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Memory Lane – Match 26

Matches against Leeds, West Brom, Swindon and Southampton

Forty Years Ago – 1973-74

Billy Bingham’s Everton had started the season at Elland Road and few would have believed that when the two sides had met for the return game at Goodison that Leeds United would have remained unbeaten in the league for so long, Everton’s task would have been daunting at any time but following their recent blip in their league programme they would have been slightly wary of facing such an experienced and useful team as Leeds United.

When Everton had won the Championship in 1962-63, Leeds United had been languishing in the Second Division and up to that point in their history their best season in the top-flight had come in 1929-30 when they had finished in fifth place, the campaign in which Everton had suffered their first relegation to the Second Division. Since then however, following their promotion to Division One in 1963-64 Leeds had spent all of the decade in the top four positions, but had only won the title on one occasion in 1968-69.

Since they had been Champions, Leeds United had finished runners-up in three consecutive seasons and in 1972-73 they had ended up in third place and had lost the FA Cup final to Sunderland. Leeds despite their successes had also been seen as an unlucky side due to the number of trophies that they had ultimately failed to win, as they often progressed to the latter stages of a variety of competitions. Don Revie despite losing the title to Everton in 1969-70 had won the Manager of the Year for that season as his team had challenged on all fronts but had failed to win a trophy, as his team lost the FA Cup Final to Chelsea (1-2) in a replay at Old Trafford, following a drawn match at Wembley (2-2) and they had been knocked out of the European Cup at the semi-final stage by Celtic.

Everton had not beaten Leeds United at Goodison since September 1969, when they had beaten Leeds (3-2) a detailed account of that match can be found in Memory Lane Match 16.

Leeds United had a better record than most visitors to Goodison Park, as since they had won promotion they had only lost on three occasions and had beaten Everton five times. Their last victory had come during the previous campaign (1972-73) when they had beaten the Blues (1-2), Mick Jones (28’) had given Leeds a first half lead and Joe Jordan (80’) had made it two with ten minutes remaining and although substitute Alan Whittle (84’) had pulled one back for Everton, Leeds United had left Goodison Park with all the points safely in their possession.

The first time that the two sides had met at Goodison since Don Revie had taken charge of the club in 1961, had occurred in an FA Cup replay in 1964, following a draw (1-1) at Elland Road in which a Roy Vernon’s (81’) re-taken penalty had rescued the game for the Toffees. The penalty had been re-taken because the Leeds Goalkeeper Gary Sprake had been adjudged to have moved when he had saved Alex Scott’s original penalty-kick. The fourth round replay had taken place on Tuesday, 28 January in front of a crowd of 66,167 Alex Young who had played at Elland Road had been replaced in the team by Mick Meagan as Jimmy Gabriel (30’) had opened the scoring in the first-half and Roy Vernon (78’) had added a second twelve minutes from time which had sealed Everton’s passage to the fifth round and a visit to Roker Park to play Sunderland.

Everton: West; Brown, Meagan, Harris, Labone; Kay, Scott, Stevens Gabriel; Vernon, Temple

The next time Leeds United had lost at Goodison had happened on Saturday 4 February 1967, when Jimmy Gabriel had once again been on the score-sheet, Jimmy Husband had scored the other as Everton had beaten Leeds (2-0) with 48,738 people in attendance. Everton: West; Wright, Wilson, Hurst, Smith; Harvey, Young, Ball; Gabriel, Husband, Morrissey.

The Match: Leeds United had managed to leave Goodison Park with their unbeaten league record intact, but a spirited display by Everton had come close to ending that record. David Harvey had been largely responsible for Leeds United’s clean sheet much to the disappointment of most of the near 56,000 people inside the stadium, the largest league crowd at Goodison outside of a Merseyside derby since Everton had clinched the title in April 1970 against West Bromwich Albion when 58,523 had turned up to watch the Blues.

Leicester City had beaten Ipswich Town (5-0), Spurs had beaten Coventry City (2-1) and Sheffield United had won at Turf Moor having beaten Burnley (2-1) all the remaining fixtures had ended in draws. Those results meant that Leeds (43 pts.) had remained eight points clear at the top and Everton (28 pts.) had dropped to eighth place as Leicester (29 pts.) had leap-frogged them into fifth place.

