11 PLAYERS WITH THE MOST APPEARANCES IN THE MERSEYSIDE DERBY

The Merseyside derby is contested between Liverpool and Everton and the rivalry between the two teams has earned its status as one of the fiercest in English football. Despite the fact the fixture has seen more red cards than any other in Premier League history, it is affectionately referred to as 'the friendly derby' due to the tradition of fans attending derbies together while supporting opposing sides.

The two teams first met all the way back in 1894, with the Toffees emerging as 3-0 winners. Since then, there have been 242 more games played between the two and the Reds have won the lion's share with 99.

Their meetings are always hugely competitive affairs and players can earn a place in their club's folklore with the winner in the derby. There are many players on either side who have left a notable impression on the derby's history and here are all 11 players who have appeared in 30 or more Merseyside derbies.

Jamie Carragher

30 appearances for Liverpool

Given his career-long devotion to Liverpool, a 17-year association that saw him make 737 appearances for the Reds, it's quite hard to believe that Jamie Carragher was a die-hard Evertonian in his youth. However, the centre-back admitted that it didn't take long for his allegiances to switch, claiming that as early as 1999, he was hoping the Toffees would get beat.

Carragher made his senior debut for Liverpool in early 1997 and appeared in his first Merseyside derby the following year, keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park in October 1998. He would go on to play in exactly 30 derbies during his career, helping his side win more than half of those matches, and his final derby ended in the same scoreline as his first, this time at Anfield in May 2013.

Dave Watson

30 appearances for Everton

While Jamie Carragher was a supporter of the blue half of Merseyside in his childhood, Everton legend Dave Watson actually began his footballing career with Liverpool. However, the centre-back didn't make a single senior appearance for the Reds before he was sold to Norwich City at the age of 19, and he later arrived at Goodison Park in 1986.

Watson spent the next 15 years of his career with the Toffees, making over 450 appearances for the club, which included 30 Merseyside derbies. The defender started in a 3-1 defeat for his side at Anfield in April 1987 to mark his first derby appearance and his final start against the Reds came 12 years later, when the 37-year-old captained the Toffees in a 3-2 loss.

Graeme Sharp

30 appearances for Everton

Graeme Sharp is the second-highest goalscorer in Everton's history, with 160 goals to his name in 426 appearances. In 11 years at Goodison Park, the Scotsman managed to appear in 30 Merseyside derbies and scored seven goals against the club's arch rivals, including a memorable winner at Anfield in October 1984 which won the BBC Goal of the Season award.

Having signed for the Toffees as a 19-year-old in 1980, Sharp had to wait two years to appear in his first derby, and scored the consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park. Everton played Liverpool five times in the striker's final season with the club, and he started all five matches, scoring twice in a thrilling 4-4 draw between the two clubs in an FA Cup replay in February 1991.

Ronnie Whelan

31 appearances for Liverpool

As a mainstay in Liverpool's hugely successful team in the 1980s, Ronnie Whelan is one of the most decorated players in the club's history, with 13 major honours to his name during a 15-year spell at Anfield. The Irishman also played in his fair share of Merseyside derbies and boasts the highest win percentage out of any other player on this list.

Whelan made the trip over from Dublin to Liverpool in 1979, but didn't play in his first Merseyside derby until November 1981, when he helped his side to a 3-1 victory. He captained Liverpool in the 1989 FA Cup final, in which they beat their Merseyside rivals 3-2, and played against Everton for the final time in March 1994, as goals from Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler took his win tally up to 18.

Ian Callaghan

31 appearances for Liverpool

Ian Callaghan's record of 857 appearances for Liverpool is higher than any other player, so it's no surprise that his name is also on the list for most Merseyside derby appearances, despite him starting his Anfield career when the Reds were still in the second tier of English football. Therefore, he had to wait two years to make his first derby appearance in 1962, which was the first league fixture between the two sides for over 11 years and ended in a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.

Over the next 16 years, Callaghan would play a key role in Liverpool becoming one of the most feared clubs in English and European football, and he would appear in a further 30 derbies, weighing in with two goals in the fixture. His final derby appearance came in October 1977 and ended in a goalless draw at Anfield.

