Everton Football Club are an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool. Having competed in the top division for a record 107 seasons, they have played more top-flight league games than any other English team and have won the League Championship nine times—the fourth highest of any team.[1] The club competes in the Premier League, being ever-present since the league was founded in 1992.
Formed in 1878, Everton were founder members of The Football League in 1888 and won their first league championship three years later. Following five league titles and two FA Cups, Everton experienced a lull in the post-war period until a revival in the 1960s, winning two league championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented their most recent period of success, with two league victories, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup—their first continental trophy. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
The club have a large fanbase and regularly attracts high attendances, averaging over 36,000, 90% of stadium capacity.[2] Everton have a notable rivalry with neighbours Liverpool F.C. and matches between the two sides are known as the Merseyside Derby. Liverpool F.C. were formed in 1892 by a breakaway group consisting of Everton's former president and several players. The dispute also resulted in Everton leaving Anfield, their original home ground. They have been based at their current home ground, Goodison Park, since 1892. Plans to move to a new 55,000 seater stadium in Kirkby on the Liverpool city border have been delayed due to a public inquiry.
The club's home colours have traditionally been blue and white, and numerous well-known footballers have donned the Everton shirt: the most notable is Dixie Dean, who scored a record 60 league goals in the 1927–28 season. Since 2000, the club has annually recognised successful former players, nominating an "Everton Giant" at the beginning of each season.
Everton were founded as St. Domingo's in 1878 [3] so that people from the parish of St. Domingo's Methodist Church could play a sport in non-summer months - cricket was played in summer. A year later, the club was renamed Everton F.C. after the surrounding area, as people outside the parish wished to participate.[4]
The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888-1889, winning their first League Championship title in 1890–91.
Everton won the FA Cup in 1905–06 and the League title again in 1914–15, However it was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean who, in 1927–28, set the record for league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day. Dean helped Everton to achieve their third league title.[5]
Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. However, the club was promoted at the first attempt scoring a record number of goals in the second division. On return to the top flight in 1931–32, Everton wasted no time in reaffirming their status and won a fourth League title at the first opportunity. Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1932–33 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League title.
The advent of World War II saw the suspension of League football, and when official competition resumed in 1946 the Everton team had been split-up and paled in comparison to the pre-war club. Everton were relegated again in 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, when finishing as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight presence ever since.[6]
Everton's second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 1962–63, his second season in charge, Everton won the League title and in 1966 followed with a 3–2 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the First Division, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions - seasons 1961-62 to 1966-67.
However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Catterick retired but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s. Though the club mounted title challenges and finished third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season, manager Gordon Lee resigned in 1981, after Everton slid down the table and fell further behind local rivals Liverpool.[7]
Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1983–84 and two league titles in 1984–85 and 1986–87. They were also runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in both league and cup competitions in 1985–86 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 1988–89 FA Cup final. Everton won their first and only European trophy in 1984–85, the European Cup Winners' Cup.[8] After first beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 3–1 in the semi-finals, despite trailing at half time (in a match voted the greatest in Goodison Park history) and recorded the same scoreline over Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final.[9] Having also won the league title that season, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.[8]
After the Heysel Stadium disaster and the subsequent ban of all English clubs from continental football, Everton lost the chance to compete for more European trophies. A large proportion of the title-winning side was broken up following the ban. Kendall himself moved to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 title triumph and was succeeded by assistant Colin Harvey.
Everton were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but struggled to find the right manager. Howard Kendall had returned in 1990 but could not repeat his previous success, while his successor, Mike Walker, was statistically the least successful Everton manager to date. When former Everton player Joe Royle took over in 1994 the club's form started to improve; his first game in charge was a 2–0 victory over derby rivals Liverpool. Royle dragged Everton clear of relegation, and also led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Manchester United 1–0 in the final.