1973-74 — First Division; Saturday, 19 January 1974
Leeds United @ Goodison Park, Score: 0-0, Attendance: 55,740

Everton: Lawson; Darracott, McLaughlin, Clements, Lyons; Hurst, Bernard Buckley; Royle, Jones, Connolly (Harper)

Thirty Years Ago – 1983-84

The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion, hadn’t been kind to Everton in the previous decade or so as more often than not a visit to that venue had ended in defeat for the Toffees and only recently had they managed to leave the ground with a point. Since winning (6-2) in 1968, the Blues had visited the Hawthorns on thirteen separate occasions and had lost on nine of them. Even in that 1968 campaign when Everton had managed to win at the ground West Bromwich Albion had taken full revenge by beating the Blues in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Everton’s triumph at the Hawthorns (2-6) had occurred on 16th March 1968, a match in which Alan Ball (4) had successfully converted two penalties in his four goal haul, Johnny Morrissey and Joe Royle had also been on the scoresheet to make it six for the Blues as Ian Collard had scored twice for Albion. Everton: West; Wright, Wilson, Kendall, Labone; Hurst, Husband, Ball; Royle, Whittle, Morrissey.

Alan Ball’s four goals had put him in elite company as Tommy Lawton had been the previous player who had bagged four goals for Everton in an away fixture, nineteen years earlier, when his goals had been scored in the game with Middlesbrough (4-4) at Ayresome Park, played on 11th March 1939, Tommy Lawton had also scored a hat-trick in the win against Middlesbrough (4-0) played on 5 November 1938 at Goodison Park.

Following the shock defeat to Albion in the FA Cup Final, the next occasion the two sides had met had been at Goodison Park on Saturday 28 September 1968 when Everton had gained some consolation for their defeat at Wembley as they had beaten Albion (4-0), Alan Ball (3) had once again completed his hat-trick as he had opened the scoring in the second minute and then added a second (58’) with almost an hour of the game completed. Colin Harvey (65’) chipped in with another goal before Alan Ball (72’) completed the scoring with another successful penalty kick – Joe Royle (57’) had seen his penalty saved by John Osbourne earlier in the match.

Everton: West; Wright, Brown, Kendall, Labone; Harvey, Husband, Ball; Royle, Hurst, Morrissey.

In the Championship winning season of 1962-63, Everton had also left the Hawthorns with maximum points when they had beaten WBA (0-4). Two goals from Alex Young (2), Roy Vernon from the penalty spot and an own goal by Albion’s Williams sealed the points for the Toffees. Everton: Dunlop; Parker, Meagan, Gabriel, Labone; Kay, Scott, Stevens; Young, Vernon, Temple.

The last occasion that the two sides had met at the Hawthorns, prior to the game in 1984 had seen Everton return home with a point, as the two sides played out a draw (2-2). Mark Higgins and Graeme Sharp had been on target for the Blues but Romeo Zondervan and Gary Owen had scored for Albion in the match which had been played on New Year’s Day 1983 in front of 15,194 fans.

Everton: Arnold; Stevens, Bailey, Ratcliffe, Higgins; McMahon, Reid; Curran, Sharp, Johnson, Sheedy.

The Match: Howard Kendall had been slightly disappointed that Everton hadn’t returned from the Hawthorns with all the points, but he admitted it had been a hard-earned point on a sticky pitch. But although his team had approached the game in the correct manner he felt that they had failed to take full advantage in the first-half. Derek Mountfield opened the scoring for the Blues and Howard felt that Everton would hold onto that lead, but unfortunately West Brom scored an equaliser through Perry and the Toffees had to settle for a point. Everton moved up a place in the table but remained a little way behind those sides in the European places.

1983-84 — First Division; Saturday, 11 February 1984
West Brom @ Goodison Park, Score: 1-1 (Mountfield), Attendance: 10,313

Everton: Southall; Stevens, Bailey, Ratcliffe, Mountfield; Reid, Irvine; Heath, Gray, Richardson, Sheedy.
Unused Sub: Steven.

