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The Merseyside derby is a sporting institution.

For well over a century Everton and Liverpool Football Clubs have battled it out to be the pride of Merseyside.

Ahead of this year's 222nd Merseyside derby, with the help of fans all across the world, we've compiled an A-Z of all things connected to this football classic.

There's plenty we've left out - feel free to list your own A-Z in the comments section below.

A: 'Ard knocks

There's no room for wimps or those with a weak disposition on Merseyside derby day. The likes of Jimmy Case, Peter Reid, Steve McMahon, Dixie Dean, Tommy Smith, and Jim Harley typified the derby spirit with their bruising commitment to getting the job done.

B: Derby belly

Be honest, before the match, who actually enjoys the preamble? If you do, you're a twisted masochist - or at the very least hugely confident of victory. Those of a regular disposition may suffer with what's commonly known as 'derby belly' - sleepless nights, fidgety and find it hard to concentrate on anything but the game.

Of course, once it's over, assuming your side has won, another 'B' kicks in - bragging rights - we're confident that this lasts a little longer than the dodgy nerves.

Shout out also, to perhaps the finest nickname in Merseyside derby folklore - the 'bionic carrot' David Fairclough, who carved his name into derby history scoring the winner at Anfield in April 1976.



C: Curtains

"If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd draw the curtains."

Just one of the many sound bites from the mouth of Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. Another good one - "A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing."

... see also, Ray Clemence, who shares with Neville Southall, the record for derby clean sheets, both with 15 in all competitions. Clemence's came at a better rate though - in 27 games compared to Southall's 41.

D: Dixie Dean

Everton goalscoring legend William Ralph "Dixie" Dean scored an astonishing 37 hat-tricks for the Blues - 30 more than anyone else ever managed. Two of those trebles came at Anfield, with the forward punishing Liverpool with clinical displays of striking in both 1928 and 1931 in front of a combined attendance of over 100,000.

On the derby, Dean said: “Everton have always been noted for going out on the pitch to play football. We got called the school of science quite rightly. The other lot, the Reds, well they were a gang of butchers. They should have been working in an abattoir."

D is also for derby - the first printed use of the term 'derby' was in the Daily Express in 1914 when they referred to Liverpool v Everton as 'the local derby'.

E: Evertonians

“Don’t forget boys, One Evertonian is worth Twenty Liverpudlians,” - another classic quote, this time from Everton legend Brian Labone.



F: Friendly derby

Yeah, whatever. Sure families are still very much split between the Red and Blue divide, and there's been countless cup finals with both sets of fans sitting together, but make no mistake the Merseyside derby is far from friendly.

It is officially the worst in terms of discipline in Premier League history, having seen 20 red cards (and 26 in total) - more than any other contest between two teams in England's top flight since it was rebranded in 1992. At the same time, there have been 168 yellow cards - the Premier League's fourth highest total. And, since Opta began keeping their own statistics in 2006/07, there have also been an eye-watering 678 fouls.

And don't let anyone tell you this is a recent thing, check out the royal rumble in October 1979 at Anfield when an explosive bust up broke out involving virtually every outfield player. Friendly, my arse.

G: Gale force winds

Unprecedented interest in the 1967 FA Cup fifth round meeting between holders Everton and league champions Liverpool led to eight giant closed-circuit television screens being set up at Anfield to allow more supporters to watch the game.

64,851 at Goodison and 40,149 across Stanley Park watched Alan Ball's goal just before half-time secure a quarter-final tie for the Blues at Nottingham Forest with organisers relieved that the gale force winds that blew the Anfield screens down half an hour after the game finished had not arrived any sooner.

H: Hillsborough

The Merseyside derby attained added extra significance following the death of 96 fans at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989.

Kenny Dalglish highlighted the emotional 1989 FA Cup final as the most 'poignant derby ever - 'not just because we won but for the whole city of Liverpool.’

Everton's moving tribute to the 96 after the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report in September 2012 also proved a fitting moment exemplifying the city's fight for justice.

