Atmospheric Goodison Nights

'The Old Lady' has provided some memorable fixtures over the years but night games under the lights have always added to the spectacle. Here are 5 of the most memorable I was fortunate to witness live.

1. Brazil v Hungary - Friday 15th of July 1966 at 7.30 PM Attendance: 51.387. Referee: Kenneth Dagnall.

Having been fortunate to purchase tickets for the first 4 World Cup games at Goodison, for the princely sum of 3 pounds, 3 shillings and six pence, I was mst looking forward to seeing Pele and Eusebio playing on the Goodison turf at the same time. I'd already seen Pele and Garrincha see off Bulgaria. Hungary had been beaten in their first game at Old Trafford by Portugal so needed a result from this game, and the crowd seemed to want to support the underdogs. I was under the Park End Stands this time, in the forest of wooden stanchions as "Hungary, Hungary," was chanted by the crowd through the wet Goodison Park evening. "Albert, Albert," was another chant that rose from the terraces as the lanky centre forward imperiously glided through Brazil’s defence. There was pure wing wizardry from Ferenc Bene as Hungary took sweeping, scintillating charge of the first half, putting the Brazilian goal under constant danger and it was Bene who cut inside with his right before sliding the ball into the net past Gilmar with his left.. But, incredibly, the teams were tied at half-time. Brazil had equalised somewhat fortuitously in the 14th minute when a free-kick ricocheted into the path of Pelé’s replacement, Tostão, who lashed it into the corner of the net. However second half goals from Farkas and a Mészöly penalty inflicted Brazil’s first World Cup defeat since 1954. "We want four," was the shout and it was extraordinary they did not get it. It was also Garrincha's first and only loss in International football and it was to be his final game for Brazil. The next day Hugh McIIvanney in the Observer wrote, "It was an incredible occasion … filled with the archetypal elements of the great game – skill, heart, atmosphere, an awareness of immortality being earned. Now no one will dare to ask what all the fuss is about. Friday night at Goodison Park gave a gloriously comprehensive answer."

Final score Brazil 1 Hungary 3.

2. Everton v Liverpool - 11th of March 1967 at 8:00 PM Attendance: 64.851 Referee: Kevin Howley.

65,000 fans watched this FA Cup 5th Round match at Goodison on a Saturday night with a further 40,000 watching on the screens at Anfield. It was the biggest audience for a single FA Cup match outside the final. Managed by Harry Catterick, Everton were the FA Cup holders, having battled back from two goals down to triumph 3-2 against Sheffield Wednesday a year earlier. Liverpool meanwhile, were the league champions and managed by Bill Shankly. The two sides boasted five World Cup winners between them.

Everton: West, Wright, Labone, Wilson, Hurst, Harvey, Ball, Morrissey, Temple, Young, Husband

Liverpool: Lawrence, Lawler, Smith, Byrne, Yeats, Callaghan, Thompson, Stevenson, Milne, Hunt, St. John.

I was in Gwladys Street for the game which was packed tight at the kick off. The quality of football failed to live up to the pre-match hype, as so often happens, even in such an electric atmosphere. The match was not helped by the weather which was 'blowing a gale', so bad that one of the screens at Anfield ripped, and it was a rather dull affair with less than half a dozen chances on goal for the sides combined. However it was one chance that impressed the Liverpool Echo’s correspondent, Michael Charters. That chance resulted in the only goal of the game scored by Alan Ball created by a poor back pass from Liverpool’s Gordon Milne. In the 44th minute of a goalless first half, Smith, Yeats and Lawrence were caught flat footed when the loose ball from Husband was met with great force by the boots of young Ball to the back of the net. Charters called it "a brilliantly taken goal," which showed, "superb opportunism." The noise that greeted the goal was tremendous and I was caught in the wave of fans surging down the terraces. It was said that Jimmy Tarbuck, was trudging away from Anfield having watched it on screen with his usual gap-toothed grin wiped off his face by Everton’s victory, when one Evertonian spotted him and quipped: "Don’t worry Jimmy, it's only a film!"

Final Score Everton 1 Liverpool 0.

3. Everton v Bayern Munich European Cup Winners' Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg 24th April 1985 Attendance: 49.476 Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

I was in Gwladys Street again for this night game, as for the 7th straight game in the European Cup Winner’s Cup, Everton had kept a clean sheet in the first leg, earning them an important scoreless draw as the fixture headed back to Goodison for the second, and deciding, leg. With the stands packed and the Toffees looking to advance to their first-ever European final, Everton and Bayern Munich took the field for one of the most memorable nights in the club's history. Things didn’t start off as planned as the Blues let in their first goal in the competition in the 38th minute as the German side took a 1-0 lead. Even so, there didn't seem to be any anxiety in the crowd during the half time interval and 3 minutes into the second half, a Graeme Sharp header dribbled into the corner of the net. About 25 minutes after our first goal we got our second after a long throw-in caused the Bayern keeper some trouble and Andy Gray passed the ball into an empty net. The crowd was now going wild and in the 86th minute Kevin Sheedy played a beautiful ball into Andy Gray who passed it into the middle of the field for Trevor Steven to use his speed to get past the final defender and slot home the third and final goal of the game. Everton had taken down the German giants, 3-1, and went on to the European Cup Winner’s Cup Final. 'The atmosphere that night was incredible,' remembers Graham Ennis, editor at the time of 'When Skies are Grey'. 'Think of any other great Goodison occasion and then times it by ten. The place was heaving and the noise was breath-taking. You could hear the shouts in Bootle! You have to remember that there were only about 50 Bayern supporters there. We had 50,000 Blues, under the lights and completely behind the side. The crowd was like an animal, some threatening beast that was determined to get Everton through.' The former Bayern Munich captain Klaus Augenthaler believes he 'never experienced' an atmosphere similar to Goodison Park in 1985 during his entire career. "When we conceded, I thought we could let in a second and a third as the atmosphere was phenomenal."

