Whilst Fulham’s record at Everton is notoriously poor in League action, the Whites have fared much better at Goodison Park in the Cup.
In seven FA Cup meetings with the Toffees, Fulham have never been the losing side, winning four and drawing three. Four of those ties were played on Merseyside.
1926
The first meeting between the two clubs resulted in a major Cup upset, in 1926. Struggling near the foot of the Second Division at the time, we travelled to Goodison in Round Three to face what was a mighty Everton side, the legendary Dixie Dean and all.
A crowd of over 46,000 saw Teddy Craig equalise Dean’s first-half goal for the Toffees to secure an unlikely 1-1 draw away from home.
The real drama came in the replay the following Thursday afternoon. On a frozen Cottage pitch, teenage goalkeeperErnie Beecham, who had started the season as third choice, kept Everton at bay virtually single-handedly.
In the second-half, Bert White scored for us against the run of play, but it was Beecham the crowd chaired off at thefinal whistle and whose performance has since passed into Fulham folklore.
1948
It was 22 years before the two sides were drawn together again, this time at the Cottage first in the Fifth Round. Once more, we were a Second Division side, whilst the Toffees were flying high in Division One.
Again the initial match was drawn 1-1, Len Quested equalising Eglington’s earlier strike to set up a replay in Liverpool which a mammoth 71,587 turned out to see.
However, those expecting an easy ride on home territory for Everton were in for a shock. From the start Fulham took the game to their hosts, prompting one national newspaper to write: ‘Fulham looked senior class and reduced Everton to third rate status.’
The only goal of the game came 17 minutes from time when Arthur Stevens played through Bob Thomas, who steadied himself to slip the ball past the advancing Sagar and send the Whites through to the Quarter-Finals, where we would lose to eventual Finalists Blackpool.
1975
Goodison Park was also, of course, one of the stops on Fulham’s epic journey to Wembley in 1975. Having required three attempts to see off Hull City in Round Three, then four to dispose of Nottingham Forest in the next, there were only five days before the team travelled north for the Fifth Round tie, again versus an Everton side from the higher division.
Perhaps tired of replays by that point, there was no hesitation on this occasion as two Viv Busby goals, either side of a headed effort from Roger Kenyon, put the Whites through (2-1).
Masterminded by the experienced old heads of Bobby Moore and Alan Mullery, it was regarded as the upset of the Round, but nobody denied it was thoroughly deserved.
“That was probably our best result of the competition - to go to Goodison Park and take on Everton, in front of 45,000 people, was an incredible achievement,” recalls virtual ever-present in that team, John Lacy.
“We were a Division Two side as well don’t forget, and they were doing well in Division One – I think they finished fourth in the end. We had only just beaten Nottingham Forest in what was a third replay a few days before, and we went there with no one giving us a chance. But we were superb.
“I was born in Liverpool and grew up supporting Everton, so it was a special moment for me. As a boy I dreamed of playing for them at Wembley, but there I was helping knock them out – it’s funny how football works at times.”
2004
The only meeting between the two clubs as divisional equals occurred eight years ago when the two Premier League sides were drawn together at Goodison Park, coincidentally in the Fourth Round too.
And Fulham came close to another away win, Sean Davis giving the Whites a 49th minute lead, only to see Francis Jeffers equalise in the last minute.
That set up a replay at the Cottage where Fulham again edged ahead early in the second-half, courtesy of Junichi Inamoto, but Jeffers once more levelled in the dying minutes, sending the game into extra time.
However, a Steed Malbranque strike settled the contest and ensured that Fulham remained unbeaten against Everton in the FA Cup.
Here’s hoping the class of 2012 keep that record intact this Friday.
Everton v Fulham Video (1975)