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    Everton celebrated getting a point in their 0-0 draw at Anfield in the same way we celebrated getting to the semi finals of the Champions League with the same result in 2005.  Afterwards a rightly frustrated Rafa Benitez referred to small clubs in general coming to Anfield intent on defending, but the vitriolic reaction to his comments must have left him wondering whether or not he should hire a fleet of bodyguards.
     
    The hysterical response of the Blues was unbelievable. Keith Wyness went on their official website demanding an apology and saying that Rafa was in a minority of one in thinking Everton were a small club. What one was that Keith, million or billion? He then said the comments had spoiled a magnificent derby. We’ll expect the DVD out soon then.
     
    In the run up to and following this fixture Everton had reminded everybody just what a small club they were. Moyes and Arteta both said how they’d never met a Livepool fan as there weren't any on Merseyside, they all lived outside. Then Moyes whinged about the £100 million difference in transfer budget between the two teams before saying they were in our shadow but trying to compete. So if they admit to being in our shadow, aren’t they admitting to being a small club? I’m confused.
     
    Mikel Arteta then expressed his frustration at not yet receiving an international all up, hinting that he'd have had one if he didn't play for Everton. Does this mean that Mikel is saying Everton are too small a club to provide players to the Spanish side then?
     
    Even setting aside the derby they’ve always had to remind people how badly treated they are because of their small status, such as when they compiled the dossier of all the penalties Andy Johnson should have been given. When they were dumped out of the Champions League by Villareal, allegedly because of that redshite Collina being a part of some G-14 ‘Big Club’ conspiracy, Moyes said “we are disappointed to be out of the Champions League but we must not forget what an achievement it was to get there in the first place”. Achievement just to qualify for the qualifiers? I’d have thought Champions League qualification should be a pre-requisite of a big club.
    Rafa’s comments were nowhere near as inflammatory as those made by Bill Shankly, who said there were two teams on Merseyside – Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves – and that he’d close the curtains if Everton were playing in his garden. He also phoned up Alan Ball when he signed for them and congratulated him on playing near a great side. But back in the 60s Everton laughed these comments off and saw it as part of the general banter between the two clubs.
     
    This year though they reacted differently, simply because the truth hurts and Rafa’s words cut them to the bone. It also means that we are probably entering period of even greater bitterness than has gone one before.

     
    Steve Horton
  • Finally they have got the message and started making plans to move to Kirkby. As Gillett and Hicks agreed to underwrite New Anfield for Liverpool’s sole use, Everton announced that they were off to Kirkby with Tescos. It brought to an end nearly three years of begging, desperation and bitterness on their part at our refusal to let them join us in Stanley Park.  
     
    Liverpool were granted planning permission in July 2004, a year after Everton finally admitted they couldn’t come up with their share of the cash for the proposed 55,000 stadium at Kings Dock.  Blues Chief Executive Trevor Birch wasted no time in making it known to us via the Daily Telegraph that he wanted to share the stadium that we had put so much time and effort into planning. “In the next couple of weeks I will make this proposal to Liverpool. We need a new ground and we know it makes financial sense to share” were his words.
     
    At the time Everton’s debts were £30million, but Birch gave no indication as to how they’d find their share of the money, or explain why he was approaching the press over the issue and not us. Given that the Kings Dock scheme collapsed because Everton dallied over finding £30 million and had appeared to mislead their partners into believing that they would be able to do so, its not surprising that we told them were to go. 
     
    Rick Parry made it clear that any proposals Everton had were unacceptable to us. Given Everton only needed to find 20% of the Kings Dock cost to have 49% ownership and couldn’t even do that, it makes you wonder just what weird and wacky proposals they were putting to us. Parry also pointed out that we had spent millions already and the planning consent we had received was for one club use, so there. Birch was so upset at Parry’s rebuttal that he resigned and was replaced by fat buffoon Keith Wyness, who has provided us with lots of entertainment over various issues, groundshare included.
     
    Despite Parry’s clear rejection of the idea, Wyness took only a few months to try his luck, telling the Financial Times in October 2004 that Merseyside was the one place where groundshare could work. Interestingly, despite selling Rooney for £30 million since their last rejection, Everton’s debt had still risen to £40 million. With such dire financial management, no wonder Parry was giving them such a wide berth. 
     
    Again, Wyness followed Birch’s tactic of going to the media before approaching us. By doing this outside influences could then start to lean on us, with sports minister Richard Caborn inviting both clubs to a meeting in Westminster. Out of courtesy Rick Parry attended this meeting in December 2004 to once again stress that Liverpool weren’t interested, citing our concerns that Everton couldn’t afford it. Rafa Benitez also made his opinions known, fearing that the pitch would suffer. 
     
    The city council had tried to steer us into exploring the idea as well, which is understandable as they can’t be seen to be offering favourable treatment to one club ahead of the other. But after we rebuffed Caborn, council leader Mike Storey admitted that it wasn’t going to happen, telling the Echo that it would be regretted in later years and that it couldn’t work if Everton were to rent or lease it from us. Once again Everton’s nerve in their expectance of us to give them half the thing was unbelievable.
     
    Just as the council agreed that there was no point pursuing the idea any further and started looking for other sites to accommodate Everton, the North West Development Agency (NWDA) poked their noses in. Despite planning permission having been granted nine months earlier for a one club stadium, they decided in the Spring of 2005 that £20 million of public money earmarked for the project should only be used if the stadium was shared. The Chairman of the NWDA was Bryan Gray, who whilst Chairman of Preston North End FC appointed David Moyes as their manager in 1998. Draw your own conclusions.
     
    To be fair to the Blues supporters, they have not been anywhere near as keen as their clubs administrators over a shared stadium. They have had the sense to see all along that in no way would Liverpool agree to any form of equal partnership and that in their eyes, the idea of renting from us was unacceptable. The club though have had no scruples about expecting us to bail them out, then going on to blame us for dragging their feet over whether they’d redevelop Goodison or move.
     
    In December 2005 the Echo reported that Wyness couldn’t make any decisions on what to do about their ground plans till we knew for certain whether or not we’d be building New Anfield. At least by then though he had acknowledged that we wouldn’t be letting them play there, telling their AGM that he’d been informed it’d be “over Parry’s dead body”
     
    Perhaps buoyed by Liverpool’s continuing delay in starting work as the cost of steel soared, new council leader Warren Bradley brought the issue back on the agenda in January 2006. An Everton season ticket holder, Bradley was probably sceptical of his own clubs financial capability to go it alone so said the council would do anything they could to help. But after another brush off from us they didn’t raise the issue again. 
     
    Finally when Gillett and Hicks took over they confirmed there was zip, zero, zilch chance of a groundshare, with Gillett telling reporters that he knew going ahead with such a scheme would get him lynched. He then went on to say that building work would start within two months, meaning the Blues finally realised their dream wasn’t going to happen. 
     
    So why have the Blues been so desperate to share our stadium and subsequently became so bitter when we refuse to entertain them?  It is unbelievable that during the two years that they were conning the city over being able to afford to go to Kings Dock, they not once asked us if we wanted to join them. There were serious doubts over our scheme at the time, especially in respect of transport links and building on public parkland. Getting planning permission was far from certain and they knew that so they revelled in it as their scheme pressed ahead. 
     
