Everton F.C.

Everton F.C.

Everton's crest
Full name	Everton Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Toffees, The Blues
Founded	1878
Ground	Goodison Park, Liverpool
Capacity	40,569
Chairman	Bill Kenwright
Manager	David Moyes
League	FA Premier League
2005–06	Premier League, 11th
Home colours Away colours

Everton Football Club is located in the city Liverpool in Merseyside, England. They dont compare to their city rivals (Liverpool FC) as they haven't won a european cup other than the cup winners cup whereas Liverpool have won the European cup 5 times! The club competes in the FA Premier League and have contested more seasons in the top flight of English football than any other. They are one of the top five most successful English clubs in terms of major honours, having won the League Championship nine times, the FA Cup five times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup. Currently managed by David Moyes, the first team have experienced a period of inconsistency, with results under Moyes' tenure ranging from as low as 17th to as high as 4th.

Everton have a notable rivalry with Liverpool F.C., who were formed after a dispute over the rent at Anfield, Everton's old ground, in 1892; since then Everton have been based at Goodison Park as a result of the split. There is also a strong rivalry between Everton and fellow North West team Manchester United. Both teams (along with Liverpool F.C.) have had a strong input in the top flight over the past 25 years. The club enjoy a large fanbase and regularly attract sizeable crowds, having averaged over 36,000 people (around 90% of capacity) for home matches during the 2005–06 season.

History

Everton were founded as St. Domingo F.C. in 1878 in order that people from the parish of St. Domingo Methodist Church could play a sport outside of the summer months (during which time cricket was played). A year later the club were renamed Everton F.C. after the surrounding area, as people outside the parish wished to participate. They were founder members of the Football League in 1888, and won their first League Championship title in 1890–91. They won the FA Cup in 1905–06 and League title again in 1914–15, but 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 (60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day), helping Everton achieve their third league title.

Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later but won the title and thus promotion at the first attempt. On their 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. They 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 once official competition restarted in 1946, the Everton team had been split up and paled in comparison to their pre-war incarnation. Everton were relegated again in 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight ever-present 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 title and in 1966 followed with a 3–2 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final two years later, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. A year later in 1969–70, Everton won the First Division, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. 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 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.

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. In Europe, Everton won their first and only trophy in the shape of the 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup. After 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. 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.

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 FA 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.

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.

The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 with Everton in real danger of relegation. The current manager, David Moyes, was his replacement and delivered Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place. 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 £23 million.. Moyes has twice broken the club record for highest transfer fee paid, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005 and then Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006.

Colours

Everton's first home colours

Everton's second home colours – a cornucopia of kits, dyed black with a vibrant sash for consistency.

During the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in 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. The result, however, appeared morbid so a scarlet sash was added.

When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, they first played in salmon shirts with blue shorts before switching to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. The famous royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 1901–02 season. The kit today remains blue shirt, white shorts and white socks although when playing teams away who also wear white shorts Everton typically wear all blue. For the 2006–07 season, the away kit is a white shirt with navy blue shorts and socks, while the third kit is a mustard yellow shirt with black shorts and black socks.

Crest

File:Everton crest.PNG

Some old Everton crests.

At the end of the 1937–38 season, club secretary Theo Kelly, who later became The Toffees' first post-war manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour should be blue, but Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the tie. Kelly thought about the matter for four months until deciding on a reproduction of the "Beacon" which stands in the heart of the Everton district. "The Beacon" or "Tower" has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow in Netherfield Road. The beacon 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 in classical times. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", which means "Nothing but the best is good enough". The ties were first worn by Kelly and the Everton chairman, Mr. E. Green, on the first day of the 1938–39 season.

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 1973 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1980 and has remained there ever since, undergoing gradual change to become the version used today. Some old crests are illustrated on the right; the top is the original shirt crest, the second is the first shirt crest with beacon and laurels and the third is the first shirt crest to use the club motto.

Nickname

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. 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.

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. 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". When David Moyes arrived as manager he christened Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname.

Supporters

Everton have a large fanbase due to a long history punctuated by highly successful periods and have the seventh highest average attendance in England. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide, in places such as North America, Singapore and Thailand.Everton also have a large supporter base in Australia, with midfield player Tim Cahill being Australian. The official supporters club is Evertonia, and there are also several fanzines including When Skies are Grey, which is sold around Goodison Park on match days.

Everton supporters sing several songs on matchdays but the most common is "It's a grand old team"; it is adopted from the version sung by Celtic supporters, making changes like "we don't care what the red side say" — a reference to red-wearing-rivals Liverpool. Also popular is singing the club name "Everton" to the tune of "Here we go". They are generally very welcoming to former players returning to Goodison while playing for new clubs. One exception is Wayne Rooney, who has become extremely unpopular with fans after he left Everton for Manchester United, having previously been pictured wearing a t-shirt declaring: "Once a Blue always a Blue" and is now roundly booed whenever he returns. Rooney claims Moyes forced him out of the club in his new book however David Moyes has taken legal action denying the claims made.

Everton's biggest rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. This stems from Liverpool's formation after a dispute with Everton officials and the owners of Anfield (the ground Everton were using at the time). Religious differences have been cited as a division, though both teams stem from a Methodist origin, undermining the notion of a Catholic–Protestant split. The Merseyside derby is usually a sell out fixture and tends to be a scrappy affair; it has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history.