Twenty Years Ago – 1993-94

Dr David Marsh the Everton Chairman welcomed new Everton Manager Mike Walker to Goodison and he wrote in the match-day magazine:
“Evertonian’s everywhere were delighted with the appointment of Mike Walker as the new Everton Manager on the eve of our FA Cup Tie at Bolton. His fine record at Norwich where he produced such a well balanced team playing football in a traditional ‘School of Science’ style, was recognised by everyone within football. Given the time and support which we are determined to offer Mike we are confident he will bring major success to this Club in the future.”

How much time would as always depend on the results that Mike Walker and his team achieved in the remaining Premier League fixtures and a win at Goodison against Swindon Town had been imperative to help to alleviate the spectre of relegation.

‘Match of the Past’ invited Duncan McKenzie to comment on the last occasion that Swindon Town had visited Goodison Park, for the FA Cup Fourth Round Replay that had taken place on 1 February 1977 following a draw (2-2) in the first match at the County Ground.

For the first game at Swindon, Steve Burtenshaw had been in temporary charge of first-team affairs since the departure of Billy Bingham earlier in the year. The Daily Post’s Horace Yates description of the pitch was as follows “The endless stretches of golden sand were made for buckets and spades but hardly for football.” Duncan said that Everton had played well on the Sandy surface and had been cruising towards the fifth round when he added

“What did us was a fantastic strike by a lad called Kenny Stroud who from nearly 40 yards out lashed the ball into our net with such force that it stuck behind the stanchion.” Duncan McKenzie (23’) had put Everton in front midway through the first half and he described his strike and the subsequent goals, “Terry Darracott pumped the ball upfield and it bounced over my head before I flicked it over the goalkeeper.” Dave Syrett (30’) equalised when a free-kick deflected off our defensive wall and, instead of running through to goalkeeper Dave Lawson, sat up in the sand for the Swindon player. Five minutes into the second-half Ronnie Goodlass’ corner-kick was touched on by Mike Lyons for Latchford (50’) to put us ahead again.” The goal scored by Kenny Stroud (61’) meant the Blues had to replay at Goodison.

Everton: Lawson; Darracott (Hamilton), Jones, Lyons, McNaught; Rioch, King, Dobson; Latchford, McKenzie, Goodlass.

There had been just one change in the Everton line-up for the replay at Goodison as Mike Bernard had replaced the injured Terry Darracott. This game saw Everton’s new manager Gordon Lee introduced to the crowd prior to the game and as Duncan said “I have to admit we were rather fortunate to enable him to kick off his Goodison career with a win.” The game had been goalless until Swindon had taken the lead with twelve minutes of the tie remaining and Duncan believed that “Swindon must have thought they had won the tie when Dave Moss’ centre was headed across goal by John McLaughlin to Trevor Anderson (78’) and he lashed it into the net.” Five minutes after Swindon had taken the lead Everton equalised when Ken McNaught’s free-kick fell to Martin Dobson (83’) and he put the ball into the net. In the dying embers of the game David Jones (89’) struck his first goal of the campaign and the Daily Post described it as follows:-

“There was little more than a minute left when Jones gained possession near the halfway line. When he made his bid the defence opened up before him and on he went until he was left with only the goalkeeper to beat. He did his best but was struck as he dived by the ball which bounced over him into goal. Goodison erupted and there was a crowd invasion which clearly showed both relief and delight.”
Duncan thought that “Over the two games Everton probably deserved to win but I have to admit we were lucky.”

The Match: John Ebbrell gave Mike Walker’s Everton the perfect start in this basement battle as he opened the scoring after only four minutes and Tony Cottee (42’) doubled the Blues advantage shortly before half-time. Early in the second-half Swindon’s Andy Mutch was sent off (47’), but instead of this event inspiring Everton it had the opposite effect as firstly John Moncur (56’) pulled a goal back for the visitors and a few minutes later Swindon Town found themselves on equal terms when Peter Bodin (60’) scored an equaliser.

Fortunately for Everton Gary Ablett (72’) scored to press home the man advantage when he put the Toffees back in front. In the last eight minutes of the match, Tony Cottee (82’,89’) scored twice, the second goal being scored from the penalty spot meant that he completed his hat-trick and Peter Beagrie (90’) added to the tally in the final minute of the game to give Everton their first league win since Howard Kendall had resigned in December 1993.

