Everton Football Club (/ˈɛvərtən/) is an English professional football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has competed in the top division for a record 116 seasons, missing the top division only four times (1930–31, 1951–52, 1952–53, and 1953–54) since The Football League was created in 1888. The club has won the League Championship nine times (fourth most), the FA Cup five times (ninth most), and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once.
Formed in 1878, Everton was a founding member of The Football League in 1888 and won its first League Championship two seasons later. Following four League Championship and two FA Cup wins, Everton experienced a lull in the immediate post World War II period, until a revival in the 1960s saw the club win two League Championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented its most recent period of sustained success, with two League Championships, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
The club's supporters are known as Evertonians. Everton has a rivalry with Liverpool, and the two sides contest the Merseyside derby. The club has been based at Goodison Park in Walton since 1892, after moving from Anfield following a disagreement over its rent. The club's home colours are royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks.
Everton were founded as St Domingo FC in 1878[2][3] so that members of the congregation of St Domingo Methodist New Connexion Chapel in Breckfield Road North, Everton could play sport year round – cricket was played in summer. The club's first game was a 1–0 victory over Everton Church Club.[4] The club was renamed Everton in November 1879 after the local area, as people outside the congregation wished to participate.[4][5]
The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888–89 and won their first League Championship title in the 1890–91 season. Everton won the FA Cup for the first time in 1906 and the League Championship again in 1914–15. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 interrupted the football programme while Everton were champions, which was something that would again occur in 1939
It was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean from Tranmere Rovers. In 1927–28, Dean set the record for top-flight league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, which is a record that still stands. He helped Everton win their third League Championship that season.[8] However, Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. The club quickly rebounded and was promoted at the first attempt, while 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 Championship at the first opportunity.[9][10] Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1933 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League Championship
The outbreak of the Second World War again 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 team. Everton were relegated for the second time in 1950–51 and did not earn promotion until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club has been a top-flight presence ever since.
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 Championship.[14] In 1966 the club won the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday.[15] Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley.[16] Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the League Championship, finishing nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United.[17] During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions – covering the seasons from 1961–62 to 1966–67.[18]
However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Harry Catterick retired, but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s despite finishing fourth in 1974–75 under manager Billy Bingham, third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season under manager Gordon Lee. Lee was sacked in 1981
Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and two League Championships in 1984–85 and 1986–87. In Europe, the club won its first, and so far only, European trophy by securing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985.[20] The European success came after first beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard. Then, 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.[21] Having won both the League and Cup Winners' Cup in 1985, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.[20] The following season, 1985–86, Everton were runners-up to neighbours Liverpool in both the League and the FA Cup, but did recapture the League Championship in 1986–87.
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. Harvey took Everton to the 1989 FA Cup Final, but lost 3–2 after extra time to Liverpool.
Everton were founding 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. 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 led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history by 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 Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.[20] A fifteenth-place finish the following season saw Royle resign towards the end of the campaign, and he was temporarily replaced by club captain Dave Watson.
Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership. The club only avoided 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.[20] The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith, and he was sacked in March 2002 after an FA Cup exit at Middlesbrough and with Everton in real danger of relegation.[22] His replacement, David Moyes, guided Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place.[23][24]
In 2002–03 Everton finished seventh, which was their highest finish since 1996. It was under Moyes' management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £28 million in the summer of 2004.[25] A fourth-place finish in 2004–05 ensured that Everton qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The team failed to make it through to the Champions League group stage and were then eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Everton qualified for the 2007–08[26] and 2008–09 UEFA Cup competitions, and they were runners-up in the 2009 FA Cup Final. During this period, Moyes broke the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions: signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005,[27] Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006,[27] Yakubu for £11.25 million in summer 2007,[28] and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008.[29]
At the end of the 2012–13 season, Moyes left his position at Everton to take over at Manchester United, bringing in staff from Everton to join him in July (assistant manager Steve Round, goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and coach Jimmy Lumsden)[30], with Everton players Phil Neville and Marouane Fellaini also leaving for United, the former joining the coaching staff. Moyes was replaced by Roberto Martínez,[31] who led Everton to 5th place in the Premier League in his first season while amassing the club's best points tally in 27 years with 72.[32] The following season, Martínez led Everton to the last 16 of the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by Dynamo Kyiv,[33] whilst domestically finishing 11th in the Premier League. Everton reached the semi-finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2015–16, but were defeated in both. After a poor run of form in the Premier League, Martínez was sacked following the penultimate game of the season, with Everton lying in 12th place.[34]
Martínez was replaced in the summer of 2016 by Ronald Koeman, who left Southampton to sign a 3-year contract with Everton.[35] In his first season at the club he guided them back into the group stages of the Europa League, entering the 3rd qualifying round after finishing 7th. They reached the group stage, after wins over Ružomberok and FC Haidjuk Split, but did not manage to progress further, finishing third behind Atalanta and Lyon. A poor start to the following season left Everton in the relegation zone after nine games, and Koeman was sacked on 23 October following a 5–2 home defeat to Arsenal.[36] After a five-week period with David Unsworth acting as caretaker manager, Sam Allardyce was appointed as Everton manager in November 2017,[37] but he resigned at the end of the season amid fan discontent at his style of play.[38] Marco Silva was named Everton manager in May 2018.[39] On 8 November 2018, Everton was banned from signing academy football players from their youth clubs for 2 years.[40]
Silva led Everton to finish 8th in his first season in charge, but after a poor start to the following season which left the team in the relegation zone on 14 points, Silva was sacked on 5 December 2019.[41] His last league match was 5—2 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. Former player and the first-team coach Duncan Ferguson replaced him, serving as a caretaker manager during a 3—1 win over Chelsea and a 1—1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford. [42]
Colours
Everton's traditional home colours are royal blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. However, during the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in white and then blue and white stripes, but as new players arriving at the club wore their old team's shirts during matches, confusion soon ensued. It was decided that the shirts would be dyed black, both to save on expenses and to instill a more professional look. However, the kit appeared morbid, so a scarlet sash was added.[43] When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, the colours were salmon pink and dark blue striped shirts with dark blue shorts. The club later switched to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. Royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 1901–02 season.[43] The club played in sky blue in 1906; however, the fans protested, and the colour reverted to royal blue. Occasionally, Everton have played in lighter shades than royal blue (such as in 1930–31 and 1997–98).[44] The home kit today is royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks. The club may also wear all blue to avoid any colour clashes. The home goalkeeper attire for the 2014–15 season was all yellow.
Everton's traditional away colours were white shirts with black shorts, but from 1968 amber shirts and royal blue shorts became common. Various editions appeared throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Recently, black, white, grey and yellow away shirts have been used. The away shirt for the 2011–12 season was reverted to an amber shirt with navy blue shorts.[45] The current away kit is a black shirt with a pink trim, while their third kit is a white shirt with a blue design on the front in the shape of Prince Ruperts Tower.
Crest
At the end of the 1937–38 season, Everton secretary Theo Kelly, who later became the club's first manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour be blue, and Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the necktie. He worked on it for four months until deciding on a reproduction of Everton Lock-Up, which stands in the heart of the Everton district.[46] The Lock-Up has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate mainly drunks and minor criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow. The Lock-Up was accompanied by two laurel wreaths on either side and, according to the College of Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the sign of winners. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", meaning "Nothing but the best is good enough".[46] The ties were first worn by Kelly and the Everton chairman, Mr. E. Green, on the first day of the 1938–39 season.[46]
The club rarely incorporated a badge of any description on its shirts. An interwoven "EFC" design was adopted between 1922 and 1930 before the club reverted to plain royal blue shirts until 1972 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1978 and has remained there ever since, while undergoing gradual change to become the version used today.