Kevin Ratcliffe

32 appearances for Everton

Kevin Ratcliffe is one of the most distinguished names in Everton's history, having captained the side during their most successful period in the mid-1980s. The Welshman is also the club's second-highest appearance-maker in the Merseyside derby, having played against Liverpool 32 times during his 12-year stint at Goodison Park.

The defender's first derby appearance came in January 1981 as he helped the Toffees record a famous 2-1 win over Bob Paisley's side to knock them out of the FA Cup in the fourth round. Ratcliffe also notably scored one of only two goals in his Everton career with a long-range effort at Anfield in February 1986, which somehow squirmed under Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar.

Steven Gerrard

33 appearances for Liverpool

Steven Gerrard epitomised Liverpool Football Club throughout his 17 years representing his boyhood club. As an avid Red himself, he knew precisely what the Merseyside derby meant to supporters and gave his all every time he featured against the Toffees, weighing in with an impressive 10 goals in 33 derbies.

Gerrard made his first derby appearance as a substitute in Liverpool's 3-2 win over Everton in April 1999 and scored his first goal in the fixture in a 3-1 win at Goodison Park in September 2001. The midfielder memorably scored all three goals when the Reds thrashed the Blues 3-0 in March 2012, but he also holds the unwanted record of being one of only two players to receive multiple red cards in a Merseyside derby, alongside Phil Neville.

Alan Hansen

33 appearances for Liverpool

Alan Hansen was a key component of the hugely successful Liverpool team in the late 70s and the 80s and is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in English football history. He signed for the Reds from Partick Thistle in 1977 and made his first Merseyside derby appearance later that year, helping his new club keep a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Anfield.

The Scotsman played in 33 derbies throughout his Liverpool career and is most infamously remembered by Everton supporters for deliberately handling on the line to prevent Everton forward Adrian Heath from scoring in the 1984 League Cup final, which ended in a 0-0 draw and saw Liverpool triumph in the replay. Hansen's final derby appearance was in a 2-1 win for the Reds in February 1990.

Bruce Grobbelaar

34 derby appearances

For much of Alan Hansen's Liverpool career, he would have had the eccentric goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar behind him, barking out instructions. The Zimbabwean international arrived at Anfield in 1981 and was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Reds for over 10 years, helping them win numerous honours and appearing in 34 Merseyside derbies.

Grobbelaar made his first appearance against Everton in a 3-1 victory for Liverpool in November 1981. He suffered the indignity of conceding an own goal in the 1984 Charity Shield, which Everton won 1-0, and his final Merseyside derby appearance is remembered for an infamous coming together between himself and teammate Steve McManaman after the Toffees opened the scoring in a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.

Ian Rush

36 appearances for Liverpool

Not only did Ian Rush make more Merseyside derby appearances than any other Liverpool player, he also scored by far the most goals in the fixture's history, edging out second-placed Dixie Dean by six goals. The Welshman marked his first derby in October 1981 with the clinching goal in a 3-1 home victory for the Reds.

The following year, Rush netted four goals in Liverpool's 5-0 win at Goodison Park, becoming the first player since the Second World War to achieve such a feat in the fixture, and he also bagged a brace in both FA Cup finals between the two clubs in 1986 and 1989, which were each won by the Reds. His final Merseyside derby appearance came in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park in April 1996, and the forward ended his Liverpool career with 25 goals in 36 Merseyside derby appearances.

Neville Southall

41 derby appearances

Neville Southall is far and away the record appearance-maker in Merseyside derby history with 41 games played between the years of 1982 and 1997. After signing for Everton in 1981, he made his derby debut later the following year, but was unable to prevent the Reds firing three past him in a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park.

Southall, who also holds Everton's appearance record with 751, managed to keep 15 clean sheets against the Reds during his Everton career, which was no mean feat given the goalscoring prowess of his international teammate Ian Rush during that period. The shotstopper appeared in his 41st, and final, Merseyside derby in October 1997, keeping a clean sheet at the grand old age of 39 as the Toffees won 2-0.

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