Nathan Patterson has joined an exclusive club in moving from Rangers to Everton but it seems the road between Ibrox to Goodison Park is a well-trodden path.
The two famous old grounds – both principally designed by the legendary Glaswegian stadium architect Archibald Leitch – are incredibly similar and the Scottish champions’ home resembles how Goodison might have looked had Everton been able to redevelop on the site.
Instead the Blues are of course now looking forward to moving to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in 2024 and at just 20, Patterson, who has penned a five-and-a-half year deal, could be one of the players who goes with them.
For now though he becomes the latest in what is a long line of high-profile players to represent these two giants from a couple of Britain’s most-passionate footballing cities.
Old time favourites such as Torry Gillick and Alex Scott both won titles both north and south of the border with Rangers and Everton but moving to more recent decades, here’s a pretty impressive squad of players to turn out in blue at both Goodison and Ibrox, including a strong starting XI, a bench packed full of talented alternative options and even a manager.
Goalkeeper: Steve Simonsen
Despite his move from Tranmere to Everton being touted as a record fee at the time, it was never the case and the South Shields-born custodian is the least-decorated member of the starting side but still enjoyed a professional career of over 400 matches though.
Right-back: Gary Stevens
Part of Howard Kendall’s hugely-successful Everton team of the mid-1980s, he was one of the Englishmen who temporarily reversed the trend of top talent heading across the border when moving north during the post-Heysel European ban to collect a treasure trove of further honours under Graeme Souness.
Left-back: Michael Ball
Now a tactically-astute ECHO columnist who pulls no punches, the lifelong Evertonian was a teenage sensation at Goodison but was sold to Rangers for £6.5million in 2001 to help ease the Blues financial problems at the time.
Centre-back: Richard Gough
Part of Rangers’ nine-in-a-row title-winning sides, Gough was a super-fit 37-year-old when teaming up with Walter Smith again at Goodison in 1999 to enjoy an impressive Indian Summer to his career.
Centre-back: David Weir
A bargain buy for Everton, costing just £250,000 from Heart of Midlothian in 1999, he was a regular for eight years and captained both the Blues and then Rangers.
Right-wing: Trevor Steven
Another of Kendall’s heroes, he scored in both the European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final and final wins in 1985, he also lifted domestic titles in England, Scotland and France and was once transferred from Rangers to Marseille for a then joint British record £5.5million fee.
Central midfield: Mikel Arteta
The current Arsenal manager cost Rangers £6million from Barcelona in 2002 despite having never played a first team game for the Catalan giants.
He spent two years at Ibrox but Everton, who secured him for a third of that price in 2005 got six-and-a-half years’ service out of the player they dubbed ‘The best little Spaniard we know.’
Central midfield: Paul Gascoigne
The most talented British footballer of his generation had lost his edge to serious injury by the time he joined Rangers but enjoyed the most fruitful couple of years of his career scoring wise with them between 1995-97. Such moments had largely dried up by the time Smith signed him again for Everton aged 33 in 2000.
Left-wing: Andrei Kanchelskis
The only player deployed out of his favoured position in this team but given that out of his 20 Everton goals he scored almost as many with his left than with his right (eight to nine with three headers) the flying Russian who collected a clean sweep of honours in Scotland has hardly been crowbarred in.
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Striker: Andy Gray
The talismanic inspiration behind Everton’s success under Kendall, scoring in both the 1984 FA Cup final and 1985 European Cup-Winners’ Cup final successes, Gray finished his career in the big time by turning out for his boyhood heroes Rangers, winning the title in 1989, the first of their nine in a row.
Striker: Duncan Ferguson
The towering centre-forward joined Rangers for a British record £4million fee in 1993 but disciplinary problems at Ibrox saw him loaned to Everton the following year.
After completing a permanent switch to Goodison, he was part of the club’s last trophy-winning side having coming on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup final win over Manchester United and enjoyed two spells with the club before retiring in 2006 and later rejoining the backroom staff where he’s served as assistant manager to both Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez as well as a stint as caretaker boss.
Substitutes: Thomas Myhre, Alec Cleland, Stuart McCall, Steven Naismith, Paul Rideout, Mo Johnston, Nikica Jelavic.
Manager: Walter Smith
Sadly losing his cancer battle last October aged 73, Smith served with distinction in the dugouts at both Ibrox and Goodison Park.
He steered Rangers to 10 Scottish titles over two spells and while he was unable to replicate that success on Merseyside, he showed great dignity in guiding the Blues through a very testing period both on and off the pitch between 1998-2002.
