Everton
2 the shite 0 / September 18th 1993 / Att:38,157
Everton:
Southall, Holmes, Hinchcliffe, Ebbrell, Jackson, Ablett,
Ward, Horne, Cottee, Rideout, Beagrie
Scorers:
Ward, Cottee
My
first match was an amazing experience and I remember parts
of it like it was yesterday. Coming from a non football
family, I had to find my own way and it was 2 days before
my 16th birthday on September 18th of 1993 when the kopites
crossed Stanley Park. I had just got my first home shirt
off my then girlfriend, who had got it me for my birthday,
but let me have it early so I could wear it for the match,
which I still have to this day.
I was really starting to get into the Blues and all that
is football. When my mate who was also an Everton fan
got a phone call from from his Mums boyfriend, who was
out in Llandudno on the pop, telling us that there was
a poster advertising tickets for a coach trip from Llandudno
to Goodison park, for the match against the shite that
included a ticket, we jumped at the chance. Who would
have believed that my first ever game seeing the Blues
would be a Merseyside derby.
Saturday
morning arrived and we got picked up on the way as I lived
in Old Colwyn at the time. The coach door opened and we
were greeted with a warm welcome. Everyone was up for
a laugh and taking the piss out of each other, it was
like I had a load of new friends all at once and the blue
shirt on my back gave instant acceptance. First stop was
the the Catholic club. I looked old for my age and it
was a bit easier to get a pint at 16 in them days so I
tucked in to a a few pints with my mate. At 2 o'clock-ish
we headed for the ground and what a buzz on the way. Thousands
of people heading in the same direction talking about
the game ahead, whilst i was only eager to get my first
glimpse of Goodison.
I headed off for a programme and then the next thing was
straight to the seats. I was in lower bullens towards
the back at the Gwladys street end in line with edge of
the 18 yard box. That amazing feeling when you first get
to the top of the steps and see Goodison in its full glory
is something that stays with you for the rest of your
life. I'd try to describe it, but you all know what I
mean. Scouse pie in hand we headed for our seats. My mate
had been to a few games before and had never seen the
Blues lose so we were convinced we were going to win.
I was amazed to see kopites all mixed in with us blue
fans having heard all the negative press around football
hooliganism. My mate assured me this was normal at the
derby, the only one of it's kind.
The
drum rolled through the p.a. system and the Z-cars tune
kicked in and when the teams came out there was an almighty
roar. The sun was shining and the stage was set. The whistle
was blown by the ref and the Gwladys Street set the tone.
Even then I knew that was where I would be sitting in
the future.
The
game kicked off at a frantic pace and it wasn't that long
before we had a corner. We were shooting down towards
the Gwladys street. The corner came in and it wasn't the
best, however the clearance by McMannaman was even worse.
It came out to the edge of the box where our No 7 Mark
Ward latched onto it, hit it with his right peg through
a melee of players and the ball ended up in the back of
the net, bottom left corner. Oh my God. Goodison went
crazy. I had never seen or been involved in anything like
this before. What a rush!! Add to that a spat with handbags
out and a bit of face pushing between Grobbelar and McMannaman
to follow as they seemed to blame each other (sound familiar?)
and you've got yourself a recipe for a great first goal
witnessed at Goodison. 1-0 Everton. I was in dreamland.
I
joined in as much of the singing as I possibly could,
I had been learning off my mate and loved every second
of it. I don't remember too much about what happened after
that until the last 10 minutes or so when Tony Cottee
got on the ball. He approached the Park End penalty box
and rode a challenge from the keeper and one from the
defender and seemed to slide it into the back of the net.
I still remember the commentary on match of the day of
"Its cottee...It's still Cottee......ITS STILL COTTEE!!!"
OH MY GOD what an experience. Goodison went even more
mental than the goal in the first half. We knew the 'Pride
of Merseyside' was all ours.
Everyone
was out of their seats hugging, jumping up and down all
over the place with the biggest, massivest smiles with
the sun still shining. Shouts of 'YES!' and 'COME ON'
werre accompanied by the much quieter sound of footsteps
of the departing Kopites. Oh what Glory. Goodison was
a grand place to be and we sang the boys all the way to
the final whistle and into the night back at home. Needless
to say that since then I have been hooked. I'll never
forget it. My brand new first Everton shirt has cigarrette
burns on the front from the celebrations after TC scored,
which whilst I was a bit gutted at the time, now serve
as a reminder for one of the best moments of my life.
Paul Livesey
(18/06/08)
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