Current squad

As at July 11 2006. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Richard Wright
2	DF	ENG	Tony Hibbert
3	DF	SCO	Gary Naysmith
4	DF	NGA	Joseph Yobo
5	DF	SCO	David Weir (captain)
6	MF	ESP	Mikel Arteta
7	MF	NED	Andy van der Meyde
8	FW	ENG	Andrew Johnson
9	FW	ENG	James Beattie
10	MF	WAL	Simon Davies
11	FW	SCO	James McFadden
15	DF	ENG	Alan Stubbs
16	DF	ENG	Joleon Lescott

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	AUS	Tim Cahill
18	MF	ENG	Phil Neville (vice captain)
19	DF	POR	Nuno Valente
21	MF	ENG	Leon Osman
22	FW	ENG	James Vaughan
23	DF	ITA	Alessandro Pistone
24	GK	USA	Tim Howard (on loan from Manchester United)
26	MF	EIR	Lee Carsley
28	FW	NGA	Victor Anichebe
30	GK	ENG	John Ruddy
31	DF	ENG	Mark Hughes
36	DF	SCO	Patrick Boyle
41	MF	ISL	Bjarni Viðarsson

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	GK	SCO	Iain Turner (Crystal Palace until December 17, 2006)

For recent transfers, see the "Transfer Deals" section of 2006–07 in English football.

Notable former players

Further information: List of Everton F.C. players

Everton giants

The following players are considered "giants" for their great contributions to Everton. A panel appointed by the club established the inaugural list in 2000 and a new inductee is announced every season.

As of August 26, 2006.

Inducted	Name	Nationality	Position	Everton career	Appearances	Goals
2006	Peter Reid		MF	1982–1989	234	13
2005	Graeme Sharp		FW	1979–1991	447	159
2004	Joe Royle		FW	1966–1974	275	119
2003	Kevin Ratcliffe		CB	1980–1991	461	2
2002	Ray Wilson		LB	1964–1968	151	0
2001	Alan Ball		MF	1966–1971	251	79
2000	Howard Kendall		MF	1966–1981	274	30
2000	Dave Watson		CB	1986–1999	522	38
2000	Neville Southall		GK	1981–1997	751	0
2000	Bob Latchford		FW	1973–1980	286	138
2000	Alex Young		FW	1960–1967	272	89
2000	Dave Hickson		FW	1951–1959	243	111
2000	T. G. Jones		CB	1936–1949	178	5
2000	Ted Sagar		GK	1929–1952	500	0
2000	Dixie Dean		FW	1924–1937	433	383
2000	Sam Chedgzoy		MF	1910–1925	300	36
2000	Jack Sharp		MF	1899–1909	342	80

Greatest ever team

SOUTHALL STEVENS</font&gt; LABONE RATCLIFFE WILSON STEVEN BALL REID SHEEDY DEAN SHARP

Greatest ever Everton team

At the start of the 2003–04 season, as part of the club's official celebration of their 125th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever Everton team.

• Neville Southall (1981–97)
• Gary Stevens (1982–89)
• Brian Labone (1958–71)
• Kevin Ratcliffe (1980–91)
• Ray Wilson (1964–69)
• Trevor Steven (1983–90)
• Alan Ball (1966–71)
• Peter Reid (1982–89)
• Kevin Sheedy (1982–92)
• Dixie Dean (1925–37)
• Graeme Sharp (1980–91)

Notable managers

Further information: List of Everton F.C. managers

The following managers have all won at least one significant trophy with Everton:

Manager	Tenure
Dick Molyneux	1889–1901
William C. Cuff	1901–1918
Thomas H. McIntosh	1919–1935
Theo Kelly	1936–1948
Harry Catterick	1961–1973
Howard Kendall	1981–1987 1990–1993 1997–1998
Joe Royle	1994–1997

Honours

• (Old) First Division titles: 9
  • 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87 (9)

• FA Cups: 5
  • 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995

• Charity Shields: 9
  • 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995

• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1
  • 1985

• (Old) Second Division title: 1
  • 1931

Records and statistics

Further information: Everton F.C. records

Neville Southall holds the record for the most Everton appearances, having played 751 first-team matches between 1981 and 1997. The late centre half and former captain Brian Labone comes second, having played 534 times. The longest serving player is Goalkeeper Ted Sagar who played for 23 years between 1929 and 1953, both sides of the war, making a total of 495 appearances. The club's top goalscorer, with 383 goals in all competitions, is Dixie Dean; the second-highest goalscorer is Graeme Sharp with 159. Dean still holds the English national record of most goals in a season, with 60.

The record attendance for an Everton home match is 78,299 against Liverpool on 18 September 1948. Goodison Park, like all football grounds since the recommendations of the Taylor Report were implemented, is now an all-seater and only holds just over 40,000, meaning it is unlikely that this attendance record will ever be broken at Goodison.

References

• Corbett, James (2004). Everton: School of Science. Pan. ISBN 0330420062.
• Tallentire, Becky (2004). The Little Book of Everton. Carlton Books Ltd. ISBN 1844426521.

External links

• Official site
• Everton Former Players' Foundation
• Everton FC - Premierleague.com
• Everton F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
• List of Everton links including unofficial websites