Everton v Manchester United: Five classic Goodison Park battles

Goodison Park is one of the great English football grounds. It is England’s Wrigley Field, a historic sports venue sitting on an irregular block close to the city centre. A map of the area around Goodison Park from 1900 is almost unchanged. Dozens of dense, terraced streets pack tightly around St Luke’s church and the football ground on Goodison Road.

Sunday is likely to be Manchester United’s final game at the stadium, since Everton are set to move into a stunning new home on the banks of the Mersey. United fans, as ever, will fill their allocation in the Bullens Road stand. They’ll also remember some of the best and worst memories of seeing their team at Goodison.

December 1, 1990

The cold and mist of Merseyside meant there were few takers among the 4,500 travelling Reds for the ‘Highbury massacre’ t-shirts being sold outside the away end. The shirts, which had been knocked up in no time by Manchester grafters, celebrated United’s 6-2 demolition of Arsenal less than three days earlier. Star of the shirt was hat-trick hero Lee Sharpe, 20 years old and wheeling away from the North Bank, arms open in celebration, looking like the coolest man in the world in United’s acid blue away top.

Good looking, fashionable and personable, Sharpe was the first pop star footballer of the Premiership age and was as popular with hardcore Reds as the thousands of teenage girls who would join his fan club.

His popularity was enhanced further when he scored the game’s only goal in the Goodison cold. As he celebrated, Sharpe did a little shimmy, dancing back and forward in what became known as ‘The Sharpey Shuffle’. The United end loved it, but boss Sir Alex Ferguson didn't share their appreciation.

“We were all well pleased when we got