    But the tables turned and they ended up in shit creek, meaning they have done nothing but try and obstruct and delay our own development ever since to try and get some attention themselves. Even as Gillett was sat in the press conference finally putting paid to their hopes, Wyness was trying to regain some limelight by submitting their fresh proposals to Knowsley council. Their refusal to play second fiddle and the bitterness that goes with it knows no bounds.
     
    Steve Horton
  • How we laughed when they were hammered in Bucharest. It brought to an abrupt end nearly a year of taunts, jibes and recriminations as Liverpool continually had to justify themselves and their right as champions of Europe to defend the trophy.
     
    When it became obvious that the FA would have to make a choice between us and them should we finish 5th and win the Champions League, they went into bitter overdrive. Logically there was no choice to make, especially considering the precedent that had been set with Real Madrid in 2000 when they got in at the expense of Real Zaragoza. But we are talking about Everton here and they just would not let anyone who’d listen forget how they’d been denied their chance in Europe by us 20 years earlier. As such the FA caved in, but had it been us and Bolton in the race for 4th they probably wouldn’t have.
     

    Of course we could and should have finished 4th anyway. We had plenty of opportunities to overhaul them and blew it. But we didn’t mess up the Anfield derby and should have won by far more than the 2-1 we did. However when our players celebrated on the pitch, they were lambasted by the Blues for doing so. What’s the world coming to when a team cant beat their local rivals at and celebrate in front of their own fans in their own stadium. They’ll be asking for our fans to stay silent during the game next. 
    When they did secure 4th Moyes described them as the best team in Merseyside, forgetting that we were about to become champions of Europe. The best team in Merseyside then lost 7-0 at Arsenal.
     
    Despite it being made clear by UEFA that Everton would take their place regardless of what happened to us, their fans still campaigned to stop us getting back in. On the night we won the trophy, one of them even set up an online petition calling for us not to be allowed in as “rules are rules”.
     
    Keith Wyness, who to be fair had always expressed his wish that we’d be allowed in as champions providing it was in addition to Everton suddenly went into bitter mode as greed took over. Before they even knew who they’d be playing in the qualifiers he was whinging that they faced losing out on television money as the English pot would now be split five ways instead of four. And there was me thinking they were in it for the glory and prestige.
     
    Then they had to moan about the seedings. Despite not having played in Europe for nine years they were confused when UEFA confirmed that they wouldn’t be seeded. Wyness said it was an unusual situation to be in for an English club, which it wasn’t. They had no pedigree so weren’t seeded, simple as. Just like West Ham weren’t seeded in this seasons UEFA Cup and ended up with Palermo.
     
    Despite being the best team on Merseyside they were terrified at the thought of drawing us in the qualifying round, with Moyes saying “I’ve got clear concerns at what might happen”. That’s a strange attitude for Moyes to have, considering they were supposed to be better than us.
     

    In the end they got Villarreal, arguably the hardest draw they could have got, leading to allegations that everything possible was being done to stop them going through. They then totally fucked up the ticket sales, putting them straight on general sale a week or so before the game and leading to chaos. But even that was our fault, as Wyness blamed confusion over the date of our games against CSKA Sofia for them having to delay putting tickets on sale. 
    For the away leg, they moaned about only getting 1600 tickets, despite this still being far higher than the 5% of ground capacity that UEFA regulations stipulate. Fearful of their return degenerating into mass hooliganism by ticketless fans Wyness begged fans not to travel if they didn’t have tickets, no doubt fearful of them engaging in the racism and sick chanting that they have done in this country. If they’d have drawn us in the qualifier, he wouldn’t have had those fears.
     
    When they got to Villarreal the banners were out and couldn’t fail to mention the fact their participation in Europe’s top competition was 20 years too late. “Bit of trouble with the neighbours” was one caption. Nothing mentioned why they couldn’t have won the league in 1990 (just 3 years after their last title) and qualified then.
     
    After taking a battering they got back in the game when Villarreal relaxed and Duncan Ferguson had a goal disallowed by Collina. But they wouldn’t let that one go and went into conspiracy theory overdrive, much of it being our fault. Nobody mentioned the fact that even if Ferguson's goal had been allowed, Villarreal scored again anyway so they’d still have been out.
     
    So it was on to the UEFA Cup where they got a straight forward draw, with Wyness claiming that both were famous names in European football. That’s a laugh, but both clubs did have the common factor of being in the shadow of more illustrious neighbours. They were hammered 5-1, with inexperience and naivety being blamed as they chased a second equaliser instead of keeping it tight at 2-1. the only surprise here is that they didn’t publicly (although I’m sure they did privately) blame us for that naivety and inexperience.
     

    Steve Horton
  • After nearly two years, Britain's Bitterest is finally drawing to a close.  It began, at the very beginning as I described how they took the turnstiles with them as they left Anfield after John Houlding raised the rent.  So what better way to finish by paying tribute to their current icon, the Western Approaches most famous regular who it seems may have taken his hatred of the reds out from a school computer room!
     
    When he was about 12 Rooney was invited to trials at Melwood, but it was never going to get off the ground.  When one of our coaches went round handing out kits he refused to take one, insisting on wearing the Everton one he'd turned up in.  Once the blues got to hear of him and expressed an interest, there was no point us pursuing it.
     
    Since Rooney signed professional forms and broke into the team, the way he has acted in derby games has shown just how much he hates the reds.  Who can forget his petulance during his warm ups at Anfield last season and then when he came on he was one of the first to react when Gerrard went in with a two footed tackle.  In the two Goodison games that we have won with ease, his agonising facial expressions have been a picture as he has struggled to come to terms with how shite they are.  This season he was lucky to last the ninety minutes given the way his tackjles were flying in.
     

     
    So if he can't beat us on the pitch, he has to try it off it instead.  In the summer of 2002, a caller rang a radio phone in claiming to have seen Rooney fighting with a red whilst on holiday.  But the most bizarre incident may have come shortly before then whilst he was still a pupil at De La Salle.  Around that time, someone would log into the TLW forum as 'Gary Jones' and dish out lots of abuse to users, including the usual 'murderers' jibes.  The site administrators did some digging and traced the ip address to Rooney's school.  When they threatened to inform the school, 'Gary' pleaded with them not to, saying that he only had a few weeks left and didn't want to be expelled.  Or maybe he didn't want his identity made public?
     
    It couldn't have been him, or could it......
     
    Steve Horton
  • Howard Kendall is not the first ex Blues manager to feature in Britain's bitterest. A previous issue showed how Joe Royle has been expressing his bitterness to us since 1985-6. But there are crucial differences between Royle and Kendall.
     
    Royle has always hated us, but he remains employable and for all intents and purposes gets on with things, just getting obsessed with us when our paths cross.
     
    Kendall, on the other hand, having been out of management for some years, continues to wallow in self pity and blames the Reds for nearly everything. That makes him unique, as he is the bitterest of the bitterest.
     
    Having had less than spectacular managerial spells away from Goodison at Man City, Notts County, Sheffield United and Xanthi, Kendall now makes his living from the after dinner speaking circuit and his Echo column. He comes quite cheap on the speaking front, but he certainly makes sure he gets his share of the free beer on offer. 
     

    But it is his Echo pieces that provide the best source of amusement for Reds fans, as they demonstrate he is clearly losing the plot. As expected, when derby games come around, he's always there with a little dig.
     