Thankfully for Everton and its supporters, Mike Walker’s tenure had begun with a much needed three points. Southampton had won their match against Coventry City (1-0), but they and Everton had been the only sides to taste victory among the bottom six clubs which meant that Everton (28 pts.) in sixteenth place were seven points clear of Southampton (21 pts.) who occupied the last of the relegation places although the Saints’ had played a game less than the Toffees.

1993-94 — Premier League; Saturday, 15 January 1994
Swindon Town @ Goodison Park, Score: 6-2 (Cottee 3, Ebbrell, Ablett, Beagrie), Attendance: 20,546

Everton: Southall; Jackson, Snodin, Ablett, Hinchcliffe; Ward, Horne, Ebbrell, Beagrie; Angell, Cottee (Barlow).
Unused Sub: Kearton.

Ten Years Ago – 2003-04

Everton had a decent record at Southampton and following their inglorious defeat at Birmingham City ten days earlier they would need to pick up points on their travels as the spectre of relegation still haunted the club and its supporters. Following the defeat by Arsenal, Southampton’s manager Gordon Strachan had decided to take a sabbatical which had saddened many of the Southampton supporters but it was an opportunity for Steve Wigley to prove his worth to the Saints fans as he took charge of first team affairs on a temporary basis.

Gordon Strachan had led Southampton to their highest Premier League finish and the FA Cup Final the previous season, but as is often the case, especially at a club where money was limited, the high standards of a relatively successful campaign are difficult to maintain in consecutive seasons.
Everton had to wait a long time before they won a top-flight league fixture at Southampton as the two teams had avoided each other for the most part, mainly due to the fact that Southampton had been in the lower divisions and when the two sides had met in the Second Division, Southampton had won two and drawn one of their encounters with the Blues.

On Tuesday 25 October 1966 Harry Catterick took the FA Cup holders Everton to the Dell to play recently promoted Southampton who were enjoying their first ever season in the top-flight. Everton had (14 pts.) and Southampton (11 pts.) from their first dozen or so fixtures and both teams would be keen to take maximum points from this encounter. Derek Temple (18’) had opened the scoring and Alan Ball (2) added another two goals, one from the penalty spot as Ron Davies (52’) scored a consolation for the Saints as Everton triumphed by three goals to one. Everton: West; Wright, Wilson, Gabriel, Labone; Harvey, Scott, Ball; Young, Temple, Morrissey.

The following season Southampton gained revenge for that defeat by Everton as they beat the Blues (3-2) as goals from Alan Ball and Joe Royle had not been enough to salvage a point. In 1968-69 Everton beat Southampton (2-5) at the Dell in the match played on 12 October 1968 in front of almost 22,000 fans, although ex-Everton stalwart Jimmy Gabriel and Kemp had scored for Southampton, Jimmy Husband (2) scored twice and Alan Ball, Joe Royle and Tommy Wright all got on the scoresheet to give Everton an impressive five goals to two victory. Everton: West; Wright, Brown, Kendall, Labone; Harvey, Husband, Ball; Royle, Hurst, Morrissey.

Mike Buckley scored the winning goal for Everton at the Dell in April 1972, which preceded a winless streak for the Blues at that venue as their following nine visits to the ground yielded just two points from goalless draws with Southampton. Kevin Richardson scored two vital goals for Everton at the venue in 1985 to secure three very useful points, as the Toffees’ chased their eighth League Title.

In a match that had celebrated Southampton’s Centenary year, Everton spoiled the celebratory mood by winning the game (2-3). The game was played on 30 November 1985 and the Saint’s had got off to a flyer in the match against Everton as Glenn Cockerill (1’) had struck in the first minute, but the reigning champions Everton were made of stern stuff and Gary Lineker (29’) equalised to send the teams in level at half-time. Steve Moran (70’) put Southampton back in front with twenty minutes to play before firstly Adrian Heath (75’) and then Trevor Steven (83’) scored late in the game to give Everton maximum points.

