) with only Stanley Park separating them. From 1902 to 1932, the two clubs even shared the same match day programme. Today there are no evident geographical, political, social, or religious divides as there are in other derbies, although a sectarian divide did exist within the city for many years. It is unclear how, if at all, this influenced the support bases of the two clubs and research conducted in 2013 indicated that it was more likely to have been a political allegiance that influenced support. During the 1950s and 1960s, Everton became known as the Catholic club mainly as a result of successful Irish players such as Tommy Eglington, Peter Farrell, and Jimmy O'Neill, as well as manager Johnny Carey. This in turn caused Liverpool to be thought of as Protestant club, especially as they did not sign an Irish Catholic player until Ronnie Whelan in 1979. However, this divide was never seen as a basis for supporting a certain side, as is the case with teams such as in Glasgow with Celtic and Rangers. In truth, both teams have strong support from all denominations. Most importantly, the actual clubs themselves did not act to strengthen sectarian divides, and both stem from Methodist origins.
Unlike many other local derbies, violence between Everton and Liverpool supporters in Liverpool itself is a rarity. In the fallout from the Heysel Stadium, fan relationships became strained when the actions of Liverpool-supporting hooligans caused both Liverpool and Everton to be banned from European club competition despite no involvement from the latter. Relations improved after the Hillsborough Disaster when both sets of fans rallied together, with Evertonians even joining in on the boycott of the Sun, while Everton and Liverpool scarves were intertwined and stretched across Stanley Park between the two teams' stadiums. After the murder of 11-year-old Evertonian R Disasterhys Jones in 2007, Liverpool invited his parents and older brother to Anfield for a Champions League match as a sign of respect. The Z-Cars TV Theme, to which Everton players traditionally run out, was played for the first time ever at Anfield while Jones' family stood on the pitch wearing Everton shirts and scarves. A standing ovation was then given before "You'll Never Alone" was played.
Upon the vindication of Liverpool fans related to the Hillsborough disaster in August 2012, Everton hosted Newcastle United at Goodison Park, and the sides were led out by two children wearing Everton and Liverpool shirts with numbers 9 and 6 on the back; an announcer read out the names of all 96 Hillsborough victims while "He ain't heavy, He's my brother" played to a standing ovation. As of 21 October 2023:
| Competition | Played | Liverpool wins | Draws | Everton wins | Liverpool goals | Everton goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FA Charity/Community Shield | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 40 | 28 |
| Football League First Division | 146 | 54 | 44 | 48 | 203 | 181 |
| Football League Super Cup | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Football League/EFL Cup | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Premier League | 63 | 28 | 25 | 10 | 89 | 53 |
| Total | 243 | 99 | 77 | 67 | 343 | 267 |
All league matches between the two have been played either in Premier League since 1992 or in the First Division.
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