Aussie Everton fan jets in for last Goodison derby

Spare a thought for Australian Everton fan Mackenzie, who had travelled over from down under to attend the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

The football-mad teenager told his Liverpool-born mother he wanted to attend the derby during the Blues’ last season there and saved up his cash to return to the UK for a two-week trip, arriving just in time to see Everton beat his dad’s club Wolves 4-0 on Wednesday.

Image source,Family handout

Well Goodison Park won’t be saying goodbye to the Merseyside derby just yet but it still feels like a pretty good time to talk about some memories of the famous ground…

04:07

Manchester United

A statement from Manchester United on today’s match:

“Today’s Premier League fixture at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest is scheduled to go ahead as planned.

“The club will continue to consult the relevant authorities throughout the day and will update supporters immediately if anything changes.

“We understand that fan travel will be disrupted by the weather so this fixture will not be included in the minimum number of games a season that season tickets must be used.”

Image source,Getty Images

Crystal Palace

And the same message coming out of Selhurst Park, too, where Crystal Palace’s match against Manchester City is still scheduled to go ahead.

The advice is to “plan your journey in advance and take care travelling to and from the stadium”.

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Brentford

Brentford have issued a statement to say their match against Newcastle will go ahead but have urged fans to allow more time to travel to the Gtech Community Stadium.

“Travel safely, plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey” is the message.

Image source,Getty Images

Aston Villa

Aston Villa have released a statement saying “today’s Premier League match against Southampton WILL go ahead as planned”.

The club have also advised fans to give themselves extra time to get to the ground because of disruptions to the roads and railways.

I’m going to go all cricket on you now and discuss the weather. One Premier League game down, four still to be played.

But will they all go ahead?

At Crystal Palace, where the Eagles host Manchester City, there’s gusty winds and heavy rain forecast all day and a yellow weather warning in place for wind.

That’s also the case in Brentford, where the Bees host Newcastle at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Further north in Birmingham, there’s also a yellow warning in place for the match between Aston Villa and Southampton.

And in Salford there’s wind and rain forecast at Old Trafford where Manchester United take on Nottingham Forest later today. I can tell you I’m looking out of the window of the Salford office and it looks miserable, but nothing to suggest that one could be called off at the moment.

We’ll keep you up to date on any changes across the football league throughout the day.

Disappointing news today for those of you who were heading to Merseyside for the final derby match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park.

But of course, safety first.

Either way, it seems like a good chance to discuss your memories of the famous old ground. Big wins, losses or iconic moments.

Or maybe you even have a story about travelling to a game and it being called off?

Get in touch with any stories or thoughts in all the usual ways.

Martin Keown
Former England defender on Football Focus

I think today with Everton having won so well in midweek and the weather being a great leveller, obviously it was too bad in the end, but it would’ve been a great day for Everton to take Liverpool on.

Liverpool struggled a little bit against Newcastle and Newcastle were quite magnificent in midweek, so Everton would’ve wanted the game on.

Image source,Getty Images

No word as yet on when the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park could be rescheduled for.

A packed festive schedule doesn’t leave much in the way of time for this fixture to be rescheduled.

The next free midweek for Liverpool is actually the week beginning December 30. It would, in theory, be possible to play the game on New Year’s Day with neither side in action in that midweek.

Other than that the game would have to be played in January as the schedule gets increasingly hectic.

If Liverpool can finish inside the top eight spots in the Champions League group phase, they would avoid the play-off round in Europe and have two fewer midweek games. The derby could also be put into one of those slots.

Image source,Getty Images

Two Championship fixtures – Cardiff v Watford and Plymouth v Oxford – have been postponed, along with several others across the football league.

League One

• Bristol Rovers v Bolton
• Crawley Town v Stevenage
• Blackpool v Rotherham

League Two

• Newport County v Carlisle
• Barrow v MK Dons
• Notts County v Colchester

Race meetings at Chepstow and Aintree have also been abandoned.

Sandown Park is set to hold a further inspection on Saturday morning to determine whether the Tingle Creek Festival will go ahead.

We’ll keep you up to date on other cancellations throughout the day.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Wild and windy for the 6.45 am departure from Oxford then a quick u-turn just after Stafford when news of Merseyside derby’s postponement came through.

It was wild, wet and windy on the M6 and sounded even worse on Merseyside so very much the correct call to postpone Everton v Liverpool, even though the build-up to what was scheduled to be the last Merseyside derby in the league at Goodison Park had heightened expectation even more than usual.

Once racing at Aintree, a short distance away from Goodison Park, was called off, there was only ever going to be one decision on the derby.

Safety of spectators and all those around paramount – on days like this football can wait for another day.