As the countdown begins to Goodison Park’s farewell game this Sunday, when Everton face Southampton, Mail Sport talks to some of the club’s former stars for their recollections of the Grand Old Lady. Here, FA Cup hero, league title winner, and former England international winger DEREK TEMPLE recalls his time in a blue shirt. 

Derek Temple may have scored Everton’s winning goal in the 1966 FA Cup final at Wembley and been part of the 1962-63 league title winning side, but the 86-year-old’s stand-out memory from a glittering career at Goodison Park is the day he scored twice in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Manchester United’s Busby Babes in September 1957.

‘They were a tremendous side,’ he says. ‘I remember walking in at half-time and one of my teammates Mick Meagan saying ”we should be losing six or seven here”. They were all over us. Duncan Edwards used to run past you with the ball, flicking his lips with his finger, making a buzzing sound, taking the Mickey. He was that good. Anyhow, we managed to stay in the game and I got two goals in the second half to clinch the draw.

‘A few months later, I had been called up to do my National Service in the army. On February 6, I was on leave from the barracks and was walking out of Exchange Station in Liverpool when I saw the newspaper billboards ”Munich Air Disaster”. I couldn’t believe it. Those players I’d played against months earlier, five of them died. Duncan fought, he fought for two weeks but… It was incredibly sad. They were a marvellous side and would have dominated English football for years.’

Still bright and sharp in his recollection, Temple rubbed shoulders with some of the game’s greats from the outset of his career. His Everton debut against Newcastle United in 1957 also featured Jackie Milburn in one of ‘Wor Jackie’s’ last appearances for the Magpies. However, it was no-nonsense Newcastle defender Jimmy Scoular and goalkeeper Stewart Mitchell who would make a lasting impression.

Derek Temple, who played for Everton between 1957 and 1967, recalled his Goodison Park memories

During his time as an Everton player Temple won both the league title and the FA Cup

Temple reflected on how Man United star Duncan Edwards ‘took the mickey’ out of opponents

‘Scoular was an uncompromising man, probably the toughest I faced. He knew it was my debut so he let me have it a few times and as I went for a cross, he’d shout at his own goalkeeper Mitchell: ”Next time you come out, get your bloody knees up!” Sure enough next time I went for a cross Mitchell came out and his knees hit me right in the solar plexus. Well, I’d never felt anything like it. All the oxygen left my lungs, I couldn’t get my breath and I thought, I’m in trouble here. Then Scoular leans over me and says ”You deserved that”. I didn’t forget it, that’s for sure.’

Temple would also go on to earn one England cap. Selected by Sir Alf Ramsey, who was beginning to tinker with formations, Temple set up the winning goal for Terry Paine as England beat West Germany 1-0 in Nurnberg, a year before their glorious World Cup success. Among his team-mates that day was a young Alan Ball, who had made his England debut a week before against Yugoslavia. The two would link up again at Everton as Ball joined for an English record £112,000 after winning the World Cup.

‘Bally was a very emotional player. He’d burst into tears sometimes if we lost a game. Very talented but he could get you in trouble. If we were cruising in a match, he’d sometimes take the ball to the corner flag then sit on the ball. As all the angry opposition players came tearing in, he’d pass the ball to you so you’d end up taking the brunt of their anger!’

Temple, a deserved recipient of the Dixie Dean Award during a ceremony at Goodison Park on Monday where manager David Moyes was present, has seen the grand old stadium transform over the years.

He joined the club just after Everton were promoted to the top flight in 1954. He had starred for Liverpool Schoolboys, scoring five goals, as they beat Southampton 8-1 over two legs of the English Schools FA Trophy final. The second leg had been at Anfield – 71 years ago this week.

Suitably impressed, Liverpool asked him to join them, they even offered more money. United tried too, but it was Everton who convinced him and teenage Temple joined the Goodison groundstaff.

‘I never had any affinity with any club growing up. I played at Goodison and Anfield as a schoolboy but I’d never been to a professional football match. My parents never had the money to spare for me to go.

‘There was no academy in those days so you joined the groundstaff. I used to cycle there, work on the ground, sweeping up, cleaning the toilets, and making the tea in a small room under the Bullens Road stand. I’d train Tuesday and Thursdays, usually under the Gwladys Street stand, and play on the Saturdays with the junior teams.

Temple says Alan Ball was ‘very emotional’ and would sometimes cry following a defeat0

Before becoming a player, Temple worked as part of the groundstaff at Everton

Temple will be in attendance on Sunday as Everton play their last ever game at Goodison Park

‘We used to train on a grass pitch behind the Bullens Road which is all concrete now and the Park End car park.

‘On the Goodison Road side where the main stand is, you went up a metal spiral staircase and on the first floor was a dining room and through another door, a billiards room. When Ian Buchan became head coach, he put a gym in the corner of Gwladys Street and Bullens Road. It was well-equipped with all the weights but it wasn’t for everyone. Wally ‘Nobby’ Fielding used to struggle lifting them and he’d say: ”This is taking years off my career..” And he was 36 then.’

Temple will be among a select number of former players invited onto the Goodison pitch on Sunday to mark the club’s move into a new era at Bramley Moore Dock on Liverpool’s waterfront. ‘It will be emotional,’ he says. ‘But the old place is looking a bit tired now and we all have to move with the times, eventually.’