    This season he talked about Don Hutchison's disallowed 'goal' in 2000 that denied them a last minute win. The fact that Hutchison was about two yards from Westerveld when he took a free kick instead of the regulation ten seems to have totally been lost on him.
     
    Kendall's bitterness in his rants is quite sad, as he has a widespread knowledge of the credentials of most top flight players in Europe. But despite being an ex manager of Everton, Kendall seems to think he can have an opinion on Reds matters when he wants to. He has brought up the subject of Owen playing for England for example. 
     
    However his most spectacular Liverpool related piece came in April 2002, when Anfield was chosen to stage England's friendly with Paraguay. "Whats wrong with Goodison Sven?" screamed the headline of his column.
     
    Well, there are so many things wrong with it I wouldn't know where to start, but Kendall's sourness knew no bounds. One of his justifications for Goodison being used for England was that it hosted World Cup games in 1966. Dear dear dear. So were White City, Ayresome Park and Wembley, which have all been demolished.
     
    If Kendall really thinks the national team should use Goodison not Anfield when it plays on Merseyside, someone really should have a word.
     
    Most comically, he somehow managed to trace the FA's decision to selecting Anfield as an international venue to Heysel, saying that Everton have been treated shabbily for too long and it all goes back to the ban.
     
    Kendall has regularly used Heysel as a stick to beat Liverpool with, saying how he could have won the European Cup with Everton if it hadn't happened.
     
    He also claimed that when English teams were let back in Europe in 1990, Everton should have been given some sort of wild card entry. You don't hear Luton, Oxford and Wimbledon screaming, even though they have fared far worse since.
     
    At least Everton have stayed in the same division since 1985, the way Kendall talks you'd think they'd fallen down to the Conference.
     
    But Heysel is just a smokescreen for the real reason that Kendall hates Liverpool. The truth lies in his transfer to Everton from Preston back in 1967, which he has covered in his autobiography, unimaginatively titled 'The Howard Kendall Story'.
     
    You see, Kendall had at first looked all set to join Liverpool, but the move broke down, much to his disappointment. We had already signed Gordon Milne, Peter Thompson, and Dave Wilson from Preston that decade and Preston got cold feet, fearing fans would accuse them of setting up a feeder club arrangement.
     
    So Kendall's move was called off and we signed Emlyn Hughes instead. Everton then stepped in for Kendall, posing him an immediate problem, as he had to trade in his beloved red mgb car or have it trashed by his new fans.
     
    So there you have it, Kendall had a mildly successful career with the Blues, but could have had an even better one with us and not had to sell his first car. That's why he remains so bitter today.
     
    Steve Horton
  • Tommy Smith is one of Liverpool's all time greats. Having joined from school, he made his debut in 1962-3 and eventually retired at the end of 1977-8.
     
    Only an unfortunate DIY incident when he dropped a pickaxe on his foot prevented him from winning a second European Cup with the Reds.  Known as the Anfield Iron, he wasn't one to be messed with and Bill Shankly came out with two famous quotes about him. One was that he could start a riot in a graveyard and the other was that he wasn't born, but quarried.
     
    But for many years now Tommy has been a shadow of his former athletic self. Whereas players now have a month off if they break a toenail, in Tommy's day they were simply pumped full of cortisone and told to get on with it. Now he is paying the price for that and struggles to get around, as anyone who has witnessed him limp his way towards the Anfield press box will testify.
     

    However, Tommy isn't one to let his injuries get him down and when he was asked to take a penalty for charity at half time in the 1996 FA Cup Final, he was more than happy to. He showed a lot of courage as he struggled to make the run up before feebly hitting the ball wide from the spot.  But while most non Reds just laughed at how brittle he has become, one Blueshite who works in Bootle DSS had a sick thought. He remembered how he once processed a claim from Tommy for Disability Living Allowance, a benefit that is not means tested and anyone can claim if their injuries are severe enough.
     
    Considering Tommy's right hip, right elbow and both knees are made of plastic and his wife has to dress him some mornings, it's fair to say few people would begrudge Tommy this benefit.   But this particular Blueshite thought Tommy's claim was fraudulent and reported him to his fellow Blueshite in the cheats section. As a consequence his benefit was stripped and Tommy was left with no guaranteed safety net income.
     
    Tommy appealed and went to court, but it was a case of the Establishment closing ranks and the judge backed the decision, making it a sad day for the common man.  Tommy continues to ply the after dinner circuit and dictates a column to the Echo despite being in great pain for a lot of the time. But he wouldn't need to have to do so much of this work if it wasn't for a bitter Blueshite jobsworth in the DSS.
     
    Steve Horton
  • Think of Liverpool in the mid-eighties, and the chances are your mind will conjure up images such as Souness lifting the European Cup, King Kenny creating yet another goal for Ian Rush, or Alan Hansen majestically striding through the middle on one of his legendary attacking forays.  For me though, the most enduring memory of Liverpool in the eighties was of a tousle-haired, lavishly gifted young striker skipping across the Anfield turf, combining impish skill and balance with electric pace as he twisted and turned his way past opposing defenders. 
     
    Growing up in the eighties, Paul Walsh was the player kids like me used to imitate on the school playground, so it was with some trepidation that I travelled to Southampton to interview my boyhood idol.  It seemed strange that fifteen years ago, I was running around the playground in a Liverpool shirt complete with number seven, not to mention the imitation 'mullet' hairstyle, and now here I was chatting to the man himself in his local pub.   
     
    Any nerves I may have felt soon disappeared though, as the down to earth Walsh began regaling me with tales about his time at Anfield.  There's not a hint of ego about the man, and it's clear he still has a lot of affection for the Reds.  Yet Paul Walsh's Anfield career is best described as a tale of what might have been.
     
    He arrived at Anfield in the summer of 1984 as the newly crowned PFA young player of the year, and the prospect of him linking up with Dalglish and Rush had rival defences quaking in their boots and Liverpool fans drooling with anticipation.  Viewed as the natural successor to Dalglish, Walsh was the most sought after striker in the country.  
     
    Sadly, a cruel succession of serious injuries prevented the popular Londoner from ever fulfilling his enormous potential, but he remains one of the most popular - not to mention gifted - players to have ever donned the famous red shirt.   So how did he first hear of Liverpool's interest in him?
     
    "Well I was at Luton, and after my first season there, I think Liverpool started making enquiries about wanting to do a deal, and about six months before I actually went to Liverpool the deal was done - I didn't know that at the time, I found out later - and when the end of that season came, David Pleat pulled me to one side after the last game, and told me that I was going up to Anfield.  The only decision I had to make was that there was an Italian side called Como, who'd just been promoted from Serie B, who also wanted me.  
     
    It wasn't really a tough decision though, because I wanted to go to Liverpool, so I went up on the train and met with the chairman John Smith and Joe Fagan and completed the deal.  It was pretty straightforward really, it wasn't a hard decision in any way and I was delighted.  It was fantastic, the first thing I had to do was to go to the European Cup Final in Rome!  I'd just left Luton, and it was a case of "get your gear together, you're coming to Rome!" 
     
    "So I went up to Melwood and met all the players for the first time, trained with them, and then we flew out to Rome.  Obviously everyone knows what happened there, and then we came back and I went to Swaziland on an end of season tour which was a good chance to get to know everyone better.
     
