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.”