Everton: Southall; Harper, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe Stevens; Heath, Steven; Lineker, Wilkinson, Bracewell, Sheedy.

Graeme Sharp has good cause to remember Everton’s visit to the Dell in October 1987 when his goalscoring exploits allowed Everton to beat Southampton (0-4) in arguably their best result at the ground. Graeme Sharp scored his first goal after just three minutes and had completed his hat-trick after just twenty minutes of the game when he scored in the sixteenth and twentieth minute. Everton led three goals to nil at the break and Graeme Sharp completed the scoring when he got his and Everton’s fourth goal just after the hour mark. Present-day TV pundit Andy Townsend had been sent off with eight minutes of the match remaining, but it didn’t have a bearing on the result.

Everton: Southall; Stevens, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Watson; Reid, Steven; Clarke (Harper), Sharp, Snodin, Wilson (Heath)

A truly remarkable day for the Scotsman as he became the first Everton player to score four league goals for the Toffees away from home since Bob Latchford who had scored four of the five goals in Everton’s victory against QPR (1-5) at Loftus Road in October 1977.

Another high-scoring game between the two sides had taken place on 16 March 1991 five days after the Toffees had exited the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage at Upton Park. The first half hour of the match had remained goalless, but suddenly there had been a flurry of goals as first Dave Watson (31’) had opened the Blues account but six minutes later Neil Ruddock (37’) had equalised, however, Mike Milligan (39’) restored Everton’s lead six minutes before half-time. In the second-half Everton retained their lead until Mike Newell (65’) equalised for Southampton as he put through his own goal, however, he managed to shake off that disappointment by scoring at the right end and restored Everton’s lead. Tony Cottee put Everton in a commanding position by scoring the Blues fourth goal and although Alan Shearer (82’) pulled one back for the Saints it was too little too late as the Evertonians in the 15,410 crowd, celebrated a fine victory in an exciting game. Incidentally Southampton’s Barry Horne had replaced Paul Rideout as a substitute during this match, two future Everton stars that would make a significant mark in Everton’s long history.

Everton: Southall; McDonald, Ebbrell, Ratcliffe, Watson; Keown, Nevin (Beagrie), McCall; Newell, Cottee (Atteveld), Milligan.

The Match: Everton and Southampton produced yet another thrilling game for the supporters at St Mary’s as the prodigious Wayne Rooney (7’) opened the scoring and Duncan Ferguson (32’) doubled Everton’s lead just after half an hour as the Blues went into the break two goals to the good. The prolific Kevin Philips (58’) pulled a goal back for the Saints around the hour mark, but Wayne Rooney (78’) looked to have sealed the points for the Toffees with twelve minutes of the game remaining when he struck his second goal of the game.

An important win seemed on the cards and it would be welcomed by the players and the fans who had only seen the Blues take five points from their previous eight Premier League games, but when James Beattie (82’) converted a controversially awarded penalty by Phil Dowd with just eight minutes left, the nerves and lack of confidence began to show and it had been somehow inevitable that Southampton would equalise and in the ninety-first minute Fabrice Fernandes (91’) did just that for the Saints and although the Blues had won a point it felt as if they had thrown away two – mind you the performance and the result was a vast improvement on what had happened in Birmingham ten days earlier.

However, the two dropped points could prove costly for Everton (26 pts.) as fellow strugglers Wolves (23 pts.) had beaten Fulham (2-1) whilst Leeds (21 pts.) had gained a draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United (1-1) and Leicester City (22 pts.) who had been leading by four goals to three at White Hart Lane, conceded a last minute equaliser to Jermaine Defoe which had denied the Foxes all the points. Portsmouth (23 pts.) had not been in league action as they had beaten Liverpool (1-0) in an FA Cup fifth round replay at Fratton Park.

2003-04 – Premier League; Saturday, 21 February 2004
Score: 3-3 (Rooney 2, Ferguson), Attendance: 31,875 Southampton @ St. Mary’s

Everton: Martyn; Hibbert, Stubbs, Unsworth, Pistone; Watson, Gravesen, Linderoth Kilbane; Ferguson, Rooney.
Unused Subs: Simonsen, McFadden, Radzinski.

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