Meg Finnigan, Gabby George & Lucy Hope on the Merseyside derby: Crowds, booing & crunching tackles
By Ali Rampling
The WSL Merseyside derby will take place at Everton's iconic Goodison Park for the very first time on 24 March to kick off Women's Football Weekend.
The derby is a fixture steeped in local pride and rich history - so 90min sat down with Everton's Meg Finnigan, Lucy Hope and Gabby George to chat about their derby memories and welcoming their rivals to Goodison for the very first time.
The early days
Meg Finnigan has been playing in Merseyside derbies for 15 years. The Everton defender is a one-club woman, having joined the Toffees at the age of nine. The importance of the Merseyside derby is ingrained in players right from the start.
"I think it’s the most exciting fixture within the season," Finnigan tells 90min. "Even when I think back to when I was in the academy I always remember them games against Liverpool, they were always really feisty and that was just at a young age.
"I remember one time when I was a kid, it was literally under-12s and I had a very bad game and my mum and dad absolutely crucified me on the way home. Not even for my performance, it was more like the lack of effort.
"I remember my mum saying: ‘Meg, it’s a derby, what are you doing? I cannot believe I’ve just wasted my time in that stand.’ Yeah so that’s stuck with me since! But that’s what a derby’s about really, and that doesn’t change throughout your career."
For Finnigan, this month's derby fixture has been years in the making.
Women's football was not a professional sport in the UK when she first joined the Everton academy. The 24-year-old has witnessed the game and the club blossom from part-time to pro, attendances increasing from a smattering of hundreds to an anticipated five-figure crowd at Goodison.
"When I first came up to the first team, even when I was playing in the academy it was never in my head that I could be playing for Everton full time," Finnigan adds. "That was never really an option. I was planning to go to university and what not. And then the opportunity came up to go full time.
"Back when we were part time, I’d only just be finishing college and I’d be coming here to train at 7pm. I look back now and I’m ready for a nap now and it’s only 3 o’clock! So I don’t know how I used to do it then.
"We had to wait for a training pitch to become available for us, we were last priority in that sense as I’m sure a lot of women’s teams were. Now we’re full time during the day, we get to share the same facilities as the men which is amazing."
The first WSL Merseyside derby at Anfield - November 2019
When Everton and Liverpool both joined the WSL in 2011, it was the blue side of Merseyside who boasted the proud women's football history. The Toffees had been perennial runners up to the all-conquering Arsenal in the top flight for years, and stunned the Gunners to win the 2010 FA Cup.
But it was Liverpool who came into their own during the early WSL era, winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. Meanwhile, as the Reds were celebrating being crowned champions of England for a second time, Everton were relegated.
The Toffees bounced back, and come the 2019/20 season, the tide was turning again.
"I signed under Willie Kirk and he was a really ambitious manager," Lucy Hope tells 90min. "He wanted to take Everton from where they were in seasons before; struggling in the relegation battle and towards the top of the table."
The 2019/20 WSL campaogn was riding on a wave of post 2019 World Cup momentum, and the Merseyside derby was hosted at Anfield for the first time.
Hope had the honour of netting the game's only goal, opening the scoring on the stroke of half time, as her strike from the edge of the box slipped through the gloves of Anke Preuss.
"It’s quite surreal," Hope recalls. "It still pops up on social media to this day. The goal doesn’t really cover the goalkeeper in much glory but I’ll take it. I look back on that goal; a great goal to score at Anfield against Liverpool, our arch nemesis. People still talk about it to this day.
"It was a massive game for us. To be honest I remember the game being a bit rubbish quality. Everybody was just so nervous. I think the occasion got to most people."
Gabby George is just as honest in her assessment of the performance.
"I think we played terrible," says George. "Lucy scored and we’re buzzing because it’s a Merseyside derby and form and everything goes out of the window when it’s derby day. You’re just there for the three points and the win. It will be the same at Goodison; hopefully we put in a better performance but as long as we win I’m not too fussed."
A crowd of 23,500 were in attendance at Anfield that day to create an intensely competitive atmosphere, the home fans booing the Everton players at corners and roaring Liverpool on as they attempted to find an equaliser that never came.
"I was loving it because we were winning," George says of the booing. "It makes me laugh."
The WSL Merseyside derby returns - September 2022
Liverpool were relegated in 2020 and returned to the WSL in 2022. Their second game back in the top flight - and Brian Sorensen's second game in charge of Everton - was a Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Under the Anfield lights and in front of a buoyant Kop, it was Finnigan who opened the scoring in the first half for Everton, nodding home from a corner and celebrating wildly.
"I’m not going to lie I watched it back the other day," Finnigan says of her goal. "If I’m ever in a down mood or I need a pick me up, I do watch that. Not even the goal itself, because I don’t think it’s the best header you’re ever going to see, but more the celebrations of all the girls after.
"I erupted, which I tend to do when I score because I don’t really know how to celebrate. To get the goal so early on, I think for the whole team was a really special moment. I just ran off. Didn’t process it at the time but I do watch it back every now and then."
The game attracted a crowd of 27,574 - a record attendance for a WSL match at Anfield.
"I think that’s probably the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of," Finnigan recalls. "I think to have the separate away end and the rest of the stadium full of Liverpool fans, it really added to the atmosphere.
"I remember when I scored we were at the Kop end and we celebrated and we were getting booed and stuff which I loved. I loved that that was happening."
Jess Park added a second before the break, and Hannah Bennison sealed victory for Everton three minutes from time in front of the pocket of Everton fans behind the goal, cueing mass team celebrations.
"Our fan base is growing," Finnigan adds. "We wanted to share that moment with them."
The first WSL Merseyside derby at Goodison Park - March 2023
The Merseyside derby will make its Goodison Park debut in March, with Brian Sorensen's new-look Everton looking to do the double over Matt Beard's newly-promoted Liverpool.
"Now they’re back and I think everyone knows how big a Merseyside derby is," says George. "Brian’s come in and brought in a lot of tough, hard tackling players like Karen [Holmgaard], so I don’t think she’ll be out of place.
"At Walton Hall we’ve started to sell out games which we’ve never done before. And not just one game, it’s two or three games. Hopefully we can get them all down to Goodison, now we’ve all got about a million songs and they’re actually invested in wanting us to do well, and they push us on when we need pushing on."
"I think the way we turned up when we played at Anfield; the magnitude of the game, and you could tell how much it meant to everyone and everyone realised what a big win that was," adds Finnigan.
"I don’t think much talking should have to be done in terms of that, everyone appreciates how big of a game it is. So…bring it on."
Everton and Liverpool meet in the WSL's first Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Friday 24 March, 19:30 (GMT). Secure your tickets at https://www.evertonfc.com/women/tickets