Paisley, then a strong left-half
for the Reds, scored the opener
with a lobbed effort probably
meant for Billy Liddell which
evaded Everton goalkeeper
George Burnett before finding its
way into the net. The Liverpool
supporters in the 72,000 crowd
did not care a jot as it provided
the vital breakthrough, and when
Liddell sealed a 2-0 victory in the
62nd minute, manager George
Kay's men were Wembley-
bound.
Of course their wait to add
the FA Cup to their honours list
went on, however, as they were
defeated by Arsenal in the final.
When the draw for the fourth
round was made in 1955,
Liverpool fans were probably not
wanting Everton away. The Blues
remained an established First
Division side while the Reds werein the second tier and smarting
from a record 9-1 defeat at
Birmingham City a month earlier.
The popular wisdom was that
Everton would romp to victory
but it would be Liverpool who
ran out convincing 4-0 winners.
Liddell set the ball rolling before
Alan A'Court doubled the lead.
John Evans made it three before
completing the scoring with
his second of the afternoon, a
powerful header from a Brian
Jackson centre.
There was a 12-year interval
before the teams met in the
FA Cup again and by this time
both had tasted success in the
competition. Liverpool's 73-year
wait to win the trophy had finally
and famously come to an end
under Bill Shankly in 1965. A year
later Everton won it for a third
time following a sensational
comeback against Sheffield
Wednesday at Wembley.
There was a ticket frenzy
for the latest instalment in the
Liverpool v Everton FA Cup epic.
The Echo carried the story of a
man who had swapped a £50
Ford car for a five-shilling match
ticket. Such was the demand in
those days before live television
broadcasts that the game was
also beamed back on four big
screens at Anfield, taking the
combined crowd to more than105,000. Everton kept their grip
on the trophy for a while longer
as they edged the verdict 1-0
thanks to a goal from England
World Cup-winner Alan Ball on
the stroke of half-time.
Last year the BBC's regional
news show North West
Tonight carried a feature on
the 50th anniversary of that
tie. Unwittingly one of the men
they stopped in the street was
former Reds goalkeeper Tommy
Lawrence. “Do you remember
the 1967 FA Cup match between
Everton and Liverpool?” asked
the reporter. “I do – I kept goal
for Liverpool in it!” came Tommy's
priceless reply.
In March 1971 the clubs were
paired in the semi-final for
the third time, this time at Old
Trafford. The hero in a 2-1 win for
Liverpool was Brian Hall with his
first goal in a red shirt.
Brian would later recall: “We'd
been 1-0 down at half-time
then in the second half John
Toshack went up for a cross
with their keeper and the ball
fell to me. I volleyed it and the
ground exploded. I went running
round the park like an idiot, and
I remember thinking when I got
back to the centre-circle that I
was knackered and if they broke
away and scored I wouldn't be
able to stop them!”125: THEN