WHEN MERSEYSIDE RULED WORLD

Mid-80s a rare time when derby was about more than bragging rights

- Garry DOYLE

THIS time 40 years ago Liverpool FC were considered the second best team in the world.

They could live with that but not with the ignominy of also being the second best team in their own city.

As Merseyside derby day approached in September 1985, they had lost so much.

First, their league title went, after three straight years winning it.

Then, in May '85, their European Cup was taken from them by Juventus.

But most of all, they lost respect, following the Heysel disaster when 39 fans, mainly Juve-died after getting pressed against a wall that eventually collapsed in the Heysel Stadium.

English clubs faced a ban from European competition after that.

All of which made the September derby between Liverpool and Everton the biggest game not just of the month but the latter half of the year.

Again, people now may struggle to understand why, especially as inferior teams, Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980, Aston Villa in 1982, Steaua Bucharest in 1986 and Porto in 1987, won the European Cup in that era.

But the reason Everton never got to join them is because Everton never got to play European Cup football because of that Heysel ban.

“We really fancied our chances of maintaining England's dominance in Europe” said Ratcliffe 20 years later. “Instead, the team broke up and all the talent started dwindling away.

“You couldn't really say it at the time but I did think the ban was a harsh punishment and I don't think it was punishing the guilty parties.

“Everton suffered more than anyone because, by the time the ban was lifted, the club was not competing at the highest level. The club had missed the chance to really kick on.”

So, with no European Cup to play for, the 1985/86 league championship felt like the most important title race in years.