Liverpool face Everton on Saturday in the latest edition of one of English football’s most historic and fiercest rivalries.
Despite the passion on each side, there has been a whole host of players to play for both Liverpool and Everton.
Here we take a look at some of the top players to have plied their trade on both sides of Stanley Park since Liverpool were formed from Everton’s decision to leave Anfield in 1892.
Peter Beardsley
Beardsley enjoyed a storied career in English football and abroad as well as being a key player for England between 1986 and 1996.
While he most famously represented Newcastle over two spells in the north east, the forward also left his mark on Merseyside on both sides of Stanley Park.
He joined Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool in 1987 for a British record £1.9million, going on to win two league titles and an FA Cup with the Reds.
His four-year spell at Anfield ended in 1991 with a move to Everton, where he became one of only two players to have scored for both clubs in a Merseyside derby. He netted 32 goals in 95 games for the Toffees.
David Johnson
Few players have represented the two Merseyside giants with as much distinction as Johnson.
The predatory striker began his career on the blue half of the city in 1969 after interest from Liverpool boss Bill Shankly was reportedly rebuffed.
He spent three years with Everton before joining Bobby Robson’s Ipswich. Johnson’s move to Liverpool came in 1976 and he enjoyed a glittering career at Anfield.
In 213 games for the club he scored 78 goals and had an enviable trophy cabinet after winning four league titles, two European Cups and a League Cup.
He was the first player to score for both clubs in a Merseyside derby and he rejoined his boyhood club Everton from Liverpool in 1982.
Nick Barmby
Barmby became the first player since 1959 to have been sold by Everton directly to Liverpool.
The England winger had spent four successful years at Goodison after joining from Middlesbrough in 1996.
He scored 18 goals during his time with the Toffees, including nine in his final season which prompted Liverpool to pay around £6m for his services.
He was part of the squad which won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001 but his time at Anfield ended after two seasons of mixed form as he joined Leeds in 2002.
Dave Hickson
Hickson starred for Everton during a lean spell for the club in the 50s.
He joined in 1948 having been coached by Everton great Dixie Dean when he played for Cheshire Army Cadets but his start to life at the club was put on hold due to the call of National Service.
He first played for the Toffees in 1951 before cementing his place in Everton folklore with the winner in an FA Cup tie against Manchester United having had five stitches inserted into a head wound.
Hickson enjoyed two spells for Everton before his second culminated in a move to Liverpool in 1959 – sparking outrage on both sides of Stanley Park.
Hickson scored 38 goals for the Reds and later joined Tranmere – he is the only professional footballer to have played for all three main Merseyside clubs.
Abel Xavier
The Portuguese full-back is the most recent transfer between the two clubs.
Xavier joined Everton in 1999, playing 45 games for the Toffees before heading to Liverpool in 2002 as cover for the ill Markus Babbel.
Xavier scored 16 minutes into his Liverpool debut but that was about as good as it got for the full-back during his only season at Anfield, which was better remembered for his eccentric hairstyle than his efforts on the pitch.
Kevin Sheedy
The left-footed midfielder spent four years at Anfield but only made a handful of appearances for the Reds before going on to write his name in Everton’s history books.
He moved to Goodison from Liverpool in 1982 and racked up 356 games in 10 years with the Toffees.
The Republic of Ireland star was part of Howard Kendall’s hugely successful Everton team of the 1980s, winning two league titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Steve McMahon
McMahon started his association with Everton as a ball boy for the club before going on to make a century of appearances for the Toffees and being named club captain.
He moved to Aston Villa in 1983 but two years later he was Dalglish’s first signing as Liverpool manager.
It was with the Reds that the midfielder enjoyed his most success, racking up 227 games for the club across a six-year stay and winning three league titles as well as two FA Cups.
McMahon is one of only two players to have captained both clubs – after Andrew Hannah in the 1890s.
Johnny Morrissey
Morrissey’s move between the two clubs almost changed the course of Liverpool history.
Having spent five years at Anfield, the board deemed the outside left surplus to requirements and went over Shankly’s head to sell him to Everton in 1962.
Shankly, who went on to lead Liverpool to the first of his three First Division titles just two years later, was so incensed by the decision that he wrote a resignation letter.
Morrissey, who had a notoriously uncompromising style, spent a decade with Everton where he won the league and FA Cup.
Gary Ablett
The defender tasted success on both sides of Stanley Park.
He rose through the ranks at Liverpool to make his debut under Dalglish in 1986 and went on to make 147 appearances and win two league titles with the Reds.
It was Dalglish’s successor Graeme Souness who decided to sell Ablett to Everton in 1992 and he became the only man to win the FA Cup with both clubs as the Toffees beat Manchester United in 1995.
Patrick Gordon
Gordon was the first player to have had both Goodison and Anfield as his home ground.
Liverpool were formed when Everton left Anfield in 1892 and Gordon was signed by the Reds in 1893 having previously played for Everton.
The winger played in Liverpool’s first season in the Football League – their successful Second Division campaign in 1893-94 – and began their second season before joining Blackburn.
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