Toffee Time

By AM Sunday, May 28, 2023

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Anthony McIntyre ⚽ The past few seasons with the close run title race between Liverpool and Manchester City invariably meant that, come the final day of the campaign, the focus was on what was happening at the top of the table. 

Today it was different. While Liverpool were never contenders, for long enough the title battle was anything but a one horse race. Prior to shooting themselves in both feet the Gunners looked well placed to repeat Leicester's surprise smash and grab of seven years ago. With nothing left in the arsenal to reload, the Londoners could only gaze north and watch City cruise to their third title in succession. With matters settled at the top, the periscope was pulled and all eyes this afternoon were averted to the bottom of the table clashes, where three clubs were fighting for survival, only one of which could avoid the drop. 

Our game of choice was the decider at Goodison. Whatever happened with Leeds or Leicester, the Toffees held the fate of all three relegation rooters in their hands. Ensconced within a Liverpool hoodie, alongside my son I watched the game hoping Everton would stay up. He is always incredibly well informed about players and stats so I am constantly in receipt of a live feed when viewing a game with him. 

While an avid Liverpool supporter who hates to see the blue side of the city triumph over the red, when it comes to the wider city, on this occasion I very much wanted to see the Evertonians get their victory. The people of Liverpool deserve it. The one city that has told the monarchy where to go and has persistently been a bane to the establishment is welcome to a respite from the opprobrium thrown its way by officialdom.

Liverpool FC’s derby rivals, Everton are the second longest side in the topflight of English soccer, only Arsenal with a longer pedigree. On occasion they have almost let go of the safety rail but somehow managed to stay up. Today’s side is a long way off from the great team of the 1980s. Always in the shadow of their illustrious rivals, it has struggled to do the city proud. But today, it came good when in that formidable Scouse determination the blue side of Liverpool brought out its sticky toffee attribute and glued itself to the Premiership for at least another season, courtesy of a super strike by Abdoulaye Doucoure. It was almost as good as Graeme Sharpe's goal of the season against Liverpool in 1984. 

Had today's match been played mid season it would have seemed pedestrian. But the final game of the season with everything hanging on it, it was even more highly charged than many cup finals. With ten minutes added time, even my wife's fine Mexican cuisine could not tempt us away from the screen to the table she had laid out in the back garden.

While rooting for Everton to stay up it was with a tinge of sadness that I saw Leeds United go down. Their performances this season left them unworthy of Premiership status. It is not that they did not have enough time to steady the ship and guide it through choppy waters. Once Bielsa got the chop Leeds' destiny always looked to be the drop. Although as Barry Gilheany reminded me. Bielsa sealed his own fate with his exciting but wayward brand of soccer, leaving the club with little option but to look elsewhere for the leadership that would have put the brake on its rapid descent.  

A new season beckons the other side of July. Everton have come perilously close to being relegated in their last two outings. The ominous thought of three strikes and you are out must be hovering like a bad smell at this evening's victory banquet. 

Still for now, a glass shall be raised to my old friend Kevin Keogh, a very relieved blue.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.