February 21, 1988: An FA Cup 5th Round match is played at Goodison Park, home of Everton Football Club. It is a "Merseyside Derby," as Everton are playing Liverpool Football Club, whose home stadium, Anfield, is just one mile away, across Stanley Park.
This had previously been called a "friendly rivalry." But a very ugly moment happened in this game.
John Barnes was born in 1963 in Kingston, Jamaica. His father was an officer in the newly-formed Jamaican Army (independence had been gained the year before John was born), and in 1976, the British Commonwealth called Colonel Ken Barnes to London, where John finished his education and turned professional in soccer, which his father had played at the semi-pro level.
The midfielder helped Hertfordshire club Watford rise to 2nd place in the Football League in 1983, and to the FA Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Everton. He was soon snatched up by the bigger Merseyside club, Liverpool F.C. He helped them win the League in 1988 and 1990, the FA Cup in 1989 and 1992, and the League Cup in 1995. He also played for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and later managed the Jamaica national team to the 2008 Caribbean Cup.
He is famous for 2 things. At a point when Liverpool were embracing the rise of black players in the British Isles, Everton were not, and their fans were proud of the club's all-white status. That is no longer the case: Everton would have been relegated long ago if not for many fine black players, including New Jersey native goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Liverpool had won the League title in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986. Everton had won it in 1985 and 1987. Everton, as stated, had won the FA Cup in 1984. In 1986, for the 1st time, the Final was a Merseyside Derby, and Liverpool won it, giving them what remains their only League and Cup "Double."
In 1988, the teams were drawn together for the 5th Round of the FA Cup, at Goodison Park. Liverpool won, 1-0, as Ray Houghton scored in the 76th minute, on an assist from Barnes.
Liverpool had embraced racial diversity. So had North London teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, and Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion. Everton had not, and, when faced with opponents who had, resorted to racist chants, which I won't include here.
During this game, Everton fans threw bananas onto the pitch (the field), an overt suggestion that black people are apes. One landed near Barnes as he prepared for a throw-in. Noble in the face of darkness, Barnes backheeled it off the pitch, and a picture of it became one of the iconic photos of English football. He later said, "If I had collected all the bananas that were thrown on the pitch, I'd be able to open a corner shop."
Having won the game, Liverpool advanced to the FA Cup Final, losing to Wimbledon in one of the all-time FA Cup shocks.
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February 21, 1988 was a Sunday. This was also the day that televangelist Jimmy Swaggart publicly confessed to his sex scandal. I have a separate entry for that event.
All the other games in that round of the FA Cup were played the day before. Baseball and American-style football were out of season.
There were 5 games played in the NBA:
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls, 113-111 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 130-112, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-115 in overtime at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 117-112 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 117-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. This would prove to be a preview of the next two NBA Finals.
And there were 8 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-5 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena. Kevin Lowe scored the game-winner with 1:45 left in overtime.
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