EVERTON’S GREAT ESCAPE

THE final day of the 1993-94 Premier League season dawned with the unthinkable a distinct possibility – Everton were 90 minutes from relegation.

Victory for Mike Walker’s team at home against Wimbledon would keep them up, so long as Southampton, Ipswich and Sheffield United didn’t all win. A draw would have sent them down, unless Ipswich lost at Blackburn.

Everton were 2-0 down, until Graham Stuart pulled one back before half time, Barry Horne levelled with a 30-yard thunderbolt, and Stuart grabbed a winner that somehow slipped past a halfhearted attempt from keeper Hans Segers. Segers was later investigated, and subsequently cleared, of match-fixing.

Despite the unlikely escape, the Toffees started the following season without a win in 12 games and Walker was sacked.