Pele and Eusebio, derby drama and relegation scraps – Memorable Goodison moments

Everton men’s team play their final match at Goodison Park on Sunday before moving to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some memorable matches that have taken place at the ground the Toffees have called home since 1892.

Early finals

Goodison has hosted two FA Cup finals, the first coming in 1894 when Notts County beat Bolton 4-1, with Scot James Logan scoring a hat-trick. Newcastle then lifted the trophy there in 1910 after defeating Barnsley 2-0 in a replay, a few days on from an initial 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.

Women’s games

A match demonstrating the popularity of women’s football before it was hit with a lengthy ban was Dick, Kerr Ladies’ 4-0 win over St Helens at Goodison on Boxing Day 1920, which had an attendance that has been estimated at more than 53,000. A year later the Football Association imposed a ban on women playing on its pitches that lasted half a century. In 2023, Everton drew 1-1 with Liverpool in the first women’s Merseyside derby to be played at the ground. The stadium will be the new home of Everton’s women’s team from next season.

World Cup venue

While England’s matches in their victorious 1966 World Cup campaign took place at Wembley, the tournament saw some huge stars in action at Goodison. A Brazil side featuring Pele played their group games there, including a 3-1 loss to a Portugal outfit for whom Eusebio scored twice. Eusebio subsequently netted four more times at the stadium when Portugal came from 3-0 down to pull off an incredible 5-3 quarter-final win over North Korea, and Franz Beckenbauer was among the scorers in West Germany’s 2-1 semi-final victory against the USSR.

Beating Bayern

What Everton have called ‘Goodison’s greatest night’ came in 1985 when they got past Bayern Munich and into the European Cup Winners’ Cup final. Having held the Germans 0-0 in the semi-final first leg, they trailed at half-time in the second before turning things around for a famous 3-1 triumph, with Graeme Sharp, Andy Gray and Trevor Steven scoring. Howard Kendall’s men went on to beat Rapid Vienna 3-1 in the Rotterdam final.

Relegation escapes

Everton beat the drop in dramatic fashion in 1994 as they recovered from 2-0 down to defeat Wimbledon 3-2 at home on the final day of the Premier League season, with Graham Stuart grabbing a brace. There was also final-day survival when they drew 1-1 with Coventry at Goodison in 1998, while they secured safety in their last home game of 2021-22, again coming from two goals behind to win 3-2, this time against Crystal Palace, and when beating Bournemouth 1-0 at the stadium at the end of their 2022-23 campaign.

Derby drama

James Tarkowski’s strike deep into stoppage time secured Everton a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the final Goodison derby in February, and other thrillers between the sides at the ground have included them drawing 3-3 in 2013 and a 1991 FA Cup fifth-round replay that finished 4-4 after extra time, substitute Tony Cottee scoring their third and fourth equalisers. Everton won the second replay, at the same venue, 1-0. It also ended all square (0-0) on an emotional occasion in May 1989 when tributes were paid to victims of the Hillsborough tragedy 18 days on from the disaster.