Derek Mountfield headed in an extra-time winner for Everton in their FA Cup semi-final against Luton Town on April 13, 1985

The sight of Derek Mountfield running off smiling with both his arms aloft having scored the winner for Everton in the FA Cup semi-final is the iconic image of his time at the club. But when recalling the magic moment the Blues legend reckons he had another more-important goal.

Despite playing at centre-half, lifelong Evertonian Mountfield netted 14 goals in all competitions in 1984/85, the club’s most-successful season. This most-memorable one came 39 years ago today on April 13, 1985, five minutes from the end of extra-time against Luton Town at Villa Park.

Mountfield acknowledges the header against the Hatters is the most-spoken about of his efforts but maintains it would have never had come about had it not been for another late goal he netted in the previous round of the FA Cup at home to Ipswich Town. Everton’s 2-2 draw at Goodison Park that day is best-remembered for Kevin Sheedy putting the ball in the back of the net both times with a twice-taken free-kick but Mountfield kept Howard Kendall’s side in the competition with a late equaliser which earned them a replay at Portman Road that they won 1-0.

Speaking in the special Royal Blue podcast series Goodison Park: My Home, Mountfield told the ECHO: “The Luton goal doesn’t happen unless I score the late equaliser against Ipswich in the round before when for some strange reason, Pat Van Den Hauwe is playing right-back at the time when he should have been left-back. He flicks the ball over his head, volleys it across and I get the touch on it in the 87th minute when we were 2-1 down.

“Everyone says: ‘What’s your best goal?’ I say: ‘What’s my best or my most-important?’

“That’s my most-important goal because without that goal, we don’t get the chance of the semi-final and to be honest in the semi-final, we were poor. We’d just come back from Munich and a great nil-nil draw on the Wednesday and we never got started.

“Luton were a different class against us, they were brilliant, but we stayed in the game. Neville (Southall) made some tremendous saves and as the game went on and on, I got the usual nod from Howard (Kendall): ‘Up you go lad.’

“He knew that an extra body up front could make a difference. Kevin (Sheedy) plays a long free-kick and I get a little nudge in the back – it was a nudge from Mick Hartford, but I made the most of it, and we got a free-kick.

“Sheeds, I don’t know if he mishit it or he meant it but it must have bounced about 20 times and we’re back in the game at 1-1. By this time I’ve got my nose across my face, my eye was black and my knee was throbbing.”

The Scouser, now 61, recalls how despite their struggles on the day, Everton’s players, who clinched the title with five games to spare, finishing 13 points clear of Liverpool – a record margin at the time – believed they would triumph once the game went into an additional 30 minutes. Mountfield said: “Extra-time starts and we knew we’d won the game, we knew we were stronger than them – mentally and physically. At half-time of extra time I remember they were making a substitution and they took Mick Hartford off.

“I’ve never been so pleased in my life to see a centre-forward go off because I was battered. Then we got another free-kick late on and again it’s down to the delivery, it’s Kevin Sheedy again – left foot, the right area – I head the ball and it’s in the back of the net.

“Ninety-five percent of the ground erupts and Luton’s fans are smashing their straw boaters on the floor because they’re gutted. I just set off and people say: ‘Why did you run like that?

“I tell them: ‘What would you do?’ You’ve just scored a goal to take your team to Wembley, you don’t stand there and go: ‘Wow!’

“I just set off. Andy Gray caught me and nearly throttled me. We were through to Wembley for the second year in succession.

“People talk to me about that goal like it was my best goal ever but it wasn’t the best goal. I’ve scored better goals in my career but it is the crucial goal in that season for us. The one before in the Ipswich game is the most-important for the club in my eyes.”