Source: Liverpool_Echo
How Everton and Liverpool battled through football’s original Ice Age
IF Blackpool's ice-bound pitch or Goodison frozen pipes meant you were sat at home on Boxing Day, twiddling your thumbs and forced to watch West Ham win at Fulham, just take time out to think about what your dad or granddad went through. This winter has been the most challenging in modern memory.[LNB]But 48 years ago things were worse. Much, much worse.[LNB]Known as the Big Freeze, the winter of 1962/63 saw the country covered in snow on Boxing Day with no thaw in sight until March.[LNB]Between December 22nd 1962 and February 12th 1963 neither Everton nor Liverpool played a single league match - the only action of any kind played by either side being a couple of FA Cup ties.[LNB] And they were lucky.[LNB]While Liverpool won at Wrexham in round three and Everton overcame Barnsley, the third round of the competition actually took 66 days to complete and involved a total of two hundred and sixty-one postponements.[LNB]The FA Cup final between Manchester United and Leicester City was eventually played on the 25th of May, with the two-legged final of the League Cup between Birmingham City and Aston Villa being played either side of it.[LNB]The country was battered by blizzards, freezing fog and icy temperatures as low as -22C.[LNB]It was so cold that many lakes and rivers froze over. In January temperatures plunged so sharply that a one mile stretch of sea was covered in ice.[LNB]In February more snow came and winds reached Force Eight. A 36-hour blizzard caused heavy drifting snow in most parts of the country. Drifts reached 20 feet (6.1m).[LNB]Gale force winds howled with wind speeds reaching up to 81mph (130km/h). On the Isle of Man, wind speeds were recorded at 119mph (191km/h).