The cup triumph was also Everton's passport to the Cup Winners' Cup—their first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Joe Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.[8]
The following season, 1996–97, was not as successful and the club finished in fifteenth place. Royle quit in March. Club captain, Dave Watson, was given the manager's job temporarily and he helped the club to Premiership survival. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership; only avoiding relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998 but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table.[8]
The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 with Everton in real danger of relegation.[10] The current manager, David Moyes, was his replacement and delivered Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place.[11][12] After that harrowing season, Everton finished seventh, seventeenth, fourth (their highest ever Premiership finish) and eleventh. It was under his management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team, before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £27 million.[13]
Moyes has broken the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005,[14] Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006,[15] Yakubu Aiyegbeni for £11.25 million in summer 2007,[16] and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008.[17]
2006–07 saw Everton finish sixth in the league and attain UEFA Cup qualification.[18] In 2007, Everton completed the takeover of the Toxteth Tigers basketball team, with the rebranding of Liverpool's first ever top-flight basketball franchise, the Everton Tigers.[19] 2007-08 saw Everton once again gain European football with a fifth place league finish, although they were eliminated from the 2008-09 UEFA Cup prior to the group stages by Standard Liege. The domestic 2008–09 season saw Everton reach the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1995.
Everton's most widely recognised nickname is "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen", which came about after Everton had moved to Goodison. There are several explanations for how this name came to be adopted, the most well known being that there was a business near the ground called Mother Noblett's Toffee Shop which advertised and sold sweets, including the Everton Mint, on match days. This also led to the Toffee Lady tradition in which a girl walks around the perimeter of the pitch before the start of a game tossing free Everton Mints into the crowd. Another possible reason is that there was a house called Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place.[28] The word "toffee" was also slang referring to Irishmen, of which there was a large population in the city at the turn of the century and who tended to support Everton rather than city rivals Liverpool.[citation needed]
Everton have had many other nicknames over the years. When the black kit was worn Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade.[29] Since going blue in 1901, Everton have been given the simple nickname "The Blues". Everton's attractive style of play led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928, which is thought to have inspired the nickname "The School of Science".[30] While the battling 1995 FA Cup winning side were known as "The Dogs of War". When David Moyes arrived as manager he proclaimed Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname.[31]
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park, which is the site for the new Liverpool F.C. stadium, with the first official match taking place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home before they moved to Anfield, which was Everton's home until 1892.[32] At this time, a dispute of how the club was to be owned and run emerged with Anfield's owner and Everton's chairman, John Houlding. A dispute between Houlding and the club's committee over how the club should be run, led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd".[citation needed] In response, Everton left Anfield. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association.[citation needed] Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C..
Ever since those events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football. This was illustrated by a chain of red and blue scarves that were linked between the gates of both grounds across Stanley Park as a tribute to the Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster.[33]
Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English ground to have undersoil heating, the first to have two tiers on all sides.
The church grounds of St Luke the Evangelist are adjacent to the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street Stand.[34]
On matchdays players walk out to the theme tune to Z-Cars, called Johnny Todd, a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson which tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea.[35]
Everton's reserves play at Halton Stadium in Widnes.[36]
There have been indications since 1996 that Everton will move to a new stadium. The original plan was for a new 60,000-seat stadium to be built, but in 2000, a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, with the city council rejecting Everton FC in 2003.[37]
Late in 2004, driven by Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club was in talks with Liverpool FC regarding sharing that club's proposed new stadium at Stanley Park. Negotiations broke down over ownership of the new facility – Liverpool wanted to retain sole ownership of Stanley Park while Everton sought an even share.[38] On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that groundsharing was not a possibility, and they continue to plan for their own stadium.[39]
On 16 June 2006, it was announced that Everton had entered into talks with Knowsley Council and Tesco over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium in Kirkby.[40] The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on whether or not to move to Kirkby. This ballot ended up in a yes vote (59.27% in favour) so negotiations will continue.[41] However, an inquiry into the move to the Kirkby stadium was filed 6 August 2008, possibly delaying the construction by a year or more.[42]
The Football Association's bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup includes a bid from the city of Liverpool to host some games.[43] Everton have stated that without a new stadium the club would not be able to host such matches.[43]
Formed in 1878, Everton were founder members of The Football League in 1888 and won their first league championship three years later. Following five league titles and two FA Cups, Everton experienced a lull in the post-war period until a revival in the 1960s, winning two league championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented their most recent period of success, with two league victories, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup—their first continental trophy. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
The club have a large fanbase and regularly attracts high attendances, averaging over 36,000, 90% of stadium capacity.[2] Everton have a notable rivalry with neighbours Liverpool F.C. and matches between the two sides are known as the Merseyside Derby. Liverpool F.C. were formed in 1892 by a breakaway group consisting of Everton's former president and several players. The dispute also resulted in Everton leaving Anfield, their original home ground. They have been based at their current home ground, Goodison Park, since 1892. Plans to move to a new 55,000 seater stadium in Kirkby on the Liverpool city border have been delayed due to a public inquiry.
