There are a number of moments credited with being key to the remarkable turnaround in Everton’s fortunes in the 1980s.
Most commonly cited is Oxford United midfielder Kevin Brock’s back pass at the Manor Ground in January 1984 that enabled Adrian Heath to nip in for the late equaliser that earned a League Cup quarter-final replay Howard Kendall’s side would safely negotiate at Goodison before reaching the final and returning to Wembley two months later to lift the FA Cup.
Kendall’s psychological ploy of opening the dressing room windows at Stoke City before the third-round tie that began their victorious run to silverware that year - so his Blues players could hear and be inspired by the thousands of travelling Evertonians at the Victoria Ground - is often referenced, while Kevin Ratcliffe, the man who skippered the Toffees throughout what became the most successful period in the club’s history, credits the fightback the previous November in the third round of the League Cup against Coventry City as being the real turning point when, just days after an abject 3-0 reverse at Anfield had dropped Everton to 17th in the First Division table and losing again in front of barely 9,000 supporters at a disillusioned Goodison, two goals in the last ten minutes from Adrian Heath and Graeme Sharp eased some of the mounting pressure.