I: ITV

Hopeless at sports coverage, ITV cemented themselves in Merseyside derby folklore by scoring a whopping own goal during the side's 2009 FA Cup fourth round replay.

With three minutes of injury time being played, some bright spark decided to switch to an advert break just as 19-year-old Everton midfielder Dan Gosling scored the only goal of the game. Just two minutes later the final whistle blew and an embarrassed Steve Ryder apologised for the monumental blunder. Well played, ITV.

J: January

Or more specifically, boring January derbies.

Ever derby played in January in all competitions since the beginning of the Premier League era has been a draw; 1995 0-0 (Premier League), 2004 0-0 (Premier League), 2009 1-1 (Premier League), 1-1 (FA Cup), 2011 2-2 (Premier League).

All have been played at Anfield and there has also never been a sending off in any of these games.

K: Kendall and The King

Two icons, Howard Kendall and Kenny Dalglish led the Blues and Reds to Merseyside glory both as both as players and managers.

Dalglish holds the record for most derby wins as manager. In his two spells in charge of the Reds, he won 15 derbies out of the 25 his teams contested, drawing seven and losing three.

Howard Kendall, shares the Harry Catterick, the record for most derby wins as Everton boss, with eight apiece. Catterick's successes came in 25 derbies, Kendall's in 31 over three spells in charge.

L: Late levellers

ITV take note, as Lenny Kravitz says, it ain't over 'til its over. Sorry...

Ian Rush in 1986's Charity Shield, Tony Cottee (twice) in the thrilling 4-4 draw Cup replay at Goodison in 1991, Robbie Fowler in April 96 and Gary Speed the following November, and of course Daniel Sturridge in last year's thrilling 3-3 draw in November. Don't leave your seat early in the derby.

M: Milk Cup

Liverpool played their fourth League Cup final in a row in 1984, taking on Everton at Wembley - the first time the two Merseyside teams had faced each other in a major cup final.

Liverpool was likely a ghost town on Sunday March 25 as thousands of Scousers travelled down to the capital for the historic occasion - a banner hung over one of the motorway routes of the city read, “Would the last ones out of Liverpool please switch off the lights”. Honours were even in a tight 0-0 before Reds skipper Graeme Souness decided matters in a replay at Maine Road three days later.

N: 1966

1966 provided the fitting time for Merseyside to show off. And show off, we did. The first Merseyside derby following England’s World Cup success saw a pre-match silverware walk.

Liverpool walked the League Championship trophy around Goodison, Everton walked the FA Cup around the ground before Liverpool’s Roger Hunt and Everton’s Ray Wilson, both in the England squad, carried the Jules Rimet trophy in what was probably the most silverware-laiden lap of honour ever seen in British football. Boss, that.

O: Open Turnstile

The 1984 Milk Cup Final was staged on a Sunday and courtesy of an ancient Wembley bye-law a free turnstile had to be made available because it was the Sabbath.

Obviously it wasn't advertised. But several Scousers marched up without tickets hoping to pay to get in and gained access to the biggest match in Mersey derby history for nothing! The bye-law, by the way, was quickly repealed soon after.

P: Paisley

Not just a legendary manager, but Bob Paisley memorably scored one of the two goals in Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final win over Everton in 1950. His reward? Being dropped for the final. The Reds lost 2-0 to Arsenal.

Q: Queue

Okay, so this may seem like a cop out, but queues are synonymous with the Merseyside derby.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has eulogised over his first derby in January 1955, when he queued for hours in the wind and rain for a precious ticket only to see his heroes dumped out of the FA Cup 4-0 at home by a Liverpool team who had just been relegated to the second division. Those tests of endurance make the victories when they come taste even sweeter.

R: Ian Rush

Ian Rush writes himself into derby folklore in 1982 by becoming the first player to score four since Fred Howe in 1935 as the Reds demolish Everton 5-0 at Goodison.

