Crossing Stanley Park: Liverpool and Everton

Forty-six players have moved between the two Merseyside clubs. Fifteen minutes on foot separates the grounds.

2026-05-11 · 570 words

The Merseyside derby is among England's oldest city rivalries, and among its most permeable. Anfield and Goodison Park are roughly a fifteen-minute walk apart, and the transfer traffic reflects it.

By common count, 28 players have moved from Everton to Liverpool, and 18 the other way.

David Johnson: both directions

David Johnson is the outlier. He came through Everton's youth system, was sold to Ipswich Town in 1972 at 21, and was bought by Liverpool in 1976 for a club-record £200,000. He later returned to Everton.

Johnson became the first player to score in a Merseyside derby for both clubs.

Peter Beardsley

Kenny Dalglish signed Beardsley for Liverpool in 1987; he won two league titles and an FA Cup. He crossed to Everton in 1991 and finished as their top scorer in his first season.

He became the second man to score in the derby for both sides.

Steve McMahon

McMahon began at boyhood club Everton and made over a hundred appearances. Dalglish signed him from Aston Villa in 1985 as his first signing as Liverpool manager.

He won three league titles and two FA Cups at Anfield. His first goal for Liverpool came against Everton.

Gary Ablett

Ablett came through Liverpool's academy, made 109 senior appearances and won trophies before joining Everton in January 1992. He won the FA Cup with Everton in 1995.

He remains the only player to have won the FA Cup with both Merseyside clubs.

Why the traffic flows

For much of the twentieth century the Merseyside derby was called the "friendly derby", supporters came from the same families and stood together, unsegregated.

The atmosphere hardened after the 1980s, but the transfer route stayed open. Geography does most of the work: a player can change clubs without changing house, school run, or city.

The frequency has fallen in the modern era, but the crossover list remains England's longest.

In the game

Liverpool × Everton is one of the richest pairings in Common. Beardsley, Johnson, McMahon and Ablett are all valid.

The broader lesson is worth internalising: two clubs in the same city almost always share a deep pool of players, because moving between them costs a player nothing outside football.

How the friendly derby ended

Understanding the permeability requires the historical context.

Until the 1980s, supporters of both clubs stood together, unsegregated. Families were split across the divide and travelled to cup finals together. That environment made transfers unremarkable.

It hardened from the late 1980s, Liverpool's sustained dominance, Everton's decline through the 1990s, and rising commercial pressure across English football all contributed.

The transfer route never fully closed, though, because the geography never changed.

The practical value of staying local

That a player need not relocate is a more decisive factor than it appears.

Family arrangements, schools, a partner's job. All of it weighs on a transfer decision. Staying in the same city also reduces career risk: if the move fails, life does not have to be rebuilt.

This is why clubs in the same city almost always share a deep pool of players regardless of how fierce the rivalry is. It is a rule worth carrying into every round of Common.

Frequently asked

How many players in total?

Common counts put it around 46, 28 from Everton to Liverpool, 18 the other way.

Does it still happen?

Less often, but it has not stopped. The frequency no longer approaches twentieth-century levels.