Liverpool legends were 'kicked out' of Goodison Park by Bill Kenwright after late winner

Gary McAllister was once ‘kicked out’ of Goodison Park by late Everton chairman Bill Kenwright after a last-minute Liverpool victory in the Merseyside derby.

Sadio Mane was the match-winner at Goodison back in December 2016, clinching a narrow 1-0 victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side courtesy of his 94th minute tap-in. And McAllister was in attendance that day, along with fellow Liverpool legends Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush.

Rush would score 20 goals against Everton for the Reds during his career, with 10 of them coming at Goodison including a famous four-goal haul in a 5-0 win in November 1982. Meanwhile, Dalglish would score five goals against the Blues during his Liverpool career, with two of those coming away from home including a first-minute opener in a memorable 3-2 victory in September 1985.

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As for McAllister, he famously scored a last-minute winner over Everton at Goodison when Liverpool ran out 3-2 winners in April 2001. Like Rush’s four-goal haul, it is something Kopites still sing about to this day.

So coming into the lounges after the Blues’ 1-0 loss to Liverpool back in December 2016, the last thing Kenwright wanted to see was reminders of Everton’s previous woes against the Reds. Greeted by the sight of Dalglish, Rush, and McAllister, it proved to be too much for him to bear.

“We were in (Goodison) after a game once, I think it was when Mane did it as well,” McAllister recalled at the Forever Reds Christmas lunch at Anfield. “Five or six seasons ago, he scored a last-minute winner too.

“Bill Kenwright walks in (to the lounge after the game) and Kenny (Dalglish), Ian (Rush), and myself were all stood together.

“He says, ‘Look at you! Look at the f*****g three of you! You three are the same! Every f*****g time you come here. Not just Mane. You’ve done it! You’ve done it! You’ve done it! (Now) Get out!’”

McAllister, who won four major honours with the Reds before returning to Coventry City as player-manager on this day in 2002, would also recall his own Merseyside derby winner against Everton as he explained how he outsmarted Blues goalkeeper Paul Gerrard despite Jamie Carragher’s best efforts.

“How is that fella by the way? How is Paul Gerrard? Is he still around?” McAllister joked. “I watch the goal every time I get the opportunity to watch it.

“I never tire of watching it, I’ve got to say. Each year, when the Reds go across the road to play against Everton, obviously that goal comes out and I just sit there and the smile won’t budge.

“Prior to taking the free-kick that we’d scored the goal from, we had a free-kick in the exact same spot literally a minute before. So I put the ball down, 40 or 50 yards away from goal, and I’m signalling up to (Sami) Hyypia, (Ryan) Babbel and (Emile) Heskey that I’m just going to sit the ball up at the back post for them to come crashing in and try and get on the end of it.

“I deliver it, float it up to the far post and I think it’s Sami Hyypia who flashes a header wide.

“A minute goes past and we’re into stoppage-time. We get a free-kick in the exact same spot and I can see Paul Gerrard thinking he was going to kill the game and just take the cross.

“Because I’m signalling again that I’m going to replicate the free-kick I took the minute before and hopefully this time we’ll score. Sit it up to the back post for Babbel, Heskey, and Hyypia to attack.

“But I can see, just as I’m looking to them, Gerrard starting to creep. He’s going to try and come for the cross.

“Just as I take two or three yards back from the ball, Carra’s walking up behind me and goes, ‘F**k off, Macca lad. Don’t even f*****g think about it, lad’. He can see that Gerrard is going to try and anticipate the cross.

“So I take another wee step back and it’s one of those magical moments for somebody who takes free-kicks or takes penalties. If you see a goalie making an early decision and going early, you’ve got that split second to change your mind.

“And just as I was about to take the free-kick, I could see Gerrard moving. So I thought, ‘Why not?’

“And then to see Sammy (Lee) and Phil’s (Thompson) faces when that ball hits the net, and then the likes of Carra and Steven in the dressing room, who just love beating that mob across there.

“Seeing their faces and then the contrast to the Everton fans who were absolutely spewing! You’re doing it for the Scousers!”

A version of this story was first published on December 29, 2022