Taking the warm-up himself as well as the adulation of the Evertonians, David Moyes remembers his first game as Blues boss well – a 2-1 win over Fulham in 2002. But his first managerial appearance at Goodison Park came on this day some 25 years ago.

On January 29, 2000, the young Scottish gaffer – he was just 36 at the time – was in the opposition dugout as he took his Preston North End side to the ground for an FA Cup fifth-round tie.

The 1999/2000 edition of football’s oldest competition was something of a break from the norm when it came to the format. Manchester United, who had defeated Newcastle United 2-0 at the old Wembley Stadium in the 1999 final as part of their treble-winning season, became the first – and so far only – holders of the trophy not to defend their title as they decided they could not fit the matches into their playing schedule because of their participation in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil.

READ MORE: New Everton Stadium images offer dramatic glimpse before first game next month

READ MORE: Everton transfer stance on Evan Ferguson as claim leaves Jeff Stelling stunned

The Red Devils’ controversial absence ensured that one of the teams beaten in the second round would actually get a second bite of the cherry and a reprieve to compete in the third round as what the Football Association dubbed “lucky losers.”

The club in question would prove to be Darlington, defeated 3-1 at Gillingham, but then fortunate enough to get a bumper pay day at Premier League Aston Villa in the third round, where they lost again 2-1.

The big boys also entered earlier than usual with third-round ties being played before the turn of the calendar year in December rather than January. Walter Smith’s Everton made a somewhat inauspicious start as they were held to a goalless draw at fourth-tier Exeter City before Nick Barmby finally broke the deadlock against the Devon outfit in the replay, a mere five minutes before the game in front of just 16,869 at Goodison Park was due to go into extra-time.

The Blues improved somewhat in the fourth round at home to second tier Birmingham City, but it took a brace of late penalties from David Unsworth in the 75th and 90th minutes to set up their last=16 showdown with Moyes’ Preston North End at Goodison Park.

The two clubs had been the dominant powers in the pioneering early years of the Football League with proud Preston winning back-to-back titles in the first two seasons, their only such successes to date, including the ‘Invincibles’ of 1888/89, completing the double by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 in the FA Cup final in a year in which they were the only side to go unbeaten throughout a top-flight campaign until Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal repeated the feat in 2003/04.

Unfortunately for North End though, they had to make do with a winners’ flag while it was Everton, who celebrated their inaugural title in 1891, the year before they departed Anfield, crossing Stanley Park and building Goodison Park, who became the first club to lift the iconic Football League Championship trophy, in an era in which they enjoyed the biggest average crowds in the competition over the first decade of its existence.

Given that in 2000, Everton and Preston had not met in a competitive fixture for almost 39 years since the relegation-bound hosts – managed by former Blues boss Cliff Britton, who also won the League Championship and FA Cup as a wing-half with the club – triumphed 1-0 at Deepdale on February 25, 1961, there was a huge appetite for the game.

Despite plying their trade in the third tier of English football at the time – Moyes would steer them to the Second Division title three months later, lapping up the glory with Sir Tom Finney alongside him on the hallowed turf – more than six thousand Preston fans made the relatively short trip to Merseyside for a game watched by 37,486.

Among the crowd that day was the visitors’ mascot ‘The Deepdale Duck’ plus this correspondent, covering the tie for Pluto, the student newspaper at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston where I was studying for my degree in History, and a position that enabled me to interview the future Everton manager for the first time.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Joe Lovejoy described the action: “Preston can be proud again, even in defeat. The team from the Second Division matched their Premiership opponents in all facets of open play and it took a contentious free kick, bent in by David Unsworth, to turn the closest of FA Cup-ties and edge Everton through to the quarter-finals for the second season in succession.

“It took two penalties from Unsworth to see Everton safely past Birmingham in the last round and the would-be England defender certainly deserves his place in the last eight, but whether his team do is open to debate. Joe-Max Moore, a substitute, forced home a second in stoppage time, but the two-goal margin was a travesty. Preston would in no way have been flattered by a replay.

“Bill Kenwright, the impressario who has finally won his protracted battle for control in the Goodison boardroom, had Land of Hope and Glory played before the start and at the end, trumpeting his new regime, but if God made anybody mighty, it was Preston who, for most of the game, played the better, more cohesive football. Cold, damp and windy, the conditions were just right for a classic cup Saturday.

“Unfortunately, the fixture list wasn't, the insatiable demands of television having fragmented the draw yet again. At this rate, the quarter-finals could be played on a Tuesday afternoon, to avoid clashing with The Simpsons.

“Of what was left yesterday, this had all the makings – two famous old clubs with proud traditions, one fallen on hard times, but on the way back. Preston played their part, but not quite to perfection.

“Lest we forget, they were the first League champions and the first team to do the double, but that was more than a century ago. They last won the FA Cup back in 1938, have not been in the final since 1964 and had not been this far for 34 years. Third in the Second Division, they are on the up, but there are no Tom Finneys at Deepdale these days.

“Everton, too, are improving, morale raised by a satisfactory conclusion to the boardroom shenanigans that had such a debilitating effect for so long. Their manager, Walter Smith, has agreed a new contract.

“His significant changes saw Thomas Myhre given his first appearance of the season in goal, in place of the injured Paul Gerrard, and Michael Ball recalled at left-back to enable Unsworth to move forward and fill the midfield vacancy created by John Collins's ankle trouble. Playing a defender in the creative third of the field served only to underline the superior accomplishments of Sean Gregan, in particular – but Unsworth, of course, had the last word.

“The crowd howled, the wind blew and the tackles came in thick and fast. It was a muck and nettles cup-tie all right, and Preston were never going to be found wanting.

“They were strong and competitive where it mattered, in central defence and central midfield, where Gregan was all things to all men, a captain leading by example. They were always dangerous, too, on the break.

“A goal was all the game needed, but when it arrived, midway through the second half, it was against the run of play. Preston had just spurned a glorious opportunity, Macken heading Rankine's cross straight at Myhre from the penalty spot, when Everton took the lead.

“Rob Edwards brought down Hutchison just outside the 18-yard line on the right and up stepped Unsworth and his trusty left foot to drill home the free kick. Graham Alexander brought a half-decent save from Myhre late on, but Jeffers was closer still and Everton held out, then added their second when Moilanen repelled, but was unable to hold, a close-range shot from Campbell and Moore hooked the ball home from nudging distance.”

As mentioned already, by the time the season was finished, Preston would win their division, finishing seven points clear of Lancashire rivals Burnley who took the other automatic promotion spot alongside them as runners-up. Moyes’ competitive streak was already apparent after being edged out by his future employers as while beaten, he remained unbowed.

The Glaswegian said: “We didn't deserve to lose, certainly not by two goals. We had chances but you have to take the opportunities.

“It was only near the end, when we threw caution to the wind, that Everton managed any clear openings.”