The playing of an Everton anthem at Liverpool FC's Champions League qualifier against Toulouse, in tribute to murdered Everton fan Rhys Jones, was the culmination of an idea first mooted by Liverpool Echo journalist Tony Barrett.

The feature writer and Kop season ticket holder first floated the idea on his blog Red Shirt Diaries the day after 11-year-old Rhys was shot dead, and the response was such that he saw his "wild, ridiculous suggestion" acted out.

Tuesday night's tribute at Anfield saw Reds and Blues unite, as the theme from Z Cars – a tune that is as associated with Everton as You'll Never Walk Alone is with Liverpool - echoed around the crowded stadium as Rhys's family stood on the turf in blue Everton strips.

Tony, who was in his usual seat at Anfield on Tuesday night, said: "I was ridiculously nervous in the hours leading up to the game. There was this horrible fear that it only takes one person to spoil it, but it was a fitting tribute.

"The idea took off on a lot of the forums and a few people got in touch with Rick Parry, Liverpool's chief executive.

"There were a lot of people in between that made it happen."

Writing in his blog last week, Tony said the song most associated with your most bitter rivals was one he could never have contemplated being played at Anfield until now.

He said: "Everyone knows what happened to Rhys and I don't know a single person who was not moved by the way his parents conducted themselves in last night's press conference.

"As a blue, Z Cars was his song. The one that made him stand up to attention and his heart swell with pride when his hero Mikel Arteta and the rest of the Everton players ran out at Goodison.

"He may have been a bluenose but he was one of us - a lad from Liverpool who lived for his football.

"His family deserve our solidarity and I can think of no better way of showing it than putting our traditional football rivalries to one side if only for one night and playing the one song that meant the world to him."