Two of Leeds, Everton and Leicester City will play in the league next season
Twenty-nine years ago, I stood outside Goodison Park fearing Everton's relegation from the Premier League.
At the time, I was an England Under-21 player, a 16-year-old on a weekend break after training at the Football School of Excellence. associations in Lilleshall.
Because of my move from Liverpool, I hardly saw the Mike Walker team and witnessed the rapid collapse of a club that was champions of England seven years ago.
In those days before, as broadcasters covered each match in detail, my knowledge of a series of shocking performances was limited to reports from friends, relatives and radio commentary.
I remember well the day I realized that Everton could lose.
< p>As trainees at Lilleshall, we often attended the next game on Saturdays — the closest was Highfield Road in Coventry City — and on 2 April of the same season. we all headed there and watched Wimbledon win 2-1. On the coach's back, radio hosts were talking about Everton's sad 5-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. I couldn't believe the result.
I felt bad and didn't get better as Walker's team lost three of their next five and went into the relegation zone. My father and I didn't have tickets to the final game of the season against Wimbledon, but like thousands of others, we felt we had to be there and clambered around, waiting for a ticket, as kick-off approached.
My heart left Goodison Park when I settled in Liverpool
It seemed that the whole Bootle was gathered on the ground to achieve victory. We had no joy and spent the first half huddled around the nearest radio, realizing that Everton had lost two because of the groans outside the stadium walls.
Then we got lucky. At half-time we were pestered by a steward who knew us so well that he opened the gate and allowed my father and me to sneak through the turnstile.
I was standing on Gwladis Street as Barry Horn and Graham Stewart. completed an unforgettable 3-2 comeback, ensuring that I can return to Lilleshall with relief and the hope that Everton will never find themselves in this situation again.
Unfortunately for Everton, history has repeated itself too often since then. Four years later they found themselves in a similar situation, surviving a final day draw against Coventry City, and last year Frank Lampard repeated the chronology of a 3-2 win at Wimbledon by beating Crystal Palace in the penultimate game.< /p>
When I was blue as a child and a former Liverpool player, I was then, as now, asked if I wanted Everton to lose. My answer is a firm no.
The reason has nothing to do with my childhood addictions. My heart broke with Goodison Park the moment I joined Liverpool in the late 90s. For the past 25 years, I've seen Everton as «them» when they used to be «us».
Everton fans do not deserve to be relegated to the championship. Credit: Getty Images/Tony McArdle
But what I can't separate from is the emotional turmoil my friends and family are going through due to Everton's predicament. I know what they're going through and it's hell. You can't underestimate how much football means to the people of my city, the Reds and the Blues. I have friends who can't sleep for weeks because they're worried about what relegation means to their lives, the club and the community.
Seeing and understanding what goes beyond «poking fun» at a team for losing and so many years without a trophy.
My point of view is not representative of all Liverpool fans. There will be many who hope that Everton will be defeated. I have to admit, when I saw how gleefully Liverpool's most difficult moments, such as almost failing to win the Premier League and the Champions League, were celebrated by the blues — many of them actively supported Manchester City and Real Madrid , you can see why some on the Kop will be rooting for Bournemouth this weekend.
But I'm proud that Liverpool is the only city outside of London to boast two top-flight clubs for 61 consecutive years, with Everton's success going beyond its neighbors.
None of them other major cities England with two hugely supported clubs — Manchester, Birmingham or Sheffield — could match that. For me, this fact makes Liverpool the main football city in the country.
The prospect of losing the Merseyside derby in the Premier League is too big a concession.
As a player, whenever a match list was published, Everton was always the first game I looked for. Without him, the season would have been a huge void.
After the final whistle in 1994, there was jubilation, scenes reminiscent of those when Lampard led the team to survival 12 months ago. I spoke to Frank after that game and he told me that despite all his accomplishments as a player — winning every club trophy — keeping Everton under these circumstances was one of his best moments in football.
He didn't succeed for a long time, but he understood what it means for the fans and the city that Everton did not sleep.
Whatever happens on Sunday, I'm not sure the reaction will be the same in regular time. Clearly, there will be immediate joy for Everton's victory, but there is too much anger that the club's management has put the fans through the ordeal again to celebrate for a long time.
Sean Dyche pleaded with supporters to put aside their grievances and support them side, and they agreed, suspending the demonstrations against the board during the preliminary game, at least during the games. The tension remains. There will be a toxic atmosphere after the match, because last summer every Everton fan could see that the team was in for another relegation battle. They will not forgive those who are considered the most responsible.
Even though their fate is in their hands, the Evertonians are still very nervous, especially since they will be without Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Dyche's home wins have all been 1-0 and if it's a score in the remaining minutes of Sunday, the level of anxiety will be unbearable.
I believe Everton will stay up because since then, Since Dyche came to power, they have become one of the top-scoring teams in the Premier League — centre-backs are responsible for most of Everton's goals — and no team in the top flight has conceded more corners and free kicks than Bournemouth. It is in this match that you can win and lose.
I will not be as excited as the 16-year-old me watching Everton. I won't celebrate if they win or cry for them if they lose. At the moment the club is where it deserves to be.
But Everton fans deserve so much more. First of all, these are the fans that I don't want to see relegated to the Championship.
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