    The only negative thing was that when it came out that I was going to Liverpool people started throwing this Kenny Dalglish thing at me.  You know, will you be trying to take Kenny's shirt and things like that.  Kenny was always my favourite player and the one I most looked up to.  I went to Anfield knowing that Dalglish and 'Rushy' were the top men, and that didn't bother me, I was just glad to be there."
     

     
    Walsh joined a team in transition.  Souness was about to leave for Sampdoria, and Joe Fagan brought in three midfield players to fill the massive void left by the Scot's departure - John Wark, Jan Molby and Kevin McDonald.  
     
    As Walsh explains though, none of these were a direct replacement for Souness.  "Warky just passed it easy and got in the box, whereas Souness ran the game.  Kevin Mac wasn't in the same class as Souness, but he was a lot better than people gave him credit for.  He looked a bit ungainly though, which was probably why he never got the credit he deserved, but he was a good player.  
     
    Jan was just Jan, but he'd have been better off if the bigger kits were in.  The fashion needed to change a bit quicker so he didn't look so big, because in those tight, silly little shorts we used to have to wear he looked like he was bursting at the seams!  He could never keep his weight down but as far as skill, vision and passing were concerned he was top man."
     
    He may have been expecting to have to bide his time and wait for an opportunity, but a cartilage injury to Ian Rush in pre-season meant that Walsh was thrown in at the deep end alongside his boyhood hero Dalglish.  He made an instant impression with his new fans, scoring just 14 seconds into his home debut against West Ham.  He explains "That was great, because my dad was a West Ham season ticket holder and he'd travelled up to see the game.  We didn't even have kick off, but the ball broke through the middle and Ronnie Whelan has played me in and I've took a touch and put it away.  That's one of my greatest memories." 
     
    But it was the prospect of playing in Europe that really whetted Walsh's appetite, and indeed one of his finest performances came in the European Cup clash with Austria Vienna at Anfield, where he scored twice but then missed a penalty:  
     
    "I scored first with a header, and then there was the volley.  I wasn't supposed to be on penalties, but we were two up and cruising a bit, so the lads said to me "go on then, you have it", but I've made a mess of it and Joe Fagan's gone mad in the dressing room.  He didn't blame me, he reckoned I shouldn't have been put in that position.  He just said "We've got a penalty taker, and I don't care what the score is, he takes the penalties".
     
    All in all, Walsh managed to score a respectable 35 goals from 85 starts for the reds, but does he have a favourite?  "Well it's different goals for different reasons I suppose.  One of the most spectacular ones I scored was the volley against Vienna, because it was a difficult thing to do and it was in the European Cup, but the best goal I scored was when I came on as a sub against York and we were winning about 5-0.  
     
    The ball got pinged to me about 20 yards out from a corner and I hit it on the volley and it went right in the top corner.  It was an unbelievable goal, but because it was only against York in the early rounds of the cup it's got no real significance, but it was a great goal.  
     
    Then there was the one that I just knocked over the line with my stomach against Man United in the semi final at Goodison.  It was in injury time, there was a big ball from Kenny to the back post, Rushy's got up brilliantly and nutted it,  Gary Bailey could only take the pace off it with his fingers and I've run it over the line.  Even though it was a 'two-bob' goal the way it went in, I suppose I've got to say that one because it was so important."
     
    Sadly though, Walsh's last gasp heroics were all in vane, as Liverpool lost the replay.  "Losing that game was probably my biggest disappointment.  We were one up and 'Nico' had a great chance to make it 2-0, but we lost 2-1."  
     
    So was that semi-final at Goodison his most memorable match then?  "Well any important game that you've done well in is memorable, but what is most disappointing looking back on things is that Heysel should have been the most memorable game.  When you look at the European Cup Final now, it's always played in a top stadium like the Nou Camp or the Stade de France, yet we were playing in that dump.  
     
    What winds me up is that everyone else had to take the blame, yet UEFA had chosen to stage the game in a stadium that wasn't fit for a European Cup Final and never took any flak for it.  Even winning the championship wasn't that memorable for me because I missed the run in through injury.  The best part that you work all year for is the run in, and I missed it and also the cup final.  
     
    Even when I won the cup with Spurs I was only a substitute so it means nothing.  We even lost the League Cup final to Arsenal so I haven't got any great memories of a cup final.  I've got the medals but I haven't got great memories of how they've came about and that's disappointing.  I don't want to sound all doom and gloom, because Liverpool is still my favourite club, but things could have been different under slightly different circumstances."
     
    By circumstances, Walsh is surely referring to the horrendous catalogue of injuries that ravaged what should have been a glittering career.  Often players will use injuries as an excuse for under-achievement, but in Walsh's case it is undoubtedly true.  Not once in his Liverpool career was he able to string together more than a dozen consecutive appearances.  Serious injuries to his ankle, knee, stomach and wrist marred his time with the reds, and undoubtedly prevented him from becoming one of the club's greatest ever players.  
     
    There are few players to have ever graced Anfield  that could match Walsh in terms of skill and natural ability, but injuries meant that Liverpool fans were deprived of seeing those talents except in fleeting glimpses.  He was 25 when he left Liverpool in 1988, and his best days should have still been in front of him, but the change of scenery did not bring better luck and eventually a cruciate knee ligament injury forced his retirement from the game at the age of 33.  
     
    He ended his career at Portsmouth, and has now settled on the South coast with his wife and two young sons.  As well as doing some TV work, Walsh is also involved in the building trade and, for the time being at least, acts as an agent, although it is not something he enjoys and he won't be doing it for much longer.   But what of all those injuries, what does he remember about it all?
     
    "Well the medical facilities were unbelievable in those days.  The treatment room was like a museum!  I remember in the double winning season I'd played most of the games and was going along nicely, and then I've picked up an ankle injury against Manchester United.  There's a picture on my wall at home of me in the dressing room, with Roy (Evans) giving it one of them (rubs his hands furiously) with my ankle.  I've ruptured my ligaments and everything, and I've got Roy giving it loads of this (rubs his hands again) saying 'It'll be alright!'  
     
    So I've limped off and I'm hobbling around for months.  The funny thing is though, eventually this fella comes around to test the ultra sound, and it turns out it's not even working.  I'd been religiously having the ultra sound on my ankle three times a day for three months and it turns out it's not even working!  Looking back at it now, it was a real joke, but at the time that's just how things were."
     

     
    Walsh returned briefly later that season, but his ankle hadn't healed fully and he broke down again, missing the title run-in as well as the FA Cup Final against Everton.  All in all, that ankle injury cost Walsh seven months of his career, but no sooner had he returned to the side when his injury curse struck again.  
     
    He recalls, "It was the Screensport super cup final, and I wasn't even supposed to play.  It was against Everton at Goodison, and I'd only gone to watch, but someone had a bad stomach so Kenny asked me if I wanted to be on the bench.  Well I was just coming back to fitness so I couldn't wait to get back playing again.  Anyway, we're three nil up and with ten minutes to go Kenny sends me on.  I remember jumping for a header and coming down heavily on my arm." 
     
