Nostalgic as many of us are, and respectful as I am of so many fellow Toffees, I just want to cite the best ever game I ever saw at our beloved Goodison Park.
I hope many others cite their most cherished memory too.
Easter 1970 was the best experience for me: namely Everton 5-2 Chelsea.
We were well on the way to wining the Football League Division 1 trophy but Chelsea were a very good team indeed and needed beating. They were 3rd at the season’s end.
It was a fabulous day weather-wise, and we went 5-0 up following a first-minute goal from Howard Kendall (and what a player he was, even if he was excelled by Colin Harvey and Alan Ball). That said, we conceded two before the end. So what!
Goals aside, I watched Roger Kenyon closely due to the worries I had in losing Brian Labone to injury. He was fierce, putting it mildly. He crucified Osgood off the ball.
Just a few years later, I became closely acquainted with a young midfielder, Mick McGuire, a Blackpool lad (like Gordon West, John Hurst and Alan Ball – and Hurst praises Roger and Brian to the heights) when he was playing for Norwich City.
Given the careers in Mick’s time of Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith, Chopper Harris, John Wile (West Brom – and he’d be delighted to be in that sort of company), I asked young Mick, at a family party, just who was the hardest player he’d ever played against.
Without a blink, he said, “Roger Kenyon”, and winced when he said it!
That 1970 team was the best — full-stop.