As a very young kid, my mate was a Bluesnose and I was a Red… We would often go along to the boys pen at Goodison…
Two things I remember…
- How brightly ginger the hair on the head of Alan Ball was…
- It was a brutal place to be… Imagine being in a playground where every other kid in there, was a classic school bully… as in give us your dinner money, and give us it now, or we will beat you up…! We used to go as often as possible, probably because at the time, football, and the needing to watch it, ran through every vein in your body, no matter your age…! We soon learnt though… take no money with ya, be willing to turn your pockets out when told… and things were not so bad - It was seeing football on the pitch that mattered most :0)
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I occasionally got free tickets from my uncle and took Evertonian pals along with me. That tended to be executive seats (or at least the more refined ones in the stands) so I tended to experience the toffee nosed rather than the hard nosed toffees.
There was one occasion that I went to our pre-season match at Tranmere. Part way through the match, a hole in my jacket pocket gave way and caused all my loose change to cascade down the terrace. That produced a somewhat sarcastic cheer, but the guys around me had a whip round so I had my bus fare home. I’m guessing that’s a difference with our fanbase?
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Feels appropriate to have the word “bitter” in the title of an Everton article.
(This is completely gratuitous and performative: I have actually no qualms with Everton fans)
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You clearly don’t come into contact with any.
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That’s true, the joy of being an oversea fan I guess.
I think also the change in era. The rivalry soured greatly in the 1980s, particularly after Heysel but it appears to have been ongoing beforehand. An old president of my club here grew up in Liverpool as an Everton fan, but moved in the early 60s. His recollection of the rivalry was very different - he talked fondly about the season just before he left where Shankly finally got Liverpool back up to the 1st Division and there were proper derbies again.
There is probably an interesting book in there somewhere.
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Yeah, the Hysel ban was a big inflection point. For many that was internalized as them being robbed of their chance to win the European cup when they were at their historical best, and we were the cause of it.
The unstated bit is they became shit pretty quickly afterwards with Kendall and a couple of key players leaving for opportunities to compete in Europe and so they blame us for that as well.
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I’d be quite happy if all gambling sponsorship was binned. Hopefully, Everton find something better.
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Yeah as a kid in the 1990s they were amongst the worst supporters to have to deal with. At least Man Utd had success to crow about but some Everton fans let the fandom cross over to something else.
I’ll always detest them more than Man Utd because of that.
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And that’s why I detest the cheating fucks.
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What are they celebrating? See you in 50 days.
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Spoiling our season because they are pathetic little scum.
I hope that stadium crumbles on the last day and the new one is taken out by a mini tsunami the next day.
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I had Newcastle game flashbacks when I saw the amount of added time but… I guess it’s a poetic way to end the last derby at that dark, claustrophobic shithole. Thirty years without a trophy still, so even their likes have to celebrate sometimes.
They are as small-time as possible but our lads didn’t rise to the occasion, just like against Man United at home, they just allowed Everton to pull them down to their level. That will need addressing, especially considering that the whole team was rested.
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Yeah the Man Utd game sprung to mind.
Thankfully, I don’t think this will be any more than a tiny footnote in the story of this season. Plymouth Argyle has done more to spoil the season, although honestly, that was our own fault there.
Not losing their cup final
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Hope not just have a fear about last season. I don’t like to see that at the end because it’s going lead to similar acts of cunterly that the league will do nothing about. A pitch invasion is a criminal offence.
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Saw two things tonight that sum the rivalry up…
The one from LFC was funny as f-ck - Re: A banner held aloft in the crowd said… *
“At Least An Empty Cabinet Is Easier to Move. 30yrs”*
The one from the Blueshite, was not remotely funny, and which can only have been given the green light from the hierarchy/owners… They are just f-ckin toxic from top to bottom…
Everton printed Mikel Arteta on the programme
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I hope not. Those things are not as localised as you might imagine.
Subsidence is your friend…
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