Ask most people in football what springs to mind when they think of Goodison Park, and the answers will be familiar: a bear pit, a wall of noise, intimidating, a rickety old fortress.

In truth, recent years have stripped some of that mystique. The atmosphere, once deafening, has too often been punctuated by groans as Everton struggled, and yet it was the supporters who came to the club's rescue in times of need with relegation a threat.

And if one fixture can jolt Goodison back to life, and make the old clichés ring true once more, it’s the Merseyside Derby. The old foe, crossing Stanley Park.

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On Wednesday night, The Grand Old Lady will stage its last derby. The fixture will live on at Bramley-Moore Dock, but something of its essence may not.

Steve McMahon knows better than most what Goodison means on derby day. He played in it as an Evertonian. He played in it as a Liverpool man. Few have felt the heat of the rivalry from both sides. Fewer still can say they captained both clubs.

“Hostile,” McMahon says, when asked for his memories of Goodison. “It was special to play there, being brought up as an Everton player. But it is intimidating. The atmosphere is so close to you it’s tangible, you can touch it, you can feel it. It’s so exciting. You can see why lots of players have crumbled there.”

It’s a setting Evertonians know well. But when the club makes the two-mile move to the docks next season, Goodison will be consigned to history. There is excitement, a sense of renewal after a turbulent period, but something will be lost. McMahon is certain of that.

“All the Evertonians say, ‘Oh, we’ve got our brand-new stadium’. But the away team will thrive just as much as the home team. The better players will go there and think, ‘Wow, brilliant stadium, great. I can show my skills’. It’s not intimidating. There’s nothing overpowering you and that works both ways.”

Goodison was built in an era when football stadiums weren’t designed for corporate events, or for pampering to the bubble-wrapped pros of today. Its stands loom over the pitch. The dressing rooms are cramped, the tunnel narrow. It still feels like a proper football ground. And on Wednesday, it will remind everyone why it has been one of English football’s most unforgiving venues.

McMahon has felt that unforgiving edge. He made his name at Everton, a ball boy turned teenage star. He was the club’s youngest-ever captain when he led them out against Newport in 1983 at just 21 years old.

He recalls one of his fondest derby memories - Andy King’s stunning volley that sealed a 1-0 win for Everton at Goodison in 1978. “It’s going to fall for Andy King… Oh yes, he’s got it!” came John Motson’s famous commentary.

“It was a dream,” McMahon says. “To play there, to be brought up there, to captain them - it was everything.”

That dream soured. McMahon felt undervalued. Howard Kendall, Everton’s manager, cashed in on him, and he moved to European champions Aston Villa. Then, in 1985, Liverpool came calling. Kenny Dalglish had seen his battles with Graeme Souness in a blue shirt and believed he was the man to fill the void left by Souness’s departure to Italy.

They doubled his salary and three games into Reds career, he returned to Goodison.

“I was still living out of a suitcase,” he says. “To go to Goodison and be taunted by all the Blue Noses - I actually enjoyed it. It made me stronger. And to score, to score the winner - it announced me as a Liverpool player.”

McMahon’s goal, a first-half strike rifled low past Neville Southall, proved decisive. Liverpool led 3-0 at the break. Everton fought back. Gary Lineker had the chance to level it in the final moments, only for Alan Hansen to clear off the line. The final score: 3-2. McMahon’s goal, the winner in a Merseyside Derby classic.

He returned to his car that night to find Evertonians had wrecked it - although it actually belonged to Aston Villa. “You’ve been listening to too many stories I’ve been telling!” he laughs. “I wasn’t fazed. It was one of those things fans do. But maybe my sister-in-law set me up - she was working for Everton and got me a parking pass!”

McMahon was a street footballer with steel, the driving midfielder who bridged the gap between Souness and Gerrard. The perfect derby player.

“You’d do what you needed to do,” he says. “Nobody ever needed to say anything to me. It’s impossible for me, being a Scouser, to let that adrenaline not flow through your body. But nobody had to tell me how to control myself.”

The 1980s saw Everton and Liverpool at their peak. League titles, FA Cups - they were at the top of English game. “That was always added spice with the quality of players on both sides,” McMahon says. “Everyone has their opinion, but for me, no other derby matched it. Not London, not Manchester, not Glasgow. The Merseyside Derby was always special.”

Everton won the title in 1985 and 1987. Liverpool won it in 1986, 1988, 1990. They met in two FA Cup finals. The 1986 final completed Liverpool’s first domestic double. The 1989 final, played weeks after Hillsborough, was a meeting steeped in emotion.

McMahon won three league titles at Liverpool, but by the time he left in 1991, the dominance was ending. The 1990 title would be Liverpool’s last for 30 years.

The Merseyside Derby is no longer a title decider. Liverpool are top of the Premier League. Everton are clawing their way to safety. But the symbolism of Wednesday carries so much significance. The last Goodison derby, a fixture born in the old, fading into the new.

McMahon knows form counts for little in the derby and expects a tight contest. “It’s up for grabs,” he says. “Liverpool losing in the FA Cup to Plymouth changes the complexion. Everton - Moyes back, three wins on the bounce, back on form.”

He knows what this fixture means. He knows what Goodison means. He crossed the divide, and many Everton fans have never let him live it down. Evertonians don’t forget - but do they forgive?

“Listen, no, no, no. You’ve got to live in this part of the world,” he jokes. “I haven’t been back since. Never been invited. Never talked about it.

“I think they're doing a bit of a spread in the programme on myself… So there might be 35,000 supporters putting that in the bin on the way out!”

That kind of reception might make his allegiances seem obvious. But for McMahon, it isn’t that simple.

“It's one of them. Liverpool is where my years of success were,” he admits. “But you’ve always got that Everton side of you lingering in the background. The place where you’re brought up, where you make your debut, where you make your name - it’s got a place there.

“I'm proud to have played my part in the history of Everton. And proud to have played my part in the history of Liverpool.

“There aren’t many players who can say that, but I can. I'm very proud. Proud to be a part of this wonderful city.”