In May 2013, the club launched a new crest to improve the reproducibility of the design in print and broadcast media, particularly on a small scale.[47] Critics[who?] suggested that it was external pressure from sports manufacturer Nike, Inc. that evoked the redesign as the number of colours had been reduced and the radial effect was removed, which made the kit more cost efficient to reproduce
The redesign was poorly received by supporters, with a poll on an Everton fan site registering a 91% negative response to the crest.[48] A protest petition reached over 22,000 signatures before the club offered an apology and announced a new crest would be created for the 2014–15 season with an emphasis on fan consultation. Shortly afterwards, the Head of Marketing left the club. The latest crest was revealed by the club on 3 October 2013. After a consultation process with the supporters, three new crests were shortlisted. In the final vote, the new crest was chosen by almost 80% of the supporters that took part[49][50] and began being used in July 2014
Nickname
Everton's most widely recognised nickname "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 with the best known being that there was a business in Everton village, between Everton Brow and Brow Side, named Mother Noblett's, which was a toffee shop that sold sweets including the Everton Mint. It was also located opposite the lock up which Everton's club crest is based on. 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 symbolises the connection. Another possible reason is that there was a house named Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House in nearby Village Street, Everton, run by Ma Bushell. The toffee house was located near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place.[52]
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 regiment.[53] 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".[54] 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.[55]
Stadium
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park. The first official match took place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home. In 1884 Everton became tenants at Anfield, which was owned by John Orrell, a land owner who was a friend of Everton F.C. member John Houlding. Orrell lent Anfield to the club in exchange for a small rent. Houlding purchased the land from Orrell in 1885 and effectively became Everton's landlord by charging the club rent, which increased from £100 to £240 a year by 1888 – and was still rising until Everton left the ground in 1892.[56][57] The club regarded the increase in rent as unacceptable.[57] A further dispute between Houlding and the club's committee led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd". Everton left Anfield for a new ground, Goodison Park, where the club have played ever since. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association. Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C.[58]
Goodison Park, the first major football stadium to be built in England, was opened in 1892.[59] 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 under soil heating and 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 Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End.[60]
On match days, in a tradition going back to 1962, players walk out to the tune "Johnny Todd", played in the arrangement used when it was the theme song for Z-Cars.[61] It is a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson and tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea.[62] On two separate occasions in 1994, the club walked out to different songs. In August 1994, the club played 2 Unlimited's song "Get Ready For This". A month later, the club used a reworking of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Bad Moon Rising". Both songs were met with complete disapproval by Everton fans.[63]
Training facilities
From 1966 to 2007, Everton trained at Bellefield in the West Derby area of Liverpool.[64] They moved to the Finch Farm training complex in Halewood in 2007. The training ground houses both the Everton first team and the youth academy.
Proposed new stadia
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, but in 2000 a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This proposal was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, and the city council rejected the proposal in 2003.[65] Late in 2004, driven by the Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club entered talks with Liverpool F.C. about sharing a proposed stadium on Stanley Park. However, negotiations broke down as Everton failed to raise 50% of the costs.[66] On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that ground-sharing was not a possibility and proceeded to plan their own Stanley Park Stadium.[67]
Everton entered into talks with the Knowsley Council and Tesco in June 2006 over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium, expandable to over 60,000, in Kirkby.[68] The plan became known as The Kirkby Project. The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on the proposal with the results being in favour of it, 59% to 41%.[69] Opponents to the plan included other local councils concerned by the effect of a large Tesco store being built as part of the development and a group of fans demanding that Everton should remain within the city boundaries of Liverpool.[69] Following a public inquiry into the project,[70] the central government rejected the proposal.[71] Local and regional politicians attempted to put together an amended rescue plan with the Liverpool City Council calling a meeting with Everton F.C. The plan was to assess some suitable sites short listed within the city boundary.[72][73] However, the amended plan was also not successful.
The Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10 February 2011 featured a proposal to open the Bootle Branch line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project".[74] This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid transit Merseyrail line that would circle the city and ease transport access. In September 2014 the club, working with the Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Mutual Homes, outlined initial plans to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.[75] However, those plans were later scrapped in May 2016 with the prospect of two new sites being identified for the club.[76] At the Annual General Meeting in January 2017, the chairman, Bill Kenwright revealed that Bramley-Moore Dock was the preferred site for the new stadium, with a new railway station and a new road being funded by the City Council.[77] The choice of the Bramley Moore Dock site was endorsed in a public consultation exercise conducted in 2018.[78] Architect Dan Meis has been charged with designing a new stadium for Everton,[79] and the endeavour, called The People's Project, is now in its second stage of consultation.[80]
Supporters and rivalries
Further information: Everton F.C. supporters
Everton have a large fanbase, with the eighth highest average attendance in the Premier League in the 2008–09 season.[81] The majority of Everton's matchday support comes from the North West of England, primarily Merseyside, Cheshire, West Lancashire and parts of Western Greater Manchester along with many fans who travel from North Wales and Ireland. Within the city of Liverpool, support for Everton and city rivals Liverpool is not determined by geographical basis with supporters mixed across the city. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide[82] in places such as North America,[83] Singapore,[84] Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia,[85] Thailand, India and Australia.[86][87] The official supporters club is FOREVERTON,[88] and there are also several fanzines including When Skies are Grey and Speke from the Harbour, which are sold around Goodison Park on match days.
Everton regularly take large numbers away from home both domestically and in European fixtures. The club implements a loyalty points scheme offering the first opportunity to purchase away tickets to season ticket holders who have attended the most away matches. Everton often sell out the full allocation in away grounds, and tickets sell particularly well for North West England away matches. In October 2009, Everton took 7,000 travelling fans to Benfica,[89] which was their largest ever away crowd in Europe since the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.
Everton's biggest rivalry is with neighbours Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. The rivalry stems from an internal dispute between Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was then Everton's home ground. The dispute resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park and the subsequent formation of Liverpool F.C. in 1892. Following these 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.[90] The derby is usually a sellout fixture and has been known as the "friendly derby" because both sets of fans can often be seen side by side dressed in red and blue inside both Anfield and Goodison Park. Recently on the field, matches tend to be extremely stormy affairs; the derby has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premier League history
Formed in 1878, Everton was a founding member of The Football League in 1888 and won its first League Championship two seasons later. Following four League Championship and two FA Cup wins, Everton experienced a lull in the immediate post World War II period, until a revival in the 1960s saw the club win two League Championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented its most recent period of sustained success, with two League Championships, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
The club's supporters are known as Evertonians. Everton has a rivalry with Liverpool, and the two sides contest the Merseyside derby. The club has been based at Goodison Park in Walton since 1892, after moving from Anfield following a disagreement over its rent. The club's home colours are royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks.
Everton were founded as St Domingo FC in 1878[2][3] so that members of the congregation of St Domingo Methodist New Connexion Chapel in Breckfield Road North, Everton could play sport year round – cricket was played in summer. The club's first game was a 1–0 victory over Everton Church Club.[4] The club was renamed Everton in November 1879 after the local area, as people outside the congregation wished to participate.[4][5]
The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888–89 and won their first League Championship title in the 1890–91 season. Everton won the FA Cup for the first time in 1906 and the League Championship again in 1914–15. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 interrupted the football programme while Everton were champions, which was something that would again occur in 1939
It was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean from Tranmere Rovers. In 1927–28, Dean set the record for top-flight league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, which is a record that still stands. He helped Everton win their third League Championship that season.[8] However, Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. The club quickly rebounded and was promoted at the first attempt, while 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 Championship at the first opportunity.[9][10] Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1933 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League Championship
The outbreak of the Second World War again 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 team. Everton were relegated for the second time in 1950–51 and did not earn promotion until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club has been a top-flight presence ever since.
