Flying out to the Arabian Desert to compete for trophies in December – never mind the current World Cup in Qatar – Everton were doing it 35 years ago! On December 8, 1987 the Blues, reigning League Champions at the time, took on their Scottish counterparts Rangers for the unofficial British Championship… in Dubai.
Back then, the United Arab Emirates’ most-populous city was not the hub of luxury tourism and business it is today with the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa and more five star hotels than anywhere on the planet after London. Its population was approximately just a tenth of the 3.5million who live there now which might account for there being a crowd of just 8,000 watching the game between Colin Harvey and Graeme Souness’ sides at the Al Maktoum Stadium which was capable of holding up to six times that number at the time.
On the day of the game, the ECHO’s Phil McNulty, who had travelled to Dubai for the match, reported on Everton’s Adrian Heath hitting back at claims he wanted to quit Goodison Park and join opponents Rangers. The striker had been quoted as saying that if the Ibrox club were interested in his signature, he’d be off “like a shot.”
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However, Heath insisted: “I had a general conversation with someone about Scottish football and everything I said has been taken totally out of context.” The former Stoke City man would depart the Blues a year later for Spanish side Espanyol but unlike today when huge wealth generated by television revenue ensures the Premier League can attract stars from across the globe, at the time, English clubs were struggling from a talent drain caused by the post-Heysel ban from competing in European competitions.
As well as heading for the continent like Heath would do, many English players did buck the footballing trend of the previous century and headed north of the border with Rangers the major beneficiaries. Souness’ side that faced Everton contained no fewer than five Englishmen: Chris Woods; Jimmy Phillips; Graham Roberts; Ray Wilkins and Trevor Francis while Gary Stevens, the next year, and then Trevor Steven, the year after that – both of whom played for Everton in Dubai – would make the switch from Goodison to Ibrox.
While Everton, who had drawn 0-0 at bottom of the table Charlton Athletic the previous Saturday before this Tuesday night encounter, left behind temperatures of just four degrees back on Merseyside, the night-time clash in the UAE was described as being played in “blazing” conditions.
The Blues threw away a two goal lead in the last 10 minutes to eventually lose on penalties and McNulty wrote of the opposition’s player-manager: “The dominating figure of Graeme Souness returned to haunt his oldest of enemies in Dubai. Former Liverpool skipper Souness was the man all Evertonians loved to hate as he epitomised the spirit of Anfield’s golden era in the late 70s and early 80s.
“And after a month on the sidelines through injury, he stepped out of the shadows and into the desert heat to spearhead a dramatic Rangers revival and snatch the Dubai Super Cup from Everton’s grasp. Inspired by Souness, Rangers recovered from a two-goal deficit – Everton netted through Kevin Sheedy (25) and Dave Watson (66) before the Glaswegians hit back through Robert Fleck (80) and Ally McCoist (87) – to secure an 8-7 penalty shoot-out win.
“When Souness replaced the tiring Trevor Francis after 63 minutes, Everton were already a goal ahead and increased their lead just three minutes later. It was immediately apparent Souness was nowhere near full match fitness but that familiar strutting arrogance was still very much in evidence and his sheer presence lifted the beleaguered Scottish champions.
“However, it took an epic series of penalties, comprising of 15 successful efforts, before Chris Woods saved Ian Snodin’s well-struck shot, to decide the outcome after Steven, Sharp, Sheedy, Heath, Reid, Ratcliffe and Pointon had all slotted home from 12 yards out.”
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