Six years later, in 1977, Reds
and Blues met in the last-four
again, and it was to be a fixture
shrouded in controversy. The
rainswept Maine Road meeting
saw Terry McDermott produce
a brilliant chip to beat Blues
goalie David Lawson in the
tenth minute – an effort which
appeared at the top of the
opening credits throughout a full
Saturday-night season of the
BBC's Match of the Day.
Team-mate Emlyn Hughes
revealed: “We’d talked about
[Everton keeper] David Lawson’s
tendency to come out a long
way and Terry kidded him. We all
thought he was going to blast it
until he pulled it back and floated
it in. That's the hallmark of an
exceptional player.”
The Toffees equalised when
Jim Pearson picked out Duncan
McKenzie who made no mistake.
Jimmy Case headed the Reds
back in front with 20 minutes
remaining but Everton again
struck back with McKenzie
teeing up midfielder Bruce Rioch
for his first goal for the Blues.
Sixty seconds later Everton
had the ball in Ray Clemence's
net again through substitute
Bryan Hamilton, but what
followed would be one of the
great moments of Merseyside
derby drama.
Referee Clive Thomas ruled
the goal out, later claiming that
from his angle he felt there was
no way Hamilton could have
diverted the ball past Clemence
without handling it. Evertonians
were furious but the game
ended 2-2 and Liverpool took
full advantage of their reprieve,
winning the replay four days
later by a 3-0 scoreline with
late goals from Case and Ray
Kennedy sealing the deal after
Phil Neal's first-half penalty.
The victory kept the Reds on
course for a treble of league, FA
Cup and European Cup. They
won two of the three though
again experienced heartache in
the FA Cup as they were beaten
2-1 at Wembley by Manchester
United. Bob Paisley's men
bounced back to claim their
first European Cup by beating
Borussia Moenchengladbach in
Rome just four days later.
In February 1981 the clubs met
in the fourth round at Goodison
Park. The referee appointed
for the tie? Clive Thomas. In
addition to the 53,804 inside the
ground, a further 8,000 watched
the game on CCTV relayed to
cinemas in the city-centre andSouthport as well as the old
Liverpool Stadium boxing venue.
They witnessed a 2-1 win for
Everton with goals from strikers
Peter Eastoe and Imre Varadi
proving enough for Gordon Lee's
side as Jimmy Case's reply with
14 minutes remaining came too
late for the Reds.
Reds boss Bob Paisley
admitted afterwards: “In all my
years at Liverpool I have never
known an Everton team that has
been stronger than us, but in
the first half they were stronger.
I hope now that Everton go on
and win the Cup.”
The Toffees were indeed
getting stronger, and by the
mid-1980s the Reds and Blues
were arguably the best two
teams in Europe. In 1986 they
met at Wembley in the first all-
Merseyside FA Cup final.
Gary Lineker put the Blues in
front with his 40th goal of the
campaign but the Reds hit back
after the break to claim a 3-1 win
and complete their first league
and FA Cup double. Two goals
from Ian Rush either side of a
close-range effort from Craig
Johnston helped player-manager
Kenny Dalglish's side secure the
achievement.
Two years later the Reds were
aiming to repeat the feat and
stayed on course with a fifth-
round victory at Goodison Park,
courtesy of a Ray Houghton
header from John Barnes'
curling cross 15 minutes from
time. Wimbledon would ruin
Liverpool's hopes of the double
in that season's FA Cup final
but it was on the cards again 12
months later, albeit in different
circumstances.
The importance of football
had been put into perspective
by the semi-final tragedy at
Hillsborough. When the Reds
returned to action and overcame
Nottingham Forest, it seemed
fitting that Everton would be
their opponents in the final.
Merseyside united magnificently
but it did not stop Colin Harvey's
Blues wanting to win the FA Cup.
Midfielder Stuart McCall took
the game to extra-time whenI VOLLEYED IT, THE
GROUND EXPLODED
AND I WENT RUNNING
ROUND THE PARK
LIKE AN IDIOT
Maine Road, April 1977:
a tad controversial125: THEN