Rush scored 25 goals in Merseyside derbies. He holds the Reds record and is the highest overall derby day scorer, although Dixie Dean takes top honours for most goals scored in league derbies - 18 to Rush's 13.

S: Stanley Park

The great divide. A whopping 110 acres of greenery separating Liverpool's glorious football clubs. In fact, Liverpool had one of the lowest ratios of open public space for leisure in Britain before it was opened in 1870, with the Mayor of Liverpool called it the ‘People’s Park’.

It was 1878 before the first football teams were put on an organised footing in Liverpool, the most notable team being from the local Methodist church, which called itself St Domingo.

This team finally emerged as Everton Football Club in 1879, playing its first game at Stanley Park on 21 December 1879 and beating another church based team St Peter’s 6-0. For the first three years Everton played at Stanley Park in front of ever-growing crowds. It was this numeric pressure, and the need to generate income, that forced Everton to move to an enclosed ground at Priory Road in 1883, and eventually to Anfield in 1884.

... see also Blues keeper Neville Southall - who appeared in 41 derbies, more than any other player from either club.

T: Clive Thomas

A name which still sends shivers down the spine of most Evertonians.

The Welsh World Cup referee disallowed what would have been a late winning goal for Everton's Bryan Hamilton in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool in April 1977 - a howler of a decision which even surprised Liverpool fans.

To make matters worse, Liverpool held on to draw 2-2 and then won the replay 3-0 four days later.

Amazingly Thomas had controversially disallowed a Hamilton goal when he was playing for Ipswich against West Ham in the FA Cup semi-final two years earlier, but Everton fans took this later one more seriously.

U: Utopia

Roy Hodgson wrote his name into Merseyside derby folklore for all the wrong reasons following Everton's 2-0 demolition job in October 2010 to leave the Reds 19th in the Premier League.

Digging deep for positives, Roy claimed: “To get a result here would have been Utopia. But I can only analyse the performance. There is no point trying to analyse dreams."

It's fair to say Liverpool fans weren't best pleased.

V: Andy van der Meyde

The maverick Dutchman was anything but boring during his time at Everton - and his characteristically yo-yo career was epitomised in the Merseyside derby.

Sent off on his Merseyside derby debut for a rash challenge on Xabi Alonso before providing the assist for Dan Gosling's winning strike in the 118th minute in the FA Cup fourth round replay.

W: Sander Westerveld

Another Dutchman, Westerveld endured numerous rollercoaster Merseyside derbies.

The first came at Anfield in January 1999 when in the closing stages of Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat, Everton striker Jeffers collided with the Reds keeper before being involved in the worst case of handbags outside of comedy television. When he had finished chuckling referee Mike Riley sent both players off.

The following April, Westerveld was at the heart of more controversy in the 162nd derby when his frankly rubbish free kick rebounded off the backside of Everton's Don Hutchison and into the net.

Amazingly, referee Graham Poll blew for full time and the goal did not stand much to the fury of every Blue in the land. Poll later admitted that he'd made a mistake.

... see also, Don Welsh, who presided over just one derby in charge of the Reds and won it, making him the only manager of either club with a 100% derby record. But Welsh also has the dubious honour of taking Liverpool down from the top flight in 1954 as Everton passed them on the way up, promoted from the Second Division.

X: Abel Xavier

Portugal's Poseidon with the jazzy hair cuts is the only player to play in both Merseyside derby matches for both teams in the same season. Having joined the Blues in September 1999 for £1.5m he crossed Stanley Park in January 2002 for £800k scoring on his Reds debut against Ipswich.

The 29-year-old followed in the footsteps of WJ Hartill in 1935, Dave Hickson in 1959, and Nick Barmby two summers ago to become only the fourth player to switch from Everton to Liverpool.

Y: You'll Never Walk Alone and Alex Young

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... and of course Alex Young - the first ever Merseyside derby hat-trick hero, when he netted four in a 5-2 victory for Everton at Goodison Park in April 1904.

Z: Z Cars

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