Everton goodison park
On May 6, 1985, Everton secured their eighth League Championship with a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park. Despite the triumph, legendary centre-half Derek Mountfield, who scored the opening goal, expressed disappointment over the delayed trophy presentation.
Derek Mountfield said: “If you’d have said when we were bottom of the table after losing our first two games with a minus four goal difference that we’d win the league by 13 points, clinching it with five games to spare, we’d have laughed at you. But those things happened. I remember the QPR game was Bank Holiday Monday. There were over 50,000 in Goodison Park.”
Derek Mountfield continued: “I managed to get in front of Sharpy and score the opening goal before he got the second. I remember the volley, it wouldn’t have been my goal nowadays, it would be an own goal by the keeper. It hit the crossbar then the back of his head and in the net. But I’m claiming it, it’s in the books.”
Derek Mountfield added: “I love that photograph, I love it. We didn’t get it until the Wednesday against West Ham. It should have been there that afternoon on the Monday. We were miles ahead. Bring it up and do it properly, but they didn’t. I think that let us down that day. We needed to celebrate with 50,000 in the ground, not 32,000 on the Wednesday night. Those 50,000 should have seen it. The Football League in their infinite wisdom, didn’t do it.”
In what was Everton’s most successful season, the team also lifted the European Cup-Winners’ Cup and narrowly missed a domestic double, losing to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. The league title was clinched with five games to spare, and Everton finished 13 points clear of Liverpool, marking the largest winning margin for an English domestic champion at the time.
Unlike today’s orchestrated presentations, the Football League trophy was not awarded immediately after securing the title. Mountfield, a lifelong Evertonian, voiced his frustration over the delay, as the team had to wait until their next fixture against West Ham to receive the trophy. This decision deprived the 50,000 fans present at Goodison Park on the day of the title-clinching match from witnessing the celebration.
The delayed presentation remains a poignant memory for Mountfield, highlighting a missed opportunity to celebrate with the full capacity crowd that had supported the team throughout their remarkable season.
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