EVERTON and Liverpool celebrated apart, but united in solidarity and support following an emotional couple of weeks on Merseyside.

Both clubs had been preparing for the end of the 2024/25 season for some time.

Liverpool had been all but confirmed as Premier League champions for weeks, eventually getting over the line with a convincing 5-1 win against a Tottenham side whose focus was the Europa League.

The anticipation had been building for the team to finally lift the Premier League trophy in front of fans, having missed out on such an experience the last time they won the league title in 2020 due to Covid restrictions. It is a moment that has been 35 years in the making, with the last title prior to these coming in 1990.

Meanwhile, Everton has been preparing all season for its Goodison Park goodbye.

The penultimate Premier League game at the stadium against Ipswich Town was chosen by supporters groups as an occasion for fan displays and send-offs.

This was the moment for choreography, where the hard work of the fans and the 1878s supporters group the week prior made for a fitting send-off.

It allowed for more relaxed revelry and celebration of Goodison Park in the final game against Southampton, allowing fans to take in the historic moment with family and friends.

Fans were encouraged to line the streets as the team bus made its way to the stadium one last time. In the end, said route could not be taken because so many turned out for what was a joyous, celebratory, and at times moving goodbye.

One of the standout moments was the playing of The La’s classic “There She Goes” before kickoff, with fans joining in around the stadium in what was a spontaneous and moving rendition.

The tune looks set to become an ode to Goodison Park and will likely be heard in Everton’s new stadium as a nod to the old stadium.

The stadium celebrations included a performance from Bill Ryder Jones, formerly of the Coral, and a solo violinist playing the Z Cars theme.

Though these Everton and Liverpool moments were very separate and in some ways isolated for each club, the presence of the other cannot be ignored for long.

Fans mix on public transport as one group makes their way to the match and the other goes about their daily business.

The theme from Z Cars will often emerge from an Everton fan’s mobile phone on a train or bus ahead of a Liverpool match, while the same can be said of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and other Liverpool anthems around the city on an Everton matchday.

Then there’s the close proximity of the two stadiums across Stanley Park; Everton FC is never far away from Liverpool FC, and vice versa.

Everton fans relabeled blue smoke bombs with red and sold them to Liverpool fans, ahead of the Tottenham game, while glimpses of red smoke could be seen during Everton’s celebrations before being quickly doused.

One of the many iconic images of the past couple of weeks shows a lone young Everton fan letting off blue smoke as the buses came past on Liverpool’s trophy parade through the city, while a Liverpool fan looks on in admiration at the cheek of it.

One bartender at Chavasse Park played the Everton anthem “Spirit of the Blues” once patrons had left to see the Liverpool parade approach the docks.

The La’s themselves combine Liverpool and Everton. Lead singer and guitarist Lee Mavers supports Everton and was once quoted as saying: “Supporting Everton is the most Scouse thing you can do.”

The La’s bass player and backing vocalist, John Power, who went on to form the band Cast, is a well-known Liverpool fan and sang a version of “The Fields of Anfield Road” released in 2009 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster.

Music and football are inseparable, and played a big part in the respective end-of-season events for both teams. On top of this, a music festival in Sefton Park increased the number of people in the city on the weekend of Liverpool’s trophy presentation.

The Premier League title parade itself took place on bank holiday Monday, beginning in the Allerton area of the city (just down the road from Penny Lane) and ending at Pier Head, not too far from Everton’s new stadium.

On one bus, DJ Calvin Harris had set up on the top deck at the invitation of Virgil van Dijk, which added to the party atmosphere.

Many fans followed the buses into town from their original vantage points along the route, down Queens Drive, through Tuebrook, past the streets of Kenny, and into the city centre.

Then, what was an emotional couple of weeks for football supporters in the city of Liverpool ended with a serious incident towards the end of the Liverpool trophy parade.

A car drove into crowds just off Pier Head on Water Street, close to where hundreds of thousands had gathered, injuring 79, two of whom — one adult and one child — were seriously injured.

It shook the city and beyond. Given the huge numbers in attendance, everyone was connected and everyone was affected. From Everton to Liverpool, football fans or not, it was a distressing time.

But people from across the city and the region as a whole soon mobilised, taking to social media to offer lifts home, temporary accommodation, travel advice, general support, and well-wishes.

There were attempts to ease the panic that had been caused by only snippets of information reaching those in attendance in the city centre, and those trying to contact family and friends.

The offers of help cut through misinformation about the incident on X (formerly Twitter), as social media became a useful resource.

The combination of such a tragic incident, which many in the city will have only heard faint details about, overcrowding, and transport issues, could have led to more panic than was witnessed, but the city pulled together.

As of Wednesday, seven people were still in the hospital in a stable condition, while a 53-year-old man, who was arrested at the scene, was issued with seven charges yesterday.

Weeks of celebration turned into a moment of crisis, but people banded together and are now trying to aid the recovery by recalling the positive memories of the occasion, of which there are plenty, blue and red.