DERBY TIME...!!!

170th Merseyside Derby...DAMN...so old arr...???

Tomoro, Liverpool will host Everton for the 170th derby and I am yerning for it to be an explosive encounter. Any sort of win will do coz every Redders and Evertnion will know that all tactics, set pieces and wut nots will be thrown out of the window once the wistle blows. Itz the pride and passion that takes over.

A bit of history shall we...??? Okie...basically Liverpool and Everton are in the same area, which is called the Merseyside, Liverpool. Way back in 1988, Liverpool's current ground, Anfield (or Anfield Rd. back then) belonged to Everton. Yes, heart breakin as it would be, Everton was formed first before Liverpool.

In 1888 the Football League kicked off for the first time and at Anfield, Everton, Liverpool's biggest club of the day were the home side.

John Houlding, 'King' of Everton, a brewer of 'sparkling ales', a mover and shaker in Liverpool politics and a good part of the brains and money behind Everton Football Club was the owner of the Anfield Road ground. In 1892, Everton parted company with Houlding over the issue of the rent paid on the ground.

Houlding was left with a ground but no team, but not for long. He was fortunate that talented Irishman John McKenna, a member of the Everton coaching staff stayed loyal to him. With a hefty loan of £500, McKenna set about building Liverpool Football Club. He looked north for talent and assembled a team which became known as 'the team of all the Macs'. The team all hailed from Scotland with the exception of goalkeeper and Englishman, Bill McOwen…

After a modest double in their first season when they took the Lancashire League title and the Liverpool District Cup, Liverpool entered the new football league Second Division. The Macs romped to the title, unbeaten in the division. Something was happening at Anfield...gates rose from a few hundred to over 3,000 once word got around about the side's high scoring habits.

Sadly the runaway success had to come to an end and the newly promoted team crashed out of the First Division at the end of the season. However they bounced back in fine style, taking the Second Division by storm to return to the First Division determined to stay there.

After finishing as FA Cup runners-up in 1899, Liverpool captured the League Championship in 1901 under the guidance of McKenna's canny successor Tom Watson. The Anfield club had arrived among the teams to be reckoned with. 1901 was no fluke, the title returned to Anfield again in 1906 but the now established side needed more room for its growing army of fans.

Improvements to the ground included the towering hill of earth and cinders which quickly became known as the Kop after the Liverpool Echo compared it to the Spionkop; the hill where Boer guerrillas had inflicted a heavy defeat on the British army a few years earlier. Many of the men killed were from the north west, the name sticking because it was especially poignant.

So ye see, Everton have been in Liverpool's shadows and that's why it a very passionate affair full of pride and heart. Derbies are usually felt by local lads and they are the ones who are hungry to shine and win. It like an Abang Adik affair.

To date, under Houllier, Liverpool have only lost one in 10 meeting and all Redders out there will be hopin that this trend continues.

So the match will kick off at 11pm (Malaysian time) on Saturday, 31 January 2004. Make sure u catch it...!!!

So till here for now...


U'll Never Derby Alone...!!!