Merseyside cup clash rekindles Sharp memories of 1989 grief

It says something for the profound impact which Hillsborough has had on a community that a game played 23 years after the tragedy can still be described as being staged in its shadow. Liverpool clash with Everton today at Wembley in an FA Cup semi-final and memories are immediately cast back to another meeting of the clubs, played while the grief was still red – and blue – raw.

These teams’ last meeting at Wembley, for the FA Cup final of 1989, was dubbed the friendly final, since it was played just weeks after 95 fans – the 96th victim, Tony Bland, died four years later – had been crushed to death in Yorkshire, during the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Everton, indeed, had been Liverpool’s first opponents in the league after the tragedy, in what proved a mournful 0-0 draw. The game at Wembley, where Liverpool fans sat side by side with Everton fans, proved a slightly less solemn tribute, as five goals were served up.

Despite their Scottish backbone in the Eighties, there were fewer Scots in the Liverpool squad that day than in Everton’s – two to the Goodison Park side’s four, with Graeme Sharp, now employed by Everton as their fans’ liaison officer, leading the blue line, supported by Pat Nevin.

On the bench were Ian Wilson and Stuart McCall, who went on to play a significant part in the game.

“Obviously it was still a tough one to play in for Everton players, and Liverpool were even closer to the disaster,” recalled Sharp to The Scotsman yesterday.

“We knew going down it was going to be a tough game. Obviously we wanted to go down and win the game. If we were honest, we knew the majority of the world wanted Liverpool to win.

“As players we were affected, but then the game kicked-off and both sets of players were glad of the chance to concentrate on football for 90 minutes.”

Perhaps this was Everton’s problem. The game ended up lasting 120 minutes after McCall, who had come on as a second-half substitute, cancelled out John Aldridge’s opener with just a few seconds of normal time remaining.

The current Motherwell manager then equalised again after another Liverpool goal, this time from fellow substitute Ian Rush.

The Welsh striker scored what proved the winner four minutes into the second-half of extra time.

Unusually perhaps, it was a day when the neutrals were on Liverpool’s side, despite their dominance of the English game at the time.

The celebrations were, however, muted, as Merseyside continued to mourn.

Although the outraged feelings at what occurred that day in Sheffied remain strong, and Liverpool still do not play on 15 April, the anniversary date, the length of time which has passed has seen some of the bitterness of an ancient football rivalry replace the comradeship.

“It’s changed,” agreed Sharp, who scored 159 goals in 447 games for Everton – including a famous winner at Anfield in 1984.

“In the old days it was a friendly derby, travelling down together. Don’t get me wrong, families still do that, but I think it has changed a bit since then. There is more friction, it is not as friendly. Some of the songs against the players are uncalled for.

“It’s a shame. I just hope everyone goes down this weekend and are fantastic ambassadors. They are two fantastic football clubs, let’s not spoil it.”

Sharp started his career with Dumbarton, but has now become synonymous with Everton, where he played between 1980 and 1991.

His first Wembley appearance came against Liverpool, in a goalless Milk Cup final draw in 1984. Liverpool won the replay but Sharp fared better later that year, scoring the first goal in Everton’s 2-0 FA Cup final win over Watford.

But he is still perhaps most well-remembered for that elegant strike from distance against Liverpool, in a significant victory for an Everton side beginning to assert themselves once more in the English game.

“That is probably up there with my best-ever goal, simply because of the reaction it got and because we had not won there for a long time,” recalls Sharp. “It gave us the belief that we could do it again.”

“In terms of quality, I scored a better one against Tottenham after just breaking into the team, a volley over Ray Clemence. It’s on YouTube. It is a very young-looking Graeme Sharp – and it is an awful interview afterwards.”

Sharp’s career ended with a few seasons at Oldham Athletic, for whom he scored what was, for him, an emotionally charged goal at Goodison.

“It was something I had always wanted to do,” he says. “I wanted to score and show them that I wasn’t finished.

“I scored in one game and got sent off in the other one I played at Goodison – the only time I got sent off in my career. I am the only opposition player who’s been given a standing ovation.”

Although Sharp will be at Wembley today, his venue of choice a few weeks ago was the possibly less glamorous Dumbarton stadium, for the match against Stirling Albion.

His former side won 4-1 and Sharp relished a rare return home. “Someone who used to work at Everton has a tie-up with Dumbarton now – and he invited me up. Everton did not have a game. And it was the first time I had been back in 20-odd years – and the first time at the new ground.

“I hadn’t been up there for a while so it was a bit strange,” he added. “It was windy and cold but the game was good and I met all the players. And they made a fuss of me.”