Goodison Park traditionally hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Norwich City, who have suffered 17 defeats in the 31 meetings on Merseyside since 1973.
The Canaries got their seventh win at Goodison the last time the two sides met, however, when Alex Neil’s City came away with a 2-0 win in the third round of the EFL Cup, so Daniel Farke’s squad will be looking to make it eight this weekend.
1973 - 1977 – ’74 cup upset amid a poor run
After getting a 2-2 draw and a 1-0 League Cup win in their first two trips to Goodison Park, City went the next six years without victory in their five visits to Everton. The latter of those two results was rather admirable though, considering the Toffees had been on an unbeaten run of ten games in all competitions prior to the visit of City in the first half of the 1973-74 season.
Later that season, City felt the wraith of an Everton side on the up, losing 4-1 to the Toffees in April 1974. Everton went on to challenge for the Division One title the following year, missing out on three points to Derby County.
They struggled to keep that momentum going, and by the time City came around again upon the turn of 1976, Everton had fallen back down to mid-table. The sides played out a 1-1 draw, before the Toffees put three past Norwich twice at their home stadium in 1977.
1979 – 1983 – City enjoy their best years at Goodison
Norwich then discovered a winning formula on Merseyside, going unbeaten in the next five meetings at Goodison Park. That run started with a 2-2 draw in March 1979, which was followed by an emphatic 4-2 win on the opening day in August the same year. In fact, City finished seven places above Everton in the topflight in the 1979-80 season.
The 1980s began as the 70s had ended for City at Goodison, who managed a 2-0 win in April ’81, a 1-1 draw in September ’82 and another 2-0 win during November ’83, despite being relegated to the Second Division and coming back up in that time!
1985 – 1991 – Terrific Toffees regain dominance
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Norwich at Goodison in the 1980s, with one 1-1 draw in November ’88 sandwiched between seven defeats. As for that draw, check out the wacky celebration from Malcolm Allen after he scored the opener!
Ultimately, City lost 3-0 in April ’85, 1-0 in October ’85 in the Screen Sports Super Cup, 4-0 in December ’86, 1-0 in August ’87, 1-0 in April ’89 in the FA Cup, 3-1 in March ’90 and 1-0 in April ’91 so not a good run at all!
It’s worth remembering that the Toffees were enjoying some of their best years in the First Division, as they won the league title in 1984-85 and 1986-87, as well as being runners-up in 1985-86. Norwich, meanwhile, despite this losing streak, returned to and stayed in what became the Premier League throughout this period.
1991 – 1993 – Ekoku stars with City on the up
Coinciding with one of the best seasons in City’s history – the advent of the Premier League in 1992 – Norwich got seven points from their next possible nine at Goodison Park.
September 1991 saw the Canaries earn a 1-1 draw at the start of a tumultuous campaign in Norfolk, before the remarkable 1992-93 season hosted a 1-0 win for City thanks to Chris Sutton’s first-half strike.
But City’s best result came by way of an Efan Ekoku masterclass in September 1993, as he scored four goals in the club’s 5-1 win. Paul Rideout put Everton one-nil up, but Ekoku’s riot was finished off with another goal from Sutton to wrap up a big win. Here are the highlights for those who want reminding…
1995 – 2016 – Bogey ground
It had been a relatively mixed bag of results up until that 5-1 win, but what followed was a dismal period of almost 20 years without a win at Goodison Park in nine meetings.
Mike Milligan’s second half effort in February 1995 wasn’t enough to cancel out goals from Graham Stuart and Rideout as Everton won that league game 2-1. In the same month, the sides met again at Goodison for the fifth round of the FA Cup, and there was a sense of revenge as the Toffees put five past Norwich without reply.
The two sides didn’t meet again until 2004, and again it was in the FA Cup, City losing out 3-1 in the third round this time. 13 months later, Everton salvaged a 1-0 win in the Premier League. There were only two meetings in the 2000s, then, before City earned two 1-1 draws in December 2011 and November 2012. Grant Holt scored a clever opening goal in the former, while Sebastien Bassong netted a 90th minute equaliser in the latter.
There were three consecutive losses for City in 2014 (2-0), 2015 (on penalties in the League Cup) and 2016 (3-0), before fortunes changed at long last.
2016 – present – A long-awaited win
Norwich haven’t played Everton anywhere since their last outing at Goodison Park – a 2-0 Carabao Cup win in September 2016. Goals from Steven Naismith and Josh Murphy sent the Canaries through to the fourth round of the competition.
Fingers crossed the upward trajectory continues in the Premier League this weekend!
