Everton FC legend Neville Southall believes the Blues would have dominated in Europe if not for the ban on English clubs in the 1980s.
Everton were one of the teams affected from the five-year suspension which was handed out following the death of 39 people at the Heysel disaster in 1985.
The Blues would have qualified for the European Cup the following season after winning the league title, and would have played in European competition in four of the five years.
And the Welsh goalkeeper has also voiced his displeasure at the British government for their actions at the time.
In an interview with the Guardian, Southall said: “We would have gone on to dominate Europe for the next five or 10 years – we would have been a massive, massive, massive club now.
“We wouldn’t be in the situation we are now, we’re still trying to catch up to everybody else. That ruined a lot of things to a certain extent, we couldn’t attract the players, we lost our managers and our players.
“There was a feeling of everything being unjust – but when you look what happened, people losing their lives, there’s not much contest.”
Video: Neville Southall talks about his career (credit: The Guardian)
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The Blues lost Gary Lineker, Trevor Steven, Adrian Heath and Gary Stevens to clubs eligible to play in Europe, while others also exited Goodison Park.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had put pressure on the FA to withdraw English clubs from European competition, before Uefa confirmed the ban.
Liverpool FC served an extra year after violence broke out between their fans and those of Juventus.
Southall added: “It frustrates me that the government were a bunch of cowards because they could have stuck up for us.
“I’m absolutely sure that British fans weren’t the only troublemakers in Europe – so you have a whole mix of people but for some reason [the authorities said] ‘let’s get them out’.
“And I think sometimes it’s to do with British teams winning everything.”
Southall, now 56, signed for the Blues in 1981 and remained with them throughout the ban during his 17-year career on Merseyside.
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