The club's home colours have traditionally been blue and white, and numerous well-known footballers have donned the Everton shirt: the most notable is Dixie Dean, who scored a record 60 league goals in the 1927–28 season. Since 2000, the club has annually recognised successful former players, nominating an "Everton Giant" at the beginning of each season.
Everton were founded as St. Domingo's in 1878 [3] so that people from the parish of St. Domingo's Methodist Church could play a sport in non-summer months - cricket was played in summer. A year later, the club was renamed Everton F.C. after the surrounding area, as people outside the parish wished to participate.[4]
The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888-1889, winning their first League Championship title in 1890–91.
Everton won the FA Cup in 1905–06 and the League title again in 1914–15, However it was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean who, in 1927–28, set the record for league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day. Dean helped Everton to achieve their third league title.[5]
Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. However, the club was promoted at the first attempt scoring a record number of goals in the second division. On return to the top flight in 1931–32, Everton wasted no time in reaffirming their status and won a fourth League title at the first opportunity. Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1932–33 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League title.
The advent of World War II saw the suspension of League football, and when official competition resumed in 1946 the Everton team had been split-up and paled in comparison to the pre-war club. Everton were relegated again in 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, when finishing as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight presence ever since.[6]
Everton's second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 1962–63, his second season in charge, Everton won the League title and in 1966 followed with a 3–2 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the First Division, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions - seasons 1961-62 to 1966-67.
However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Catterick retired but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s. Though the club mounted title challenges and finished third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season, manager Gordon Lee resigned in 1981, after Everton slid down the table and fell further behind local rivals Liverpool.[7]
Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1983–84 and two league titles in 1984–85 and 1986–87. They were also runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in both league and cup competitions in 1985–86 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 1988–89 FA Cup final. Everton won their first and only European trophy in 1984–85, the European Cup Winners' Cup.[8] After first beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 3–1 in the semi-finals, despite trailing at half time (in a match voted the greatest in Goodison Park history) and recorded the same scoreline over Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final.[9] Having also won the league title that season, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.[8]
After the Heysel Stadium disaster and the subsequent ban of all English clubs from continental football, Everton lost the chance to compete for more European trophies. A large proportion of the title-winning side was broken up following the ban. Kendall himself moved to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 title triumph and was succeeded by assistant Colin Harvey.
Everton were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but struggled to find the right manager. Howard Kendall had returned in 1990 but could not repeat his previous success, while his successor, Mike Walker, was statistically the least successful Everton manager to date. When former Everton player Joe Royle took over in 1994 the club's form started to improve; his first game in charge was a 2–0 victory over derby rivals Liverpool. Royle dragged Everton clear of relegation, and also led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Manchester United 1–0 in the final.