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 Championship.[14] In 1966 the club won the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday.[15] Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley.[16] Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the League Championship, finishing nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United.[17] During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions – covering the seasons from 1961–62 to 1966–67.[18]
However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Harry Catterick retired, but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s despite finishing fourth in 1974–75 under manager Billy Bingham, third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season under manager Gordon Lee. Lee was sacked in 1981
Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and two League Championships in 1984–85 and 1986–87. In Europe, the club won its first, and so far only, European trophy by securing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985.[20] The European success came after first beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard. Then, 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.[21] Having won both the League and Cup Winners' Cup in 1985, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.[20] The following season, 1985–86, Everton were runners-up to neighbours Liverpool in both the League and the FA Cup, but did recapture the League Championship in 1986–87.
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. Harvey took Everton to the 1989 FA Cup Final, but lost 3–2 after extra time to Liverpool.
Everton were founding 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. 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 led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history by 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 Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.[20] A fifteenth-place finish the following season saw Royle resign towards the end of the campaign, and he was temporarily replaced by club captain Dave Watson.
Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership. The club only avoided 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.[20] The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith, and he was sacked in March 2002 after an FA Cup exit at Middlesbrough and with Everton in real danger of relegation.[22] His replacement, David Moyes, guided Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place.[23][24]
In 2002–03 Everton finished seventh, which was their highest finish since 1996. It was under Moyes' management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £28 million in the summer of 2004.[25] A fourth-place finish in 2004–05 ensured that Everton qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The team failed to make it through to the Champions League group stage and were then eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Everton qualified for the 2007–08[26] and 2008–09 UEFA Cup competitions, and they were runners-up in the 2009 FA Cup Final. During this period, Moyes broke the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions: signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005,[27] Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006,[27] Yakubu for £11.25 million in summer 2007,[28] and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008.[29]
At the end of the 2012–13 season, Moyes left his position at Everton to take over at Manchester United, bringing in staff from Everton to join him in July (assistant manager Steve Round, goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and coach Jimmy Lumsden)[30], with Everton players Phil Neville and Marouane Fellaini also leaving for United, the former joining the coaching staff. Moyes was replaced by Roberto Martínez,[31] who led Everton to 5th place in the Premier League in his first season while amassing the club's best points tally in 27 years with 72.[32] The following season, Martínez led Everton to the last 16 of the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by Dynamo Kyiv,[33] whilst domestically finishing 11th in the Premier League. Everton reached the semi-finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2015–16, but were defeated in both. After a poor run of form in the Premier League, Martínez was sacked following the penultimate game of the season, with Everton lying in 12th place.[34]
Martínez was replaced in the summer of 2016 by Ronald Koeman, who left Southampton to sign a 3-year contract with Everton.[35] In his first season at the club he guided them back into the group stages of the Europa League, entering the 3rd qualifying round after finishing 7th. They reached the group stage, after wins over Ružomberok and FC Haidjuk Split, but did not manage to progress further, finishing third behind Atalanta and Lyon. A poor start to the following season left Everton in the relegation zone after nine games, and Koeman was sacked on 23 October following a 5–2 home defeat to Arsenal.[36] After a five-week period with David Unsworth acting as caretaker manager, Sam Allardyce was appointed as Everton manager in November 2017,[37] but he resigned at the end of the season amid fan discontent at his style of play.[38] Marco Silva was named Everton manager in May 2018.[39] On 8 November 2018, Everton was banned from signing academy football players from their youth clubs for 2 years.[40]
Silva led Everton to finish 8th in his first season in charge, but after a poor start to the following season which left the team in the relegation zone on 14 points, Silva was sacked on 5 December 2019.[41] His last league match was 5—2 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. Former player and the first-team coach Duncan Ferguson replaced him, serving as a caretaker manager during a 3—1 win over Chelsea and a 1—1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford. [42]
Colours
Everton's traditional home colours are royal blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. However, during the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in white and then blue and white stripes, but as new players arriving at the club wore their old team's shirts during matches, confusion soon ensued. It was decided that the shirts would be dyed black, both to save on expenses and to instill a more professional look. However, the kit appeared morbid, so a scarlet sash was added.[43] When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, the colours were salmon pink and dark blue striped shirts with dark blue shorts. The club later switched to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. Royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 1901–02 season.[43] The club played in sky blue in 1906; however, the fans protested, and the colour reverted to royal blue. Occasionally, Everton have played in lighter shades than royal blue (such as in 1930–31 and 1997–98).[44] The home kit today is royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks. The club may also wear all blue to avoid any colour clashes. The home goalkeeper attire for the 2014–15 season was all yellow.