    "I couldn't believe it, I'd been out for seven months and then I come back and break my wrist!  The thing was though, Kenny needed a rest so I played with this big cast on my arm.  I remember we lost on the plastic at Luton, and then I scored a hat-trick against Norwich at home.  I'd had no pre-season and wasn't fit, but for the first few games back I was playing on adrenaline and enthusiasm, not fitness.  
     
    It caught up with me after that though, and I lost my sharpness because I was tired.  I've seen the same thing with Michael Owen.  Even in the start of the game with Southampton recently, he looked sluggish and didn't look fit, or sharp, but obviously the goals have then given him a massive lift and he's gone on from there.  I could see what he was going through because I've been through it myself."
     
    As we were on the subject of games at the Dell, I couldn't let the moment pass without taking the opportunity to ask him about that infamous incident with former Southampton defender Kevin Bond, when the pint-sized Liverpool striker floored the giant centre back with a devastating right hook.  So what was all that about?  
     
    "What happened there was I got the ball from a throw in and he stuck his studs right down my back, so I was fuming to be honest, and we were having a bit of a grapple, and as I've turned he's spat right in my face.  Well I've checked to see that the ref wasn't looking and then I've turned around and clumped him as hard as I could, but the linesman was stood about five yards away and saw the whole thing.  
     
    So I was sent off and I was fearing the worst when I had to go and face Kenny in the dressing room, but he just said to me "You know you're wrong don't you? But if there's one person I don't mind you slapping it's him!" and that was the last I heard of it, I wasn't fined or anything."
     
    Three days later the reds faced Southampton in the league, and Bond was on the receiving end again, when an angry fan charged across the pitch at full time and also planted one on the big defender.  It's unclear whether or not Merseyside Police took the same lenient approach as Dalglish though!
     
    Despite all the injury setbacks, Walsh was always a hugely popular figure with the supporters, and even now he is always received fondly when he returns to Anfield.  It's clear from chatting with him, that he regards the relationship he had with the Liverpool supporters as something special.  "I was living in the Holiday Inn, so I spent a lot of time walking around the town, and it was great.  People coming up to me in the street saying "Well done" and patting me on the back and stuff.  I absolutely loved it, the best part about doing well in football is seeing people react to what's going on, and I always had a great relationship with the Liverpool fans."
     
    Even though he was often nowhere near fully fit, Walsh continued to play and he freely admits his form suffered as a result.  Liverpool were short of striking options at the time.  Dalglish only had himself, Rush and Walsh to choose from, until he brought in John Aldridge midway through the 1986-87 season.  The arrivals of Peter Beardsley and John Barnes the following summer pushed Walsh further down the pecking order at Anfield, and eventually he left for Tottenham for half a million pounds.  
     
    Looking back, Walsh regrets leaving the reds for White Hart Lane, and if he could do it all over, he reveals that he would have stayed at Anfield.  "Even after they signed all the other strikers, Roy (Evans) told me they wanted me to play right side midfield, but I said "No way I'm a striker" but I wish I'd done it now.  I could have played that position quite well I think, but at the time I was loathe to start playing a different position, but looking back I really wish I'd have done it because I could have stayed at Liverpool for a few more years."
     
    It's often said that leaving Liverpool is a step down, so how does he compare life at Anfield compared with the other clubs he played for, say Luton and Tottenham for instance?   "Luton was a great little club with a lovely atmosphere and I had a great two years there, but you're always looking to get to the next stage and by going to Liverpool it was everything I'd wanted, a massive club, success and fantastic support.  
     
    Then you look at the players you'll be playing with and you see that it's the type of club everyone wants to be involved with, and I think that was something that Luton could never have.  When you're a young lad trying to reach the top of your profession that's the type of thing you look at."
     
    And Spurs?  "Tottenham could have been a great club but what gets in the way there is all this London glamour rubbish that goes with it. That's a big draw back for Tottenham and London clubs in general. I remember going to Bradford in the FA Cup and losing 1-0, this was when Bradford were in the second or third division.  
     
    We got on the coach after, and we used to have salmon and prawn starter, bottles of chablis on the table, steak or something else, it was like a five star hotel on wheels. It was embarrassing, we'd just been beaten by Bradford, we're looking out the window and we can see the disappointed Spurs fans, and here we are all tucking into our smoked salmon. I just thought 'I don't think I should be eating this', it just didn't seem right.  
     
    I mean at Liverpool, whatever happened it was fish and chips on the coach journey home. We'd all be sitting there with greasy fingers eating our fish and chips, it was just down to earth, more straightforward and seemed to suit our situation, whereas Tottenham was the opposite."
     
    Down to earth and straightforward, much like Walsh himself really.
  • The original idea of 'Britain's Bitterest’ was for just a small column type piece per issue running down one side of the page. But where Joe Royle’s involved that’s just not possible. Big Fat Head, as he’s commonly known, is probably the most bitter ex Blue you could ever come across. Therefore for this issue only, Britain’s Bitterest has actually turned into a full blown article.
     
    Considering Royle was never beaten by Liverpool whilst he was manager of Everton and won an FA Cup to our League Cup while he was in charge, you’d wonder what all the fuss was about.
     
    To find the truth you need to go back to his earlier days as a teenage fan and then a player, when his experiences with Liverpool seem to have scarred him for life. But first let’s take a look at the catalogue of incidents that he has been involved in that have earmarked him for special treatment as one of Britain’s Bitterest.
     
    Just about all of his rants about Liverpool have took place in the last few years. But his bitterness actually started off in 1984-5 when he was relatively new to management at Oldham.
     
    They had a 17 year old on their books called Wayne Harrison who was said to be something special. He had only played a handful of reserve games and already Manchester United were sniffing around, which Royle let slip to Liverpool, talking his talents up in the process.
     
    With our chairman John Smith worrying that United could get him before us, he waded in with a £250,000 bid, a huge amount at the time. It left Royle laughing at us on both sides of his face, especially when Harrison’s career was ended prematurely without him ever making a 1st team appearance. 
     
    The first time he crossed swords with us as a manager was the following season, in a two legged League Cup tie. He was actually very complimentary about us then in his programme notes, but by the time his small time club had made it to the top flight, his views changed completely.
     
    When we scored two late goals to come from a goal down to win in 1993-4, he went on and on about the amount of injury time that was played.
     
    He even brought it back up again the following season as Everton manager, after a 0-0 draw at Anfield. This was in response to Roy Evans saying that Royle’s dogs of war were an insult to the school of science, leading Royle to go on about referees laying down at Anfield and using that Oldham defeat as an example.
     
    The following season we went to Goodison in April with an outside chance of the title, but could only come away with a 1-1 draw. We struggled to get our passing game going that night, largely due to Royle having the pitch watered beforehand, although he did deny this. A late equaliser saved our skins, leading to Royle claiming that we would have lost if they didn’t have so many injuries.
     
    Despite moving to Manchester City after being sacked by Everton, his bitterness only got worse and he has even spread his dragnet to include the Liverpool Echo. When Liverpool went to Maine Road for a friendly in 1999, Royle asked at the post match press conference if there was an Echo reporter in the room. Chris Bascombe put his hand up and was told that the press conference wouldn’t start till he left. When Chris protested he was swiftly removed from the room by two bouncers (despite the fact that Bascombe was not even working for the Echo when Royle was Everton boss). 
     
