Losing to local rivals City gave Manchester United fans an insight into what life is like for Evertonians but in truth it was only a glimpse.
While there have been several all-London FA Cup finals and both Aston Villa and Birmingham City have faced near neighbours West Bromwich Albion in the showcase game, until last Saturday’s all-Mancunian affair, Everton’s brace of defeats to Liverpool in 1986 and 1989 are the only other occasions that the trophy has been contested with a provincial city derby match and for the record it should also be remembered that before them, the Blues lost a League Cup final replay to the Reds at Maine Road in 1984 after their initial Wembley stalemate. No other fanbase has experienced such torment and Everton even came back to a rebuilt national stadium for more pain in 2012 when they threw away a half-time lead to lose 2-1 to their old foes from across Stanley Park in an FA Cup semi-final.
United supporters who in the not-too-distant past were spoilt having been brought up on a diet of blanket success are now having to face up to the increasingly likely prospect that their cross-town upstarts who Sir Alex Ferguson once dubbed “the noisy neighbours” are going to emulate their as of yet unmatched treble of 1999. But there are plenty of consolations to help soften the blow. It’s been a decade since the Premier League title last came to Old Trafford but there’s still a trophy in their cabinet from this season in the shape of a sixth League Cup and the overall signs are positive that manager Erik ten Hag is reversing their long on-the-field decline in the post-Ferguson era.
