Back in 1995 we were up against one of the great Manchester United teams; even without the suspended Eric Cantona the team list rolled off the tongue of any football fan of that generation, starting with Schmeichel through Bruce, Pallister, Ince, Keane, Giggs, Scholes and Hughes.
The previous season United had done the double, a feat they were destined to repeat in 1996, whereas we at Everton had managed to secure our Premier League status for another year only 10 days earlier with a narrow victory against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, thereby completing a remarkable transformation that had begun on derby day the previous November.
Given the way that league table looked in the run-up to Wembley it was no surprise that the bookies favoured United so heavily, but this time around Everton have finished the campaign just two places behind Saturday’s opponents.
In addition they have spent the second half of the season in the top seven of the Premier League, the finished the season strongly and they beat top opposition en route to Wembley, so Moyes and his players should be contemplating the match with a fair degree of confidence.
Strange as it may seem and flying in the face of all I said earlier, the Everton team of ‘95 never once saw themselves as underdogs because we too had beaten good teams on the way to Wembley and, from the day Joe Royle walked into Goodison, our form had actually been that of a top six club as opposed to one in the bottom six.
So there are comparisons between then and now, but maybe not those being made simply because Everton won’t be favourites going into the game – not that it matters at all.
Whatever happens I just hope Everton do themselves justice on the day and I can predict with some certainty that the fans will play their part and do themselves proud as they have on so many occasions in recent years.
Good luck to everyone, particularly David Moyes. If Everton win on Saturday, his already soaring reputation will be further enhanced and there is not a Premier League manager more deserving of some silverware after the job he has done at Goodison Park over the past seven years.