    In 2000-01 he was back at Anfield after winning promotion and refused to attend any press conferences after the league and FA Cup games. He did speak to the television however, having a ridiculous tirade about penalties that were awarded to us.
     
    After we beat them 3-2 in the league he said ‘the cock had to crow three times before we got the penalty’ before going on to rant ‘the PFA have got to get involved in naming and shaming the players who dive in the game. It is quite galling. I am very annoyed about what I have seen here today. I am not going to name names’.
     
    We then beat them 4-2 in the FA Cup, taking an early lead from the spot after Smicer was brought down. After that game, he said he wouldn’t blame the defeat on the early penalty, before going on to do just that, saying ‘That was not a penalty. It was fiction and it changed the game. It was a ridiculous decision that we could have done without’.
     
    After he was sacked by Man City Joe got a lucky break with Channel 5, when all other available summarisers were too scared to go to Israel for a UEFA Cup game. He also did summarising for Granada regional games and in December 2001 invited himself to stay behind and watch Chelsea v Liverpool after commentating on a Nationwide League game.
     
    Beforehand he allegedly told anyone whose attention he could grab how much he hated Liverpool then proceeded to cheer all four goals we conceded. 
     
    In the summer of 2002, he somehow landed a job with the BBC in the World Cup, where he was based in Korea and commentated on games involving Poland and Senegal, both of whom contained Reds players. He sounded like he was standing up and cheering every goal Jerzy let in and when Salif Diao was shown the red card, Royle was almost leaping from the commentary box to haul him off the pitch.
     
    When he took the job at Ipswich I thought we’d seen and heard the last of him, then we got them in the Worthington Cup. During the match he was very animated and I was able to observe his every move from where I was sat in the Paddock. At one point he said under his breath ‘sit down Pinnochio’ as he returned to the dugout.
     
    So just why is Royle so bitter? The reasons stem from his schooldays and playing career, when he was upset by the Reds on many occasions. These experiences have left him many memories that fill his ample sized head today. 
     
    Despite coming from Norris Green, Royle actually grew up as a Man United fan and as a teenager regularly used to travel to their home games by train. He joined Everton in the summer of 1965, so it’s safe to assume that he could well have saw United play against Liverpool in 1962-3 and 1963-4.
     
    Liverpool drew the first of these games 3-3 and won the second 1-0, when Ron Yeats scored his first goal for the Reds. So you can imagine how Joe must have felt on the ride back to Lime Street surrounded by jovial Kopites singing ‘eey aye addio Ron Yeats scored a goal’
     
    Later on as a player he missed an open goal early on in a derby in 1970-1 and then had to endure the wrath of the Kop who sang ‘He shot, he missed, he must be fucking pissed Joey Royle’. Although he made amends by scoring just after half time Everton went on to lose the game 3-2.
     
    Royle also has cause to be bitter to Liverpool for ruining his Christmas in 1974. Surplus to requirements at Everton, he thought he could spend time with his family but instead was transferred to Man City on Christmas Eve.
     
    He was thrust straight into the team for a Boxing Day visit to Anfield without even having the chance to train with his new teammates. After ten minutes he blasted a great chance wide and ended up on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline.
     
    Later in the decade, he was in the Bristol City side that was well beaten 4-0 and a year later he was on the wrong end of a 4-1 hiding again, this time with Norwich.
     
    So all in all he didn’t enjoy too many of his Anfield visits. As a Man United supporter who played for Everton in the 1970s, is it any wonder he’s so bitter today?
     
    Steve Horton
  • Let’s start at the beginning.  How old were you when you signed for the reds?
     
    I signed as an apprentice when I was 15.  I was a mad Liverpool supporter but I didn't see them play an awful lot because when I was at school I played for them in the morning and the boys club in the afternoon.  When I signed at 15 the club missed out on promotion quite a few times, but you just got the feeling when Bill Shankly arrived that something special was going to happen, and it did of course.
     
    You succeeded Billy Liddell in the Liverpool side.  Was he a big help to you, and did you get to know him very well as a person?
     
    Yes he was, and I did get to know him quite well.  He was a lovely man and was always prepared offer advice and encouragement.  Years later we were on the spot the ball panel together, so I got to know him again in later life.
     
    You were put into the side as a 17 year old, did you find that hard?   
     
    No, I actually had a really good debut.  Everyone helped, I had all the senior players around me and everything went well.   I suppose the following season I thought to myself that I was going to be in the team, but obviously I wasn't.  But I was only 17 so I had a lot of time on my side and it wasn't long before I was a regular.
     
    So you had to go back into the reserves for a while then?
     
    I did go back into the reserves, yes.  They had thrown me in the 1st team towards the end of the season, and in the close season they signed a guy called Kevin Lewis from Sheffield United.  Kevin played half the promotion season and I played half as well.  I got a second division winners medal, but it wasn't until we got in the first division that I became a regular.
     
     

     
    For a while it seemed the reds were never going to get out of the second division.  Many people say it was the arrival of St John and Yeats that proved the catalyst for the clubs rise to the top. How influential were they?
     
    Obviously Bill Shankly paid a lot of money for Ian and Big Ronnie.  Well it was a lot of money in those days, about £35,000 I think it was.  They came in and made a big impression.  Big Ronnie at the back and Ian scoring the goals.  So Bill built the team around them, and clearly they had a big influence.
     
    How good was Roger Hunt and where would you rate him in comparison to the other great strikers you've seen and played with?
     
    He's one of the best there's ever been.  You look at his record, the amount of games he played and the goals he scored, and he's definitely up there with Rushy and Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen. 
     
    Did having Hunt and St John up there make it easier for yourself and Peter Thompson?
     
    Yeah, we complimented each others games well.  We were direct wingers and our aim was to get to the byline and cross the ball, which we did, and Roger and Ian went on to score a lot of goals.
     
    You were around when the Kop really started to make a name for itself. Do you have any specific memories about the singing or atmosphere back in those days?
     
    Well there was 28,000 people on the Kop and they always made a lot of noise.  The one particular incident which stands out is a famous one, when the Leeds' goalkeeper Gary Sprake threw the ball into his own net, and the Kop started singing 'Careless Hands.'  It was brilliant, very quick and clever.
     
    In 61/62 when the 2nd division title was clinched and the players had to come back out of the dressing room as the crowd wouldn't go home. What do you remember about that?
     
    I remember it was a long time ago!  I don't know how long they stayed after the match, but they were just so elated that we'd got promotion.  They'd missed out for a lot of years, and they were just so happy that it had finally happened.  It was a really special day.
     
    Was your 1st goal against Everton in 1963-4 the best of your career?
     
    Oh God!  Well I didn't score many, but I suppose it's memorable when you score against Everton in a derby match.  I don't know if it was the best, but it was a special memory.  I didn't score many as I say, but I got some important ones I suppose.
     
    What about the early days in Europe?  It must have been exciting.
     
    We played our first game in Europe against Rejkavic, and we won over there and at Anfield.  It was all a new experience playing abroad and playing against foreign players.  I think that's what made Liverpool a great team to begin with, playing in Europe and picking things up from foreign sides.  It definitely made us a better team.
     
    What are the most outstanding memories you have of travelling around Europe?  
     