Everton's traditional away colours were white shirts with black shorts, but from 1968 amber shirts and royal blue shorts became common. Various editions appeared throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Recently, black, white, grey and yellow away shirts have been used. The away shirt for the 2011–12 season was reverted to an amber shirt with navy blue shorts.[45] The current away kit is a black shirt with a pink trim, while their third kit is a white shirt with a blue design on the front in the shape of Prince Ruperts Tower.
Crest
At the end of the 1937–38 season, Everton secretary Theo Kelly, who later became the club's first manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour be blue, and Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the necktie. He worked on it for four months until deciding on a reproduction of Everton Lock-Up, which stands in the heart of the Everton district.[46] The Lock-Up has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate mainly drunks and minor criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow. The Lock-Up was accompanied by two laurel wreaths on either side and, according to the College of Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the sign of winners. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", meaning "Nothing but the best is good enough".[46] The ties were first worn by Kelly and the Everton chairman, Mr. E. Green, on the first day of the 1938–39 season.[46]
The club rarely incorporated a badge of any description on its shirts. An interwoven "EFC" design was adopted between 1922 and 1930 before the club reverted to plain royal blue shirts until 1972 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1978 and has remained there ever since, while undergoing gradual change to become the version used today.
In May 2013, the club launched a new crest to improve the reproducibility of the design in print and broadcast media, particularly on a small scale.[47] Critics[who?] suggested that it was external pressure from sports manufacturer Nike, Inc. that evoked the redesign as the number of colours had been reduced and the radial effect was removed, which made the kit more cost efficient to reproduce
The redesign was poorly received by supporters, with a poll on an Everton fan site registering a 91% negative response to the crest.[48] A protest petition reached over 22,000 signatures before the club offered an apology and announced a new crest would be created for the 2014–15 season with an emphasis on fan consultation. Shortly afterwards, the Head of Marketing left the club. The latest crest was revealed by the club on 3 October 2013. After a consultation process with the supporters, three new crests were shortlisted. In the final vote, the new crest was chosen by almost 80% of the supporters that took part[49][50] and began being used in July 2014
Nickname
Everton's most widely recognised nickname "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 with the best known being that there was a business in Everton village, between Everton Brow and Brow Side, named Mother Noblett's, which was a toffee shop that sold sweets including the Everton Mint. It was also located opposite the lock up which Everton's club crest is based on. 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 symbolises the connection. Another possible reason is that there was a house named Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House in nearby Village Street, Everton, run by Ma Bushell. The toffee house was located near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place.[52]
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 regiment.[53] 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".[54] 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.[55]
Stadium
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park. The first official match took place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home. In 1884 Everton became tenants at Anfield, which was owned by John Orrell, a land owner who was a friend of Everton F.C. member John Houlding. Orrell lent Anfield to the club in exchange for a small rent. Houlding purchased the land from Orrell in 1885 and effectively became Everton's landlord by charging the club rent, which increased from £100 to £240 a year by 1888 – and was still rising until Everton left the ground in 1892.[56][57] The club regarded the increase in rent as unacceptable.[57] A further dispute between Houlding and the club's committee led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd". Everton left Anfield for a new ground, Goodison Park, where the club have played ever since. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association. Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C.[58]
Goodison Park, the first major football stadium to be built in England, was opened in 1892.[59] 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 under soil heating and 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 Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End.[60]
On match days, in a tradition going back to 1962, players walk out to the tune "Johnny Todd", played in the arrangement used when it was the theme song for Z-Cars.[61] It is a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson and tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea.[62] On two separate occasions in 1994, the club walked out to different songs. In August 1994, the club played 2 Unlimited's song "Get Ready For This". A month later, the club used a reworking of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Bad Moon Rising". Both songs were met with complete disapproval by Everton fans.[63]
Training facilities
From 1966 to 2007, Everton trained at Bellefield in the West Derby area of Liverpool.[64] They moved to the Finch Farm training complex in Halewood in 2007. The training ground houses both the Everton first team and the youth academy.
