Don Hutchison warns fans ahead of ’emotional’ Sky broadcast caused by Everton win v Chelsea
Former Everton midfielder Don Hutchison has warned fans of how emotional the Chelsea win got him in an interview set to air at the weekend (14-15 May).
It was a momentous occasion as fans turned the air blue around Goodison Park to welcome the sides to the ground ahead of the 1-0 win last week (1 May).
And the players matched it with a battling performance against the European champions in front of a highly-charged home crowd, as the blue half of Merseyside overwhelmed the visitors on the pitch and in the stands.
Hutchison was part of the great escape that saw Howard Kendall’s Toffees side escape relegation on the final day of the season in 1998 on goal difference, in the legendary manager’s third spell at the club, and what Hutchison saw against Chelsea brought back memories for the 50-year-old Scot.
The former Toffee wrote on his personal Twitter account on Monday (9 May, 3.58pm): “Just done an interview with Greg Whelan at sky ahead of the Everton game at the weekend.
“Warning tho I got a bit emotional talking about Howard.
“The scenes at the Chelsea game took me all the way back to 97/98.
“Enjoy Evertonians x (airs Sat or Sunday)”.
No surprise
The last couple of weeks have been a reminder for many of why they support the club, which may have been difficult to keep in focus at times during a dismal campaign.
With fans in open revolt at the end of the ill-dated Rafa Benitez reign, and then during the calamitous January manager search, the unity that has built as Frank Lampard’s side battle back from the brink seemed a distant prospect.
But now, having followed up the emotionally-charged win over Chelsea with another against Leicester (8 May) in the first away victory since September, it suddenly seems like it might be doing the job.
Some will rightly question where this sort of fight has been all season, or even since Lampard arrived at the end of January.
But that is a question for down the road, with the Premier League survival question the only one that matters right now.
Fans and players alike will hope to secure that by a margin greater than Hutchison’s team did, but if that’s what it takes to survive the three-way battle with Leeds and Burnley they would take it.
The Herculean efforts of Jordan Pickford in goal, the iconic image of Richarlison with billowing blue smoke canister in hand, and the memories of the fans powering the players on will live long in the memory if they pull it off.
In other Everton news, one talkSPORT pundit has been shocked by what he has seen from the club and has completely changed his opinion in the space of two weeks.
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