The cup triumph was also Everton's passport to the Cup Winners' Cup—their first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Joe Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.[8]
The following season, 1996–97, was not as successful and the club finished in fifteenth place. Royle quit in March. Club captain, Dave Watson, was given the manager's job temporarily and he helped the club to Premiership survival. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership; only avoiding relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998 but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table.[8]
The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 with Everton in real danger of relegation.[10] The current manager, David Moyes, was his replacement and delivered Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place.[11][12] After that harrowing season, Everton finished seventh, seventeenth, fourth (their highest ever Premiership finish) and eleventh. It was under his management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team, before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £27 million.[13]
Moyes has broken the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005,[14] Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006,[15] Yakubu Aiyegbeni for £11.25 million in summer 2007,[16] and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008.[17]
2006–07 saw Everton finish sixth in the league and attain UEFA Cup qualification.[18] In 2007, Everton completed the takeover of the Toxteth Tigers basketball team, with the rebranding of Liverpool's first ever top-flight basketball franchise, the Everton Tigers.[19] 2007-08 saw Everton once again gain European football with a fifth place league finish, although they were eliminated from the 2008-09 UEFA Cup prior to the group stages by Standard Liege. The domestic 2008–09 season saw Everton reach the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1995.
Everton's most widely recognised nickname is "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen", which came about after Everton had moved to Goodison. There are several explanations for how this name came to be adopted, the most well known being that there was a business near the ground called Mother Noblett's Toffee Shop which advertised and sold sweets, including the Everton Mint, on match days. This also led to the Toffee Lady tradition in which a girl walks around the perimeter of the pitch before the start of a game tossing free Everton Mints into the crowd. Another possible reason is that there was a house called Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place.[28] The word "toffee" was also slang referring to Irishmen, of which there was a large population in the city at the turn of the century and who tended to support Everton rather than city rivals Liverpool.[citation needed]
Everton have had many other nicknames over the years. When the black kit was worn Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade.[29] Since going blue in 1901, Everton have been given the simple nickname "The Blues". Everton's attractive style of play led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928, which is thought to have inspired the nickname "The School of Science".[30] While the battling 1995 FA Cup winning side were known as "The Dogs of War". When David Moyes arrived as manager he proclaimed Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname.[31]
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park, which is the site for the new Liverpool F.C. stadium, with the first official match taking place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home before they moved to Anfield, which was Everton's home until 1892.[32] At this time, a dispute of how the club was to be owned and run emerged with Anfield's owner and Everton's chairman, John Houlding. A dispute between Houlding and the club's committee over how the club should be run, led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd".[citation needed] In response, Everton left Anfield. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association.[citation needed] Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C..
Ever since those events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football. This was illustrated by a chain of red and blue scarves that were linked between the gates of both grounds across Stanley Park as a tribute to the Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster.[33]
Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English ground to have undersoil heating, the first to have two tiers on all sides.
The church grounds of St Luke the Evangelist are adjacent to the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street Stand.[34]
On matchdays players walk out to the theme tune to Z-Cars, called Johnny Todd, a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson which tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea.[35]
Everton's reserves play at Halton Stadium in Widnes.[36]
There have been indications since 1996 that Everton will move to a new stadium. The original plan was for a new 60,000-seat stadium to be built, but in 2000, a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, with the city council rejecting Everton FC in 2003.[37]
Late in 2004, driven by Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club was in talks with Liverpool FC regarding sharing that club's proposed new stadium at Stanley Park. Negotiations broke down over ownership of the new facility – Liverpool wanted to retain sole ownership of Stanley Park while Everton sought an even share.[38] On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that groundsharing was not a possibility, and they continue to plan for their own stadium.[39]
On 16 June 2006, it was announced that Everton had entered into talks with Knowsley Council and Tesco over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium in Kirkby.[40] The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on whether or not to move to Kirkby. This ballot ended up in a yes vote (59.27% in favour) so negotiations will continue.[41] However, an inquiry into the move to the Kirkby stadium was filed 6 August 2008, possibly delaying the construction by a year or more.[42]
The Football Association's bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup includes a bid from the city of Liverpool to host some games.[43] Everton have stated that without a new stadium the club would not be able to host such matches.[43]