Final Score Everton 3 Bayern Munich 1.

4. Everton v Crystal Palace Thursday 19th of May 2022 Kick Off: 19:45 Attendance 38,448 Referee Anthony Taylor

This time I was in the Upper Bullens to witness Everton securing their Premier League status with an incredible fightback where they came from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace. Fans invaded the Goodison Park pitch and sang with raw emotion for 30 minutes after the final whistle and the players, along with manager Frank Lampard, joined in from the other side of a police cordon and on the roof of the executive boxes, soaking up the acclaim. The Everton fans could not have done more to push their beloved club over the line as, for the third home game in succession, the Everton coach was greeted by an impassioned mass of supporters on Goodison Road, but in far greater numbers and with far more blue smoke bombs than preceded Chelsea and Brentford. Everton needed a win to ensure they continued their 68-year top-flight stay and the consequences of relegation were vast for a club in Everton’s financial position and with a new stadium under construction at Bramley Moore dock. However we went into the break looking a beaten and dejected side. The Goodison crowd, after singing their hearts out week after week, seemed just as down. Things looked bleak as we trailed 2-0 but the team dug deep and as supporters roared on their side in the second half goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin secured the three points they so desperately needed. Richarlison lifted the roof off Goodison Park with his equaliser but that was nothing compared to the explosion of noise when Calvert-Lewin scored with a diving header from Gray’s cross. His 85th minute diving header winner sparked wild scenes of celebration and a pitch-invasion by some fans, but when the pitch was finally cleared Everton managed to see out a tense finale before the party started as a second pitch invasion at the final whistle turned the air blue again as the Everton fans lit flares, the relief around the ground palpable. Manager Frank Lampard said after the game, "We needed the fans tonight. They dragged the players but they have been doing it for a long time. The fans have dragged us through, it is extraordinary what they have done. They have suffered this year because they want success."

Final Score Everton 3 Crystal Palace 2.

5. Everton v Liverpool Wednesday 12th of February 2025 Kick off: 19.30 PM Attendance 39,280 Referee Michael Oliver.

So we come to the last derby match to be played at Goodison and the last game here under the lights. Everton still required points to continue to climb away from the relegation zone while Liverpool looked to go 9 points clear at the top. Having played their full team and lost against an in-form Bournemouth in the FA Cup on Saturday, Liverpool on the other hand had rested all but one of their team in a surprise away defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Sunday. Again I was in the Upper Bullens as the ground filled up, with the Gwladys Street end full of flags and banners, the atmosphere was building. In an electric atmosphere, both teams tried to play at the usual Derby pace of 110 mph until the game began to settle and in the 12th minute from a contentious free kick, Branthwaite played in Beto, who timed his run to absolute perfection, to beat the offside line and slot home confidently. The lead lasted just four minutes. Doucoure lost possession cheaply in midfield and the incoming MacAllister rose highest to Salah’s cross ahead of Tarkowski and the ball crept in inside the far post. Even the loss of Iliman Ndiaye, who looked distraught as he limped off to join Everton's lengthy injury list midway through the first half, did not slow Everton, who looked the likelier scorers early in the second half. However a Salah goal which came out of nowhere could have sucked the confidence out of the players, but Tarkowski rewarded the home fans for their raucous support with a moment to remember, smashing home in front of a rapturous Gwladys Street end. With the referee having shown Liverpool players he had noted some time wasting, Tarkowski arrived unmarked onto substitute Tim Iroegbunam's flick-on in the 98th minute, to give Alisson no chance with a ferocious finish into the roof of the net, prompting several over-excited fans to spill onto the playing surface amid the wild celebrations. There were a few nervous moments as VAR studied for an offside or foul but they gave up and Goodison erupted. Some red cards were shown, Doucoure for celebrating in front of the Liverpool fans, Curtis Jones for grabbing hold of him and Liverpool manager Arne Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff were also sent off for confronting officials after the game ended. Many Everton supporters were still in the stands long after the full-time whistle sounded as 'Spirit of the Blues' was sung long and loud. David Moyes had ensured Everton's supporters enjoyed the final instalment of this rivalry to take place at their famous old stadium.

Final Score Everton 2 Liverpool 2.

Hopefully there will be more nights like this in our new home.