I was asked this week if I was looking forward to the 245th Merseyside Derby in Goodison Park. I think that most Evertonians – or Liverpudlians in that respect – would admit that they are not really looking forward to it. It is a game that needs to be won at all costs, and only then can you really enjoy it.
As an open blue sports reporter, the last competition derby that is played in Goodison Park will not only be a nervy experience, but also a hugely emotional one.
I always remember that Rafa Benitez Steven Gerrard once took a derby at Goodison, because he suggested that he was playing with his heart and not his head. Of course, Everton will have to keep that in mind if they also go into this game. I am sure that the atmosphere in Goodison will be just as fierce on Wednesday as the 'old lady' has ever seen.
One of the great things from Derby Week is the remembering of the good, the bad and the ugly of earlier games – and my memory is littered with all three.
As a fan, the 4-4 in the cup and Andy King's volley stand out for me at Goodison, but then there was the Glen Keeley Derby, the on-Loan defender was only sent in the game only for Ian Rush, feared by everyone Everton -Fans for his Derby -Capolen and Goals, to score four.
The hardest thing was that I had bought a last-minute ticket from a Reds fan outside the ground and had to sit next to him in the park end stand for the entire nightmare. He continued to apologize, the poor guy.
However, it was when I became the club's press officer in the late 90s when I really gained insight into how tense and these games are special. The Goodison games were the only live experience I had to enjoy because of a self-imposed ban on going to Anfield for those games.
I was signed as a supporter by the 94th minute winner of Ronnie Rosenthal in the 1980s, and to say that the stress levels rose as an employee of the club was somewhat an understatement.
My first experience was working for manager Joe Royle, who seemed to have touched the Midas against Liverpool. His first match, a few years earlier, earned a 2-0 win with Duncan Ferguson and Paul Rideout who achieved the famous victory for the 'Dogs of War'.
At that time there were a few dark days before the blue side of the city, and it is fair to say that Liverpool has dominated the match with some heavy score lines in recent years, but it always seems that the chips are down, When Everton pulls a version from the bag.
A competition that protrudes for good and bad reasons came in October 1997. Everton was once again struggling in the wrong end of the table under Howard Kendall. Nobody saw a result coming that day – especially me – because it had already been a season of real pressure and stress. But just before half -time a corner was driven into and Neil Ruddock threw a defensive header in his own goal. Goodison went crazy – and I was dragged a bit.
Some of my duties at that time included reading the teams about the PA system and also the announcement of goal scorers. I announced excitedly to the 40,000 in the ground: “Goalscorer for Everton, Neil Ruddock!”
As you can imagine, it was received with total approval of the goodison -or certainly most of them. I was then called to the boardroom after the game to be told by the then chairman Sir Philip Carter because he was unprofessional, a crime, which I was of course immediately owned.
Humor is something very clear in a derby, even today. So I think the fans of the Reds would have taken it in good spirit.
When I joined the club in 2013, I then remember that manager Roberto Martinez, when I heard my non-consideration at Anfield, who told me that I had to go to the game. I kept my policy and I saved myself the trauma to see Everton torn apart in a 4-0 defeat.
Again, this time Everton notices that she entered the game as underdogs with Liverpool Top of the League and Flying – but, as they say in Derbies, the formile goes out the window.
David Moyes knows everything about the passion and importance of the Merseyside Derby and with both parties who each won 41 games at Goodison, he will, together with the blue half of the city and then, do not want to bow to have lost more games than Their old rivals in the famous house of Everton FC.
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