Derek Mountfield: The Everton giant who made his Wolves mark at Molineux

The epic Littlewoods Cup tie between Aston Villa and Wolves in 1989, a fiercely partisan two-legged affair which formed two-thirds of only three meetings between the two across 19 years, saw Mountfield notch a crucial goal in the second leg to put Villa 3-1 ahead in the tie.

Steve Bull would later grab an equaliser on the night, whilst being knocked unconscious in a collision with Villa’s colossus defender Paul McGrath and keeper Nigel Spink.

‘Brilliant,’ enthused commentator Martin Tyler.  ‘Brave…and brilliant.”

Bull has never been able to recall anything about the goal, the game ended 1-1, and Wolves nobly exited the cup despite a positive showing against their Midlands rivals who were then occupying a division above.

But one fan for whom the night remains vividly etched in the memory bank is Bruce Harper.

Harper recently contacted Mountfield via ‘X’ to inform him of the role his Molineux moment played in being the catalyst to many years of matrimonial bliss.

‘I met my wife because of you,’ Harper told him.

‘After you scored and knocked us out of the cup, I went to a pub on the way home to commiserate and met my wife.

‘Best thing that happened to me – I owe you a debt of gratitude.’

“I told him ‘well done’ and wished him all the best,” Mountfield says with a chuckle.

“I think it’s really funny, one of those things that happens with fans and football.”

Mountfield not only represented Villa and Wolves, he pretty much rounded off his playing career with over a century of appearances at Walsall.

Not quite the full West Midlands set although, as the former defender explains, he can lay claim to it in one respect.

“I made my Everton debut at St Andrew’s against Birmingham, and scored my first goal against Albion at the Hawthorns,” he explains.

Mountfield loved his time in the Midlands. But, of course, Merseyside will always be top of the pile. And so it should be.

A lifelong Evertonian, who helped marshal the defence during the most successful time in the club’s long and illustrious history, just pulling on the Royal Blue shirt once would probably have been enough.

Let alone winning two league titles, an FA Cup and a Cup Winners Cup, during a mid-Eighties run under Howard Kendall that would probably have yielded more international honours without the ban imposed on English clubs following the tragedy at Heysel Stadium.

“People often ask me what was my proudest moment,” he reflects.

“And to be honest, it’s not winning the cups or the leagues, it was just signing for Everton.

“I’m an Evertonian, and so few people get the chance to sign for the club which they have supported all their life.

“When I went to sign the contract, it could have been a blank sheet of paper or said ‘Derek Mountfield owes Everton £2,000 every time he plays for them’, and I’d still have put pen to paper.

“I got the chance to live out all of my dreams, and the dreams of so many others as well.”

Mountfield can still recall the phonecall he received from Kendall telling him his performance in a testimonial which doubled up as a trial game had been sufficient to secure a permanent move from Tranmere, the club he had joined as an apprentice from school and for whom he made around 30 appearances in the first team.

He had spent a week charging down the stairs from his bedroom on the third storey of the family home in Wallasey every time the phone rang, hoping it would be the call.

“When it came, my Mum answered it, and she had no idea who Howard Kendall was,” he recalls.