Proposed new stadia
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, but in 2000 a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This proposal was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, and the city council rejected the proposal in 2003.[65] Late in 2004, driven by the Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club entered talks with Liverpool F.C. about sharing a proposed stadium on Stanley Park. However, negotiations broke down as Everton failed to raise 50% of the costs.[66] On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that ground-sharing was not a possibility and proceeded to plan their own Stanley Park Stadium.[67]
Everton entered into talks with the Knowsley Council and Tesco in June 2006 over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium, expandable to over 60,000, in Kirkby.[68] The plan became known as The Kirkby Project. The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on the proposal with the results being in favour of it, 59% to 41%.[69] Opponents to the plan included other local councils concerned by the effect of a large Tesco store being built as part of the development and a group of fans demanding that Everton should remain within the city boundaries of Liverpool.[69] Following a public inquiry into the project,[70] the central government rejected the proposal.[71] Local and regional politicians attempted to put together an amended rescue plan with the Liverpool City Council calling a meeting with Everton F.C. The plan was to assess some suitable sites short listed within the city boundary.[72][73] However, the amended plan was also not successful.
The Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10 February 2011 featured a proposal to open the Bootle Branch line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project".[74] This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid transit Merseyrail line that would circle the city and ease transport access. In September 2014 the club, working with the Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Mutual Homes, outlined initial plans to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.[75] However, those plans were later scrapped in May 2016 with the prospect of two new sites being identified for the club.[76] At the Annual General Meeting in January 2017, the chairman, Bill Kenwright revealed that Bramley-Moore Dock was the preferred site for the new stadium, with a new railway station and a new road being funded by the City Council.[77] The choice of the Bramley Moore Dock site was endorsed in a public consultation exercise conducted in 2018.[78] Architect Dan Meis has been charged with designing a new stadium for Everton,[79] and the endeavour, called The People's Project, is now in its second stage of consultation.[80]
Supporters and rivalries
Further information: Everton F.C. supporters
Everton have a large fanbase, with the eighth highest average attendance in the Premier League in the 2008–09 season.[81] The majority of Everton's matchday support comes from the North West of England, primarily Merseyside, Cheshire, West Lancashire and parts of Western Greater Manchester along with many fans who travel from North Wales and Ireland. Within the city of Liverpool, support for Everton and city rivals Liverpool is not determined by geographical basis with supporters mixed across the city. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide[82] in places such as North America,[83] Singapore,[84] Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia,[85] Thailand, India and Australia.[86][87] The official supporters club is FOREVERTON,[88] and there are also several fanzines including When Skies are Grey and Speke from the Harbour, which are sold around Goodison Park on match days.
Everton regularly take large numbers away from home both domestically and in European fixtures. The club implements a loyalty points scheme offering the first opportunity to purchase away tickets to season ticket holders who have attended the most away matches. Everton often sell out the full allocation in away grounds, and tickets sell particularly well for North West England away matches. In October 2009, Everton took 7,000 travelling fans to Benfica,[89] which was their largest ever away crowd in Europe since the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.
Everton's biggest rivalry is with neighbours Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. The rivalry stems from an internal dispute between Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was then Everton's home ground. The dispute resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park and the subsequent formation of Liverpool F.C. in 1892. Following these 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.[90] The derby is usually a sellout fixture and has been known as the "friendly derby" because both sets of fans can often be seen side by side dressed in red and blue inside both Anfield and Goodison Park. Recently on the field, matches tend to be extremely stormy affairs; the derby has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premier League history
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