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As Rafa Benitez prepares to face former club Liverpool with his new side Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the Toffees’ famous 1-0 win in the Merseyside derby back in September 1999.
While Carlo Ancelotti oversaw an Everton win at the home of their rivals last season – the club’s first home or away in the fixture since 2010 – Liverpool had enjoyed a lengthy period of derby dominance prior to that, with their last defeat at Anfield in all competitions having come 22 years earlier.
In an ill-tempered and typically feisty encounter, both sides ended the match without a full complement of players, Sander Westerveld and Francis Jeffers both dismissed late on following an altercation, before a young Steven Gerrard was also handed his marching orders in the final minute after having only entered the game as a late substitute.
Despite a frantic climax, the visitors held firm to clinch a famous victory after going ahead inside the opening few minutes, with their sluggish rivals failing to conjure a response.
Here’s a look at the Everton starting XI in that 1-0 victory back in 1999.
Goalkeeper: Paul Gerrard
Having made all three subs, the late red card for goalkeeper Westerveld left Gerard Houllier’s side forced to put Steve Staunton in goal, while at the other end Everton were thankful they could still call upon Paul Gerrard, the Englishman making a string of fine saves late on.
He had been brought to the club in 1996 by his former Oldham boss Joe Royle and would spend the next eight years on Merseyside, albeit largely as a backup option, with the last few seasons spent out on loan before he secured a permanent departure to Nottingham Forest in 2004.
Right-back: Richard Dunne
Richard Dunne enjoyed almost 20 years at the top level of English football, beginning his career at Everton in 1996, before joining Manchester City four years later where he reunited with former Toffees boss Royle.
The Irish defender – who featured at right-back under Walter Smith at Goodison – would go on to spend nine years at City, before ending his career in 2015 following spells at Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa.
He holds a joint Premier League record for most the sendings off (8) alongside Patrick Vieira and former Blues teammate Duncan Ferguson, while he is also the unfortunate record holder for most own goals in the competition’s history (10).
Centre-back: Richard Gough
The veteran Scotland international was in fine form in his first Merseyside derby, using his wealth of experience to thwart the likes of Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, having reunited with his former Rangers boss Smith that summer after a solitary season in America.
While he was no doubt coming towards the end during his time in Goodison Park, at his peak Gough was a top-drawer central defender, notably captaining the Old Firm side to nine successive Scottish league titles during his time north of the border.
Centre-back: David Weir
Lining up alongside Gough was fellow Scotsman, David Weir, the centre-back having been another to have made the switch to Goodison in 1999, after previous spells with Hearts and Falkirk.
He would go on to feature heavily over the eight years, captaining the side under both Smith and his successor David Moyes, before eventually moving on to Rangers to link up with the former in 2007.
In the match itself, Weir was on the receiving end of a thumping challenge from Michael Owen that only resulted in a yellow card for the England striker.
Left-back: Michael Ball
Michael Ball was perhaps somewhat fortunate to avoid giving away a penalty after a clumsy foul on the aforementioned Owen, although enjoyed an otherwise positive display as some stoic defending saw the visitors hang on for a point.
A product of the club’s youth academy, the Englishman – who would make a solitary cap at international level in 2001 – was another to eventually make the switch from Goodison to Glasgow, doing so in 2001, before later spells at the likes of PSV, Man City and Leicester City.
Midfield: Abel Xavier
An instantly recognisable figure owing to his array of unique hairstyles, Abel Xavier is one of few players to have featured on either side of the Merseyside divide, having left Everton in January 2002 in order to make the switch to Anfield – the most recent player to have moved directly between the two clubs.
The versatile Portuguese full-back featured sporadically at both clubs in truth, spending just a year at Liverpool before departing for Galatasary on-loan, although he would later return to the Premier League with Middlesborough, before ending his career at LA Galaxy in 2008.
Midfield: John Collins
John Collins is another Scottish member of this iconic side, the midfielder having joined the club from Ligue 1 side Monaco in 1998, after previously making his name with both Celtic and Hibernian.
He would spend just two seasons on Merseyside, however, making the move to Fulham at the end of the 1999/2000 campaign and remaining at Craven Cottage until his retirement in 2003.
Midfield: Don Hutchison
Another player to have featured for both clubs, Hutchison spent four years on the books at Anfield in the early ’90s before eventually making his way to Everton in 1998, following spells at West Ham and Sheffield United.
Despite his links to Liverpool, the Scotland international emerged as a hugely popular figure at Goodison, not least for his versatility, having featured in central midfield as well as a makeshift centre-forward on occasion.
He departed for Sunderland at the end of the 1999/2000 campaign, before returning to the Hammers a year later, albeit with much of his time at the club spent on the treatment table.
Midfield: Nick Barmby
The impressive Barmby played his part in the game’s solitary goal, working space well on the edge of the area before teeing up Francis Jeffers, who duly slipped in his strike partner Kevin Campbell to score.
Formerly of Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough, the talented playmaker spent four years at Everton after joining in 1996, before making the controversial switch to the red side of Merseyside in the summer of 2000, returning to haunt his former side by netting in the derby a few months later.
After just two years at Liverpool, he moved on to Leeds United, before ending his career with an eight-year stint at Hull City, notably becoming one of just nine players to score for six different Premier League clubs during his time with the Tigers.
Forward: Francis Jeffers
It proved to be a mixed afternoon for young Francis Jeffers, the striker laying on an assist but also seeing red after a needless altercation with the opposition stopper with just over 15 minutes to play.
The local lad had emerged onto the scene as a 16-year-old a few years earlier and would go on to score 20 goals in 60 games for the club in all competitions in his first spell, eventually making the switch to Arsenal in 2001 after Arsene Wenger came calling.
Unfortunately for the Englishman – who netted on his one and only international appearance – he failed to live up to the hype in north London, while also failing to register a league goal on his loan return to Goodison Park in 2003.
Forward: Kevin Campbell
The matchwinner on the day and the club’s top scorer that season with 12 goals, Kevin Campbell had made a stunning start to life at Everton, netting nine goals in his first eight games after joining on-loan from Trabzonspor at the back end of the previous season.
#OnThisDay in 1999@1KevinCampbell with the winner for Everton at Anfield#efc pic.twitter.com/LN9T0n3AXw
— Everton Musings (@EvertonMusings) September 27, 2018
The former Arsenal and Nottingham Forest striker would go on to net 36 league goals in his six-year spell on Merseyside, while also being named captain of the club, before ending his career with brief stints at West Brom and Cardiff.
As for the 1-0 win, not only did he get on the scoresheet, he was also on the end of a reckless, lunging challenge from a teenage Steven Gerrard, resulting in the midfielder’s dismissal late on.
Read – Benitez says ‘massive’ Merseyside derby is ‘an opportunity to put things right’ for Everton
See also – Remembering the last five players to win the Ballon d’Or before the Messi and Ronaldo duopoly began
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