Everton hero had piece of history taken by pitch invader after sparking incredible comeback
Graham Stuart has revealed 30 years on from Everton’s first ‘Great Escape’ that a piece of the club’s history was taken from him by a pitch invader as he dashed off the Goodison Park turf following the nerve-shredding 3-2 comeback win over Wimbledon.
On May 7, 1994, Everton recovered from going 2-0 down to the south London side to record a 3-2 victory and preserve their Premier League season on the final day of the season. One of the iconic images of the day of high drama is of Stuart being ‘embraced’ by a couple of relieved Evertonians as he exits the field but three decades later, he acknowledges there was more to it.
Speaking in the latest episode of the Goodison Park: My Home series, Stuart told the ECHO: “He (the fan) whipped the ball off me the little so-and-so. It was weird, the ball landed at my feet and the referee blew the final whistle.
“It was just pure and utter relief. I’ve got the ball under my own and then some fella came up and he must have punched the ball from underneath my arm and it disappeared.”
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With four other clubs (Ipswich Town, Oldham Athletic, Sheffield United and Southampton) battling to avoid one of the two remaining relegation slots, Everton, who went into their final fixture third from bottom and with their fate out of their own hands, endured a nightmare start. Dean Holdsworth fired the in-form visitors ahead from the penalty spot after just four minutes while a catalogue of errors at the back resulted in a Gary Ablett own goal doubling their lead 16 minutes later.
Stuart said: “I just go back to the start of the game. Any manager in any league anywhere in the world – especially in an important game like that – will tell you that in the first 20 minutes you need to make sure you’re nice and solid and you do the right things.
“We found ourselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes though and you just wanted the ground to open up and swallow you. I know it sounds a daft thing to say but the silence was deafening around Goodison Park, it was horrible.”
Everton were handed a lifeline on 24 minutes though when Anders Limpar went down easily in the area under minimal contact from Peter Fear and referee Robbie Hart pointed to the spot, handing Stuart, who had never taken a penalty before for the Blues, his big moment. He said: “Somehow, some way, we found a way back. Anders was absolutely hacked down in the box and slightly made up for his crazy handball incident for Wimbledon’s first goal (he conceded the penalty converted by Dean Holdsworth).
“I love Anders, I get on great with him, but to this day he can’t explain why he inexplicably put his hand up. Then for the second there was the incident between David Unsworth (who went up for the same header with Dave Watson) and Gary Ablett – God bless him – and the ball ended up getting sliced into the top corner, it was all very messy, everything you didn’t want it to be.
“When Anders got the penalty, I saw Nev walking up the pitch with the ball under his arm. He keeps walking and he keeps walking and I’m thinking: ‘I know you’re a lunatic Nev but even you’re not mad enough to go and take a penalty.’
“He sort of got towards the halfway line and I said to him: ‘Give me the ball Nev.’ So he threw it to me and it was the longest walk of your life, walking up to the penalty spot.”
Stuart added: “The new Park End stand was being built so there were workmen behind the goal with hard hats on and when I put the ball on the spot I’m thinking: ‘Every coach again would tell you to go back to basics and hit the target, don’t change your mind, all that sort of stuff.’
“I knew exactly where I was going to put it. I stepped back, looked up and all I could see was kids swinging in the trees of Stanley Park as it was the only vantage point they could get with tickets at a premium that day.
“I thought to myself: ‘You’re just about to take a ridiculously important penalty and all I’m looking at is kids swinging around in the trees. Fortunately Hans (Segers, the Wimbledon goalkeeper) went one way and I went the other and we’re back in the game at 2-1.”
Everton finally pulled themselves level midway through the second half with a wonder-strike from Barry Horne who hadn’t netted since his debut for the club almost two years earlier. Stuart said: “Barry was a fantastic player and was very instrumental in the next couple of years for us as well. Him, Parky and John Ebbrell in the middle of the park were strong, strong players who did all the ugly stuff and then weren’t afraid to give it to players who were perhaps a little bit more forward-thinking.
“You know it’s going to be your day though when Barry is smacking a half-volley from 25 yards out into the top corner. It was a magnificent strike.”
With just nine minutes remaining, Stuart netted his second goal to put Everton 3-2 up and ensure they climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time all day. He said: “I think Anders picked the ball up on the left-hand side and he played it into me. I looked up and saw Tony Cottee so I popped it off to Tony and he nipped it back to me.
“It was close to being a blocked tackle than anything because I sort of slid in. It was one of the worst goals I’ve ever scored but also the best.
“It must have bobbled 20 times before it hit the back of the net. You can’t explain what Hans was doing, it just popped over his arm.
“The euphoria around the place was unbelievable. The roof came off Goodison.
“Then it was just a case of dig in and put the ball anywhere away from our goal. Situations like that are difficult because so much can happen and it can all go horribly wrong again in a flash.
“I remember the fear, every time the ball went into our half the fear around the place was unbelievable and then when we won it back it was relief. It was just a case of trying to manage the game.”
There were wild scenes of jubilation following the full-time whistle, even if in a pre-internet world, many Evertonians were still unsure whether the result would be enough to preserve their top flight status but Stuart – who acquired his legendary status with the Blues on merit the following year by being part of their FA Cup-winning side – insists there was nothing to be joyful about. The 53-year-old said: “It’s not something that I’m proud of. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a famous game in our history but for all the wrong reasons and I’ve never lost sight of that.
“Everton Football Club should never have been in that position and it wasn’t a great feeling to be thinking you could be part of a team that takes our great club down. Thankfully it all worked out in the end but it was not without its problems.
“I think we just cracked open a few beers. There was certainly no Champagne flying around, it wasn’t a Champagne moment.
“That’s why I’d like to stress to people, there was no massive celebration like we’d won the cup. This was a more-refined, relief celebration.”