    I suppose they were all fantastic experiences, but playing in the San Siro in ‘65 was an unbelievable experience.  We won 3-1 at Anfield but we got beat away and didn't get through.  Another one which stands out is going to Trabzon in Turkey, when we were all in the dressing room beforehand and all the lights went out.  Nobody could see what they were doing before the match, but I think that's part and parcel of their tactics. The atmosphere was electric and it was all a fantastic experience.
     
    Managers now always use midweek Euro trips as an excuse for poor league performances. You didn't travel in the luxury players do now, and you also had a much smaller squad.  Did all the travelling make it more difficult for you do you feel?
     
    Well the game has changed so much now and it's a lot quicker.  Even from the start we went on chartered flights and if we could get back straight after the game we did do.  It all helped, because if you  play midweek and you can get back  early it gives you a day more to recover, especially if you've got a knock.  We did really well in Europe when you think about it.  When you look at the squad system clubs use these days,  I wouldn't have liked it.  I wanted to play every week and it would have frustrated me having to sit games out to be rested.  From that point of view I don't agree with rotation.  I think you play your best team and unless somebody gets injured you keep on going.
     
    Winning the FA Cup in ‘65 was a monumental achievement. How did that compare to winning the title.
     
    Winning the cup in 65 made history for the club, as  they'd never won it before.  For me to be part of it is brilliant because it's like you're making history for the club.  I always feel as though the first time you do something, like the FA Cup or the European Cup in ‘77, it's always a special occasion when you first do it, and of all the great memories I have from my career, I'd say the ‘65 FA Cup and the ‘77 European Cup stick out because it was the first time Liverpool had ever done it.
     
     
    *The Reds have since added five more European Cups to the collection and later this month will have an opportunity make it a magnificent seven when they face Real Madrid in Paris. If you fancy the chances of Jurgen's boys then why not take advantage of some of the Free Bets that are on offer.

     
    When did you first realise that Gerry Byrne had broken his collar bone?
     
    Well I didn't know during the game, I don't think any of the players did.  We knew he was badly injured but we'd no idea what had happened.  It was just one of those things that happened, but when I think about it, and when I look at old videos and see him playing the whole second half with a broken collar bone it shows you how hard Gerry was.  He was a hard player, one of the hardest players I've ever played with.
     
    The Inter Milan home game followed shortly after Wembley, and it’s famous for Shankly ordering Byrne and Milne to take the FA Cup onto the pitch just before the game to whip up the crowd and intimidate the Italians...  
     
    Yes, it was a great psychological ploy really.  To take the FA Cup round, knowing we'd never won it before, against Inter Milan who at that time were the best  team in the world as they'd just beaten the South American champions, well it got the fans going and made a great difference to the game.  We were really up for it.
     
    Do you think the Inter players were intimidated?
     
    I don't know if they were intimidated, I mean they played in the San Siro which was  a very intimidating place of course.  I think they may have been surprised at the amount of noise and what was going on though.
     
    Is that the loudest you've heard Anfield?
     
    Well the Inter Milan game and the St Etienne game were the most memorable ones of my career.  Great games, noisy games.  But fantastic football matches.
     
    At the time did you think that the away leg of the Inter Milan tie was fixed?
     
    Well at the time you don't know whether its fixed or not, but things happened which shouldn't have happened.  They kicked the ball out of Tommy Lawrence's hands from behind and then put it in the net.  But we didn't win the game, we lost the tie and even though it was proven years later that the ref had taken a bung, at the time you just play the game and get on with it.    
     
    It must have been sickening though?
     
    Yeah it was, because we would have been close to the final, and to get to the final of the European Cup is a great achievement, but it just wasn't meant to be.
     
    When you got injured in 1970-71 and Brian Hall took over at right midfield, did you think your Anfield time was up or did Shanks always reassure you he'd find room in the team?
     
    I had a cartilage operation and it took a long time to come back, I was out for about two months.  In the meantime Brian Hall had come in on the right wing and done very well, so I knew I wasn't going to automatically get back in the team.  It wasn't until a guy called John McLaughlin - a local lad and a very good player who was playing centre midfield - got injured that Shanks put me in the side in centre midfield, and I created a whole new career there.
     
    It must have been a huge shock when Shankly resigned.  What are your memories of it?
     
    Well I just couldn't believe it.  It was in the close season and I was on my way to the Lakes with the wife and kids, and as we left the house the phone went.  My wife said leave it but I went back in and answered it.  It was a guy from the Echo and he said "Have you heard the news?  Bill Shankly has resigned"  Obviously I couldn't believe it, but we headed off to the Lakes. I was very recognisable in those days with playing for Liverpool, so we had a weekend up at the Lakes and everyone just kept coming up to me wanting to know about Bill Shankly.
     
    Would you say there was much difference between Shankly and Paisley were in terms of how they wanted the team to play, or did Bob just carry on the way Bill left off?
     
    I don't think there was a great deal of difference really.  There was a great difference in personality of course.  Shanks was a great motivator and a bit of an extrovert, whereas  Bob was an introvert, a very quiet man.  But both got the best out of players with their own methods.  But in terms of change, no, everything just continued as it did before.  Same training, same way of playing, things just carried on and Bob went on to win 19 trophies in nine seasons  or something.  Incredible.
     
    Everyone has stories about Shankly, and I'm sure they've all been told now.  But what's your favourite 'Shankly moment'?
     
    Oh there's that many stories that you hear about Shanks.  They’ve all been told now I’m sure.  My favourite though?  I don't know really… I suppose the one which stands out for me was when he signed Alec Lindsay.  Alec was one of the worst trainers there could ever be. He had a fantastic left foot, but when we were doing pre-season training Alec was probably last at everything. Then we got the ball out and were doing reserves v 1st team, and Alec wasn't showing anything at all.
     
    So one day, Shanks called him aside with Bob and said: "Listen Alec, when you were at Bury you were up having shots at goal,  you were back defending, you looked a different player."  So Alec said to Shanks "No, that wasn't me up and down the field, it was a guy called Davie Kerr."  So Shanks says to Alec "No son, the red hair"  Alec replied "Yeah, Davie Kerr had red hair"  So Shanks turns to Bob and says "Jesus Christ Bob, we've signed the wrong player!" Of course Alec went on to be a great full back and had perhaps the best left foot I've seen in my life."
     

     
    Tell us what you remember about St Ettienne?
     
    Not a lot actually.  It was a great game, a great occasion.  I've seen clips of it since, but the great thing about that game of course was the David Fairclough goal.  When you think about David, he scored a lot of goals  but this was probably the best he ever scored.  Such control, he took it brilliantly, and to do it in the heat of the moment the way he did, it was absolutely brilliant.
     
    And Rome?
     
    I said before that the first time you ever do anything its always the best, so obviously this was an unbelievable occasion.  Paying in Rome, at that stadium, with so many Liverpool fans…. I've never seen so many travelling fans.  It was just Liverpool's night.  It was Kevin Keegan's last game, and I thought he was the best player on the pitch that night.  It was a fantastic occasion in the clubs history.
     
    Who was better, Keegan or Dalglish?
     
    Oh I don't know, they were two different types of players.  I suppose if you ask me who was the best player Liverpool ever had, I'd have to say Kenny Dalglish.  Billy Liddell was brilliant for me, but in my time at Liverpool I'd have to say Kenny Dalglish was the best.
     
    What did the other players make of Keegan's 'superstar' status?  Did it cause any problems?
     
    No, no problems.  Kevin was the first player to have an agent, and he was a big, big player.  Probably the biggest player since George Best in terms of being a 'superstar.'  He was a smashing guy though Kevin, and everybody got on well with him, he was definiteley one of the boys.
     
    Who was the best player you played against?
     
    George Best, without a doubt.
     
    What was the best Liverpool side you played in?
     
    That’s difficult to judge, because each team has it’s own merits.  There were the 60’s and the 70’s teams, I didn’t play in the 80’s.  The two sides I played in were great sides, and I’d hate to say which was`better.  I just feel fortunate to have played in such great teams.
     
    Was there much difference in the style of play between those sides?
     
    No I don’t think there was. Obviously Shanks was still there for the early part of the 70’s, and when Bob took over it was still the same players and we played the same way.  We trained the same way too as Bob just stuck to the tried and tested.
     
    You were famously only booked once in your entire career.  What do you remember about that incident?
     
    I remember it well.  It was the replay in the league cup against Nottingham Forest.  We’d drawn at Wembley and the replay was at Old Trafford.  Pat Partridge was the referee, and he’d give a penalty against Phil Thompson, which was an awful decision.  He tackled the guy about a yard outside the area.  The guy fell inside the area and he gave them a penalty, which upset us.  Then I just went for a ball with Peter Withe, a scouser.  Anyway, the two of us went for a ball and he was a tall lad and I caught him in the chest.  I think everyone was surprised when he took my name.  It was unfortunate, and it’s been a talking point ever since.  I think at the time Liverpool tried to get it scratched off but it wasn’t.
     
    Players now earn absolutely obscene amounts of money.  Even the crap ones are millionaires.  Someone as good as yourself would be making money hand over fist if you played now.  Do you ever think about that?
     
    No I don’t look at it that way. I enjoyed every single minute and I think I was fortunate to be signed by Bill Shankly, who was probably the best manager ever, not just at Liverpool.  I played in successful teams with great players, and the money wouldn’t have changed my life.  I’ve enjoyed my life, and still am doing.  I’ve had a lovely life and still do have.  Being an ex-player means I still get to do interesting things, like last weekend I was in Athens as a guest of the Greek branch of the Liverpool supporters club.  I’ve got my family round me, all my friends, I enjoy where I live and everything I do.  So the money would have been nice, but at this particular time I look at it think it doesn’t matter to me. 
     
    So you wouldn’t swap your success and medals for a less glittering career and a 50k a week pay cheque?
     
    Oh God no I wouldn’t, no. Not at all.  I feel myself to be very fortunate to have played at a time when Bill Shankly arrived, we were in the second division and I was there for the whole change of Liverpool football club.  History was made, and I regard myself as a part of that history because I was there for such a long time.  I wouldn’t change that for any amount of money.
  • In 1986 Red and Blue travelled to Wembley side by side on coaches and trains and there was no segregation inside the stadium. Even though Liverpool won the Double and Everton were left empty handed, everything remained friendly and the occasion was a huge PR boost for Merseyside.
     
    But although the fans were good humoured, not all the players were. Kevin Sheedy was so gutted that he didn’t go round the pitch to salute the Everton fans after the game, preferring to go and sulk in the dressing rooms instead.
     
    However, the real Oscar for throwing a tantrum had to go to Peter Reid. Some idiot on the Council decided it would be a good idea if both teams toured the city on open topped buses the day after the final. It was a fairly stupid idea, considering that one team was bound to have lost and meant the Blues players had to stand feet away from King Kenny and Rushie holding the trophies they had come so close to winning. 
     
    While most of them just got on with it as it had all been arranged beforehand, Peter Reid decided he couldn’t face it and went AWOL. Even fellow bitter person Howard Kendall has said that he doesn’t respect what Reid did as he had to put up with the humiliation too. 
     

     
    But in a way I can understand just why Reid did what he did. After all, he bears an astonishing resemblance to the FA Cup and may well have been mistaken for it by Reds fans or players. He was in the England squad for Mexico, but could so easily have been packed off in a box for some promotional tour of local schools.
     
    This may not have been such a bad thing, as Steve McMahon could have gone to the World Cup instead. But let’s not dwell on that, as it’s only Blues who are bitter.
     
    Steve Horton
  • Evertonians first showed anger at refereeing decisions when they lost the 1893 Liverpool Senior Cup Final, causing the local FA not to present the trophy for fear of a riot. They eventually found it in them to forget that incident but they will never, ever forgive or forget Clive Thomas for 1977. 
     
    They claim they'd have won the FA Cup that year (and dominated world football after that) had Thomas not disallowed a late semi final goal against Liverpool when the score stood at 2-2. As it was, Liverpool got to Wembley after a replay and although we didn't win the FA Cup we were widely regarded as unlucky as a freak Man Utd goal denied us the Treble. 
     
    The semi final 'goal' in question was scored by Brian Hamilton, but was deemed offside and Blues claim it was all part of a plot to make sure the FA got their dream final. This is despite the fact that the world's biggest authority on football, Jimmy Hill, decided that it was definitely was offside when he studied the television replay.
     
    To compound their misery, they were denied a penalty in the replay when Clemence impeded Duncan McKenzie but an indirect free kick was awarded instead. Once again Thomas was the referee in question. They failed to score from this and the Reds won 3-0, with the victory being made even sweeter as our first goal was a penalty that they claim shouldn't have been awarded.
     
     

    Before and after then there have been refereeing decisions in other derbies that have been contentious, according to them anyway. In 1973-4 Mike Lyons had an early goal disallowed for offside at Goodison and Liverpool went on to win 1-0 thanks to a late Alan Waddle goal.
     
    In the 1983-4 League Cup Final it was claimed that Alan Hansen controlled the ball with his hand to stop an Adrian Heath goalbound shot. They say the referees failure to spot this cost them the game, conveniently overlooking the fact that Graeme Sharp missed an open goal when Grobbelaar dropped the ball onto his head and Peter Reid shot straight at the keeper when clean through. 
     
    More recently, in 1999-2000 Everton claimed to have scored when Sander Westerveld took a free kick that hit Don Hutchison on the back and went in. The fact that Hutchison was about three yards away from Westerveld rather than the regulation ten seems to have missed them completely.
     
    A year later and Gary Mac scored in the last minute from 44 yards. But blues will tell you that it was never a free kick in the first place. The fact that they scored in the game from one of the most laughable penalty decisions ever has been totally forgotten.
     
    But none of these compare with Clive Thomas in 1977. Evertonians continue to recall this incident today, with one man in West Derby, referred to as 'Mr Elephant Brain' by Alan Edge, having mentioned it every day of his life since.
     
    In February 2001 BBC online invited surfers to recall the worst ever refereeing decisions. It came as no surprise to me to see that a Blue, who would identify himself only as 'John from UK' nominated Clive Thomas' disallowed goal.
     
    It really rankles with them and in the excuses they give as to why they are shite, this comes a close second to Heysel. 
     
    It's funny how Liverpudlians never moan about the disallowed goal at Highbury that cost us the title in our last game of 1971-2. We just went out and won the league the next year instead. But Evertonians don't know about burying the past and looking to the future. They prefer to blame everyone else for their lack of success instead. Which is why they will always be known as Britain's Bitterest.
     
